Appeal No. 2000-0811
Application 08/964,734
the aperture and are therefore ultimately not transferred to the
solder receiving region of the package. This is precisely the
reason for this invention.”
We disagree with the appellants. The appellants’ own
specification as discussed above includes embodiments which
simply place solder balls in holes or apertures without an
adhesive layer and does not indicate that there is any serious or
debilitating problem. While using an adhesive layer may provide
a better hold on the solder balls, appellants’ claim 1 is
sufficiently broad to cover all manners of removably securing the
solder balls in place, as is described in the appellants’ own
specification, and is not limited to use of an adhesive layer.
The appellants’ own specification refutes counsel’s argument that
the precise reason for the invention is that solder balls held in
apertures have a tendency to drop out of the aperture. The
claimed invention includes securing the solder balls without
using an adhesive layer.
Accordingly, we reject the appellants’ argument that the
solder balls of Trabucco ‘737 are not removably secured to plate
18. The appellants have not persuaded us why the solder balls of
Trabucco ‘737 are not sufficiently held or confined in place so
as to be removably secured relative to the masking plate 18 prior
9
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007