Appeal No. 2001-0107
Application No. 09/143,505
material ejected from the target. (Id. at ll. 9–13.) Thus, the
subject matter of claims 1, 8, and 34 would have been obvious.
Although the examiner concedes that neither Noguchi nor
Kondo teaches that the exposure mask could be made from quartz,
the examiner notes that the Noguchi apparatus already contains a
quartz chamber window. The examiner concludes that the known
properties (durability, transparency, stability) would have
rendered the use of quartz (as required by claim 7) obvious.
(Id. at ll. 14–19.)
As for the antireflective layer required by claim 9, which
the examiner concedes is not taught by Noguchi or Kondo, the
examiner maintains that it would have been obvious to provide
such a coating on the window to minimize “reflected laser
radiation trapped between the exposure mask and the treated glass
or reflecting from the inside chamber surfaces.” Such reflected
radiation, the examiner asserts, would have “compromised the
precision of the exposure pattern on the glass.” (Examiner’s
Answer at 5, ll. 2–5.)
Appellant’s argument
Appellant does not dispute that Noguchi discloses every
limitation of the claimed invention but for the presence of a
buffer layer (and the associated properties). (Brief at 7.) Nor
- 8 -
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007