Appeal No. 2001-2568
Application No. 09/178,848
second etching may be employed to create the fine pitch lead
tips 42. See column 6, lines 18 through 20. By placing a
mask in the shape of a fine pitch lead frame over the etched
metal strip 38 and etching away the slots 114. Fine pitch
lead tips 42 can thus be created in the same form as the
earlier embodiments. As with stamping the second etching
can achieve a finer pitch than conventionally frames due to
the smaller thickness of the etched area. See column 6,
lines 21 through 26. This disclosure tells us that fine
pitch lead tips 42 can be formed by etching but in no way is
it indicated that the sidewalls are protected by the mask
when the etching is conducted. Hence we agree with
appellants’ interpretation of Fogelson. The examiner also
recognizes this deficiency in Fogelson.
On page 8 of the Answer, the examiner states that in
Liou, a sidewall space or film is deposited over the pads
and insulative layer. A spacer is known in the
semiconductor industry to be a mask that masks sidewalls in
a cavity. Part of the spacer film is removed, however the
sidewalls are still masked by the film, as shown in Figs. 4
and 5A of Liou. The examiner relies upon this disclosure
for the teaching of masking sidewalls during a second etched
step.
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