Appeal No. 1999-0727
Application No. 08/814,901
solder mask over substantially all of the circuitry and other
portions of the laminate in an imagewise manner.” Specifically,
appellants states at pages 4 and 5 of the Brief that:
The Knopp process comprises the following steps:
forming conductive circuit elements on a substrate;
a) forming conductive circuit elements on a
substrate;
b) coating the substrate and circuit elements with a
desensitizing material;
c) forming holes;
d) activating the surfaces to accept plating;
e) removing the desensitizing material;
f) plating the holes.
Thus Knopp specifically contemplates applying the
desensitizing material directly upon the substrate and
the circuit elements. Knopp makes no realization of
the advantages or desirability of applying a
soldermask to the substrate and circuit elements and
then applying the desensitizing material to the solder
mask as is suggested by the Appellant’s invention.
To remedy the deficiency of Knopp, the examiner relies on
the disclosures of Schneble and Leech. See Supplemental Answer,
page 4. According to the examiner, Schneble teaches using a
step of applying a permanent solder mask before applying a
temporary solder mask which is said to correspond to the claimed
desensitizing coating material. The examiner then relies on
Leech to show that the use of a register solder mask as the
permanent solder mask is conventional. Based on these findings,
the examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to apply
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