Appeal No. 2002-0498
Application No. 09/441,899
by "a series of dedicated etches which removes these layers one
layer at a time." However, as explained by appellants in their
Reply Brief, this portion of Lin refers to the etching which
forms the gate structure of Figure 1D, which corresponds to
step (d) of claim 1. We agree with appellants that the examiner
is apparently confused on this point. Lin provides no teaching
or suggestion that the series of dedicated etches performed one
layer at a time can be applied to the removal of the silicon
oxynitride region 108 of Figure 1F. Also, the examiner advances
no rationale why it would have been obvious for one of ordinary
skill in the art to employ the dedicated etches, one layer at a
time, for removing the silicon oxynitride region 108 of Figure
1F. As a point of emphasis, we note that the sentence
immediately following Lin's disclosure at column 4, lines 51-55,
reads "[i]n accordance with the invention, the sacrificial layer
is then removed to lift off the BARC layer."
The examiner's citation of Cheung and Wolf for other claimed
features does not remedy the basic deficiency of Lin outlined
above.
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