Appeal No. 2004-0421
Application No. 09/749,923
forming an exposed surface. We also find that Appellants’ claims require the fullerene
containing material renders the surface corrosion resistant.
According to the Examiner, Applicants’ admitted prior art discloses a
component of semiconductor processing equipment that does not include a fullerene
containing coating. (Answer, p. 4).
According to the Examiner, “Fagan discloses that mixtures of fullerene
compounds are useful as corrosion resistant coatings (Col. 5, lines 24-30); wherein the
fullerene containing coating are C60, C70 or mixtures thereof; wherein fullerenes form a
continuous matrix phase of said fullerene containing coating.” (Answer, p. 4).
The Examiner concluded that “[i]t would have been within the scope of one of
ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of applicant’s admitted prior art and
Fagan to achieve further corrosion resistance.” (Answer, p. 4).
The Examiner has not provided adequate reasons why there is motivation to
combine the references and why such a combination would have rendered the claimed
subject matter unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). Fagan does not disclose the
types of surfaces that could be rendered corrosion resistant. Fagan does not disclose
that the fullerene containing material could be applied to surfaces of components
commonly used in semiconductor processing equipment. Further, Fagan does not
disclose that fullerene containing materials are resistant to plasma from a
semiconductor reactor. The mere fact that the prior art could be modified as proposed
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