Appeal No. 2004-1436
Application No. 09/583,865
solution provides "not only a water-soluble low molecular weight
acidic substance in the overlying layer to inhibit diffusion of
basic components in the air of a clean room, such as ammonia,
into the resist thereby improving environmental resistance, but
also by incorporating a water-soluble photo base generator to
prevent the diffusion of such acidic substances into the resist"
(sentence bridging pages 3 and 4 of principal brief).
Appealed claims 1-12 and 19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over JP '630 in view of Watanabe
and Winkle.
We have thoroughly reviewed the respective positions
advanced by appellants and the examiner. In so doing, we find
ourselves in agreement with appellants that the examiner has
failed to establish a prima facie case of obviousness for the
claimed subject matter. As a result, for essentially those
reasons expressed by appellants, we will not sustain the
examiner's rejection.
The examiner appreciates that JP '630, the primary
reference, fails to teach the presently claimed photo base
generator in a layer overlying the resist layer. To remedy this
deficiency the examiner cites the background teachings of
Watanabe which reference JP '630, the primary reference.
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