Appeal No. 2005-0202 Page 7
Application No. 09/348,654
(Reply Brief, p. 4). That the ashing temperature was understood to affect the results of ashing
can hardly be questioned. Such is evidenced by language in Konno such as: “[t]hen, the
substrate 1 is heated, for example, to 100° to 200° C.” (Konno, col. 6, ll. 12-13). One of
ordinary skill in the art is clearly expected to perform routine experimentation to determine the
workable or optimal temperature for ashing.
Appellant also argues that Konno teaches against the introduction of water vapor prior to
ashing (Brief, p. 9 referring to column 10, lines 5-16 of Konno). First, the Admitted Prior Art
indicates that performance of the anti-after-corrosion treatment before ashing was known in the
art. Second, we agree with the Examiner that Konno does not teach against the introduction of
water vapor for the anti-after-corrosion treatment prior to ashing (Answer, p. 7). The portion of
Konno referenced by Appellant discusses the performance of the anti-after-corrosion and ashing
steps separately but in the same apparatus. Konno then discusses a way to overcome the
problem of water vapor removal by using an apparatus with separate stations for the anti-after-
corrosion treatment and ashing steps (Konno, col. 10, ll. 9-17). One would simply use separate
stations to overcome the problem. There is no teaching away from performing anti-after-
corrosion treatment prior to ashing in Konno.
Claim 7
To reject claim 7, the Examiner adds Landau. Claim 7 requires that the etching gas
contain hydrofluorocarbon expressed as CH4-xFx.
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