Appeal No. 2005-0776
Application No. 09/898,321
Each of the appellants’ independent claims requires, where
one line crosses over another line, an air gap between a top
surface of one line and a bottom surface of the other line.
Kingsley discloses a fluoroscopic radiation imager having,
at a crossover location of a data line and a scan line, a layer
of at least one dielectric material between the data line and the
scan line (col. 1, lines 7-8; col. 2, lines 39-47; col. 5,
lines 8-12).
Fukuda discloses an electronic element, such as a thin film
transistor for driving an active matrix liquid crystal display,
having, at a crossover location between a gate line and a data
line, an insulating film between the gate line and the data line
(col. 1, lines 14-17 and 23-28; figures 2 and 8).
Ahn discloses a semiconductor interconnect structure having
conductive interconnect layers surrounded by air gaps (col. 3,
lines 10-16). The air, which has a dielectric constant of 1,
provides reduced plate capacitance of the interconnect structure
(col. 3, lines 24-26; col. 5, lines 43-47).
The examiner argues that “[i]t would have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the present
invention to use the air gap of Ahn in the device[s of Kingsley
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