Appeal No. 2005-1926
Application No. 10/188,723
carefully considered, but do not repeat them here, but simply
refer to them as presented in the brief.
Upon our review of the brief and the examiner’s answer, we
observe that the critical issue before us is whether Todd
suggests a method for depositing a nitrogen-doped carbide
material wherein “substantially all of the nitrogen contained in
the deposited material originates from the nitrogen gas” (claim
3) or wherein “nitrogen gas is an exclusive source of the
element” (claim 12), or wherein the “nitrogen contained in the
deposited Si-C-N material consists essentially of nitrogen that
originates from the nitrogen gas” (claim 17). The term
“nitrogen gas” refers to diatomic nitrogen.
The examiner states that Todd teaches that N2 is useful as a
source of nitrogen, and refers to paragraph [0044] of Todd. The
examiner states that Todd teaches that the composition of the
mixture of precursors used can vary over a broad range and that
routine experimentation can be used to arrive at a desired
mixture of precursors for achieving a desired stoichiometry of
the deposited material. The examiner states that there is
desirability to arrive at appellants’ claimed invention based
upon a reasonable expectation of success when employing N2 as the
sole nitrogen source to deposit a nitrogen-doped silicon nitride
material. Answer, page 7. The examiner states that one of
ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable
expectation of success when employing nitrogen gas as the only
source of nitrogen. The examiner states that Todd teaches that
N2 will act as a source of nitrogen, and that it is not necessary
that is a preferred embodiment. Answer, page 8.
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