Appeal No. 2006-0367
Application No. 10/353,506
Here, claim 17 recites in pertinent part the following limitations: "forming a cover
including spin-on glass over said thermally decomposing layer; densifying the cover;
and thermally decomposing the thermally decomposing layer underneath said cover."
Although the step of densifying happens to have been inserted before the step of
thermally decomposing, (Reply to Paper No. 6, p. 2), the claim language does not
require this order (as it would if the claim instead recited "thermally decomposing the
thermally decomposing layer underneath said densified cover"). The rest of the
specification, (FOF 12-13), moreover, favors performing the step of densifying after the
step of thermally decomposing.
Assuming that the representative claim was interpreted to require performing the
step of densifying before the step of thermally decomposing, moreover, we would
interpret it to limit densification so as not to prevent thermally decomposition of the
sacrificial layer underneath the cover. Any other interpretation would render the step of
thermally decomposing, and hence the claimed method, inoperable. We decline to
adopt an interpretation that would render the claimed subject matter inoperable. Giving
claim 17 its broadest, reasonable construction, therefore, the limitations require forming
a cover over a sacrificial layer, thermally decomposing sacrificial layer, and densifying
the cover.
13
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007