Appeal No. 2006-1361
Application No. 09/997,019
material layer having a planar surface without requiring subsequent planarization of the
second material.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Yoshihara 6,117,486 Sep. 12, 2000
Hsieh 6,228,711 May 08, 2001
Wang 6,461,932 Oct. 08, 2002
(filed Dec. 14, 1998)
Claims 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10-22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being anticipated
by the disclosure of Wang. Claims 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a).
As evidence of obviousness the examiner offers Wang in view of Yoshihara with respect to
claims 3-5, and Wang in view of Hsieh with respect to claims 8 and 9.
Rather than repeat the arguments of appellants or the examiner, we make reference to
the briefs and the answer for the respective details thereof.
OPINION
We have carefully considered the subject matter on appeal, the rejections advanced by
the examiner and the evidence of anticipation and obviousness relied upon by the examiner
as support for the rejections. We have, likewise, reviewed and taken into consideration, in
reaching our decision, the appellants’ arguments set forth in the briefs along with the
examiner’s rationale in support of the rejections and arguments in rebuttal set forth in the
examiner’s answer.
It is our view, after consideration of the record before us, that the evidence relied upon
supports the examiner’s rejection of claims 1, 2, 6-9, and 19-22. We reach the opposite
conclusion with respect to claims 3-5 and 10-18. Accordingly, we affirm-in-part.
We consider first the examiner’s rejection of claims 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10-22 as being
anticipated by the disclosure of Wang. Anticipation is established only when a single prior
art reference discloses, expressly or under the principles of inherency, each and every
element of a claimed invention as well as disclosing structure which is capable of performing
the recited functional limitations. RCA Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Systems, Inc., 730
-2-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007