DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 5, 7, 11, and 15 are amended. Claims 2-4, 6, 8-10, and 12-14 are as previously presented. Therefore, claims 1-15 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on October 22, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 6-8, filed 10/22/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-15 under U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of applicant’s amendment regarding the selective laser ablation of a first material with a specific energy density and newly found prior art regarding that feature.
Applicant argues that the selective ablation of a grain boundary material without ablating the crystalline grains is the newly added amendment in the Remarks filed on 10/22/2025, which the Examiner agrees as a similar limitation previously appeared in claim 5.
However, claim 1 appears to have the material being ablated reversed. The first material being ablated are the crystalline grains. This switch of the first and second material appears to be a minor informality.
Applicant’s argument against Zeng et al. (US 20180119308 A1, hereinafter Zeng) using selective electrochemical etching and not selective ablation using light is not persuasive. Zeng discloses where electrochemical etching or selective laser ablation can be used, Para. 0011, “The sp2 carbon can be selectively removed and the sp3 carbon can be partially removed with one or more selective and/or preferential etching process including thermal oxidation, hot gas corrosion, reactive ion etching, plasma etching, laser ablation, ion beam etching and the like, and/or a combination of these methods”.
Nevertheless, in the interest of compact prosecution, prior art in closer alignment with the claim limitations has been found.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 11, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims all include the first material being ablated as the crystalline grains and the second material essentially being untouched as the grain boundaries.
The examiner believes based on the specification and previous claim limitations that the first and second material should be switched.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 7-11, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puyt et al. (US 20100296073 A1, hereinafter Puyt) in view of Sugiyama et al. (US 20180213642 A1, hereinafter Sugiyama) and Harrison et al. (WO 2017198986 A1, hereinafter Harrison).
Regarding claim 1, Puyt discloses a method (Para. 0013, “…method for enhancing substrate release properties of a protrusion that is comprised in a substrate table for supporting a substrate in a lithographic apparatus.”) comprising:
directing light to a native surface (Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”, where the native surface is the burls);
ablating at least a portion of the first material of the native surface with the light to increase roughness of the native surface (Para. 0055, “The machining process can be performed after a coating step on the burls, after the burl has been fabricated, by polishing, coating and/or sandblasting, for example. In doing so, the burl surface may be roughened without influencing an overall clamp flatness.”);
forming a modified surface based on the ablating, such that the increased roughness reduces an ability of an object to stick to the modified surface (Para. 0046, “By providing variations in the local maxima heights, the sticking effect may even be further reduced, as the effective contact area between the substrate 4 and the burls 2, 3 may be reduced while small normal forces apply.”).
Puyt does not disclose:
the light having an energy density configured to selectively ablate a first material of the native surface while causing essentially no ablation of a second material of the native surface, the first material comprising crystalline grains separated by grain boundaries comprising the second material;
wherein the increased roughness is achieved in the micrometer range through combining adjustments to the energy density ratio of the light and adjustments to a path of the light or line spacing between locations where the light is delivered.
However, Sugiyama discloses, in the similar field of laser ablation (Para. 0104, “Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, an etching treatment or laser processing method, for example, is used to form holes 141 to 143 in the first insulating layer 121.”), where the laser energy density selectively ablates material within grain boundaries and leaves the crystalline grains in a surface (Para. 0177, “Moreover, the copper plating layer CP is a polycrystalline structure, and thus it is possible to make the degree of roughness more conspicuous via etching. This is because, normally, when considering the etching rate of grains and grain boundaries, the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher.”, where the laser energy density value is consistent, but the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher and that causes the grain boundaries to be ablated). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the native surface ablation in Puyt to include the selective ablation of grain boundary material as taught by Sugiyama.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the surface roughness of polycrystalline substrates, where the grain boundary ablation allows for recesses and protrusions to be formed, as stated by Sugiyama, Para. 0179, “The copper plating layer CP is polycrystalline, and thus the surface has fine recesses and protrusions. Further, if etched, the boundaries around the grains will be removed, which will make the recesses and protrusions more conspicuous. There could also be a CZ treatment or the like. In other words, the surface becomes rough”.
Regarding if the grain boundary and crystalline grain material were switched, it is the Examiner’s position that reversing the ablation of the two different materials for one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to try. The selective ablating rate would depending the type of material within the polycrystalline layer and a user could control which materials etch at a faster rate in order to pick. As a result, the selective laser etching process has a limited amount of materials that are to be controlled and adjusting which materials are used would be a mere matter of user design choice.
Further, Harrison discloses, in the similar field of ablating a native surface using lasers (Abstract, “A method for creating a mark ( 16) with a desired colour on an article ( 40), wherein the article ( 40) comprises a metal ( 44) having a metal surface ( 5), and which method comprises: providing a laser ( 1) for emitting a laser beam”), where surface roughness in the micrometer range can be achieved through combining energy density ratio and line spacing adjustments (Page 7, last Para., “The method of the present invention may include the step of selecting the spot to spot separation, the hatch distance, the pulse fluence, the pulse width, and the number of times each line is written such that the mark has a surface roughness average Ra value less than or equal to fifty microns.”, where pulse fluence is explained above to be an energy density ratio control, and where the number of times each line is written would be the line spacing of the locations where light is delivered). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the surface roughness in modified Puyt to be achieved through controlling the pulse fluence and line spacing as taught by Harrison.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage being able to produce marks without inks or chemicals without substantially degrading the smoothness of the surface, which is important in the field of jewelry, as stated by Harrison, Page 8, Para. 1, “The surface roughness average Ra value may be less than or equal to five microns. The ability to produce marks, without the use of inks or chemicals, on bare metal surfaces that are smooth, is a particularly novel and surprising aspect of the method of the invention. The ability to produce marks without substantially degrading the smoothness of the bare metal surface is important in jewellery manufacture.”.
Regarding claim 2, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the light is a laser (Puyt, Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”).
Regarding claim 3, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the native surface comprises a top surface of a burl (Puyt, Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”, where the native surface is the top surface of the burls where the laser ablating occurs).
Regarding claim 7, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses the controlling further comprising:
directing the light at separated locations on the native surface (Puyt, Fig. 7B, where the modified regions that have increased surface roughness are shown as 11, where they are separated by a cavity 5) causing ablation of a portion of the grain boundaries (Teaching from Sugiyama, Para. 0177, “Moreover, the copper plating layer CP is a polycrystalline structure, and thus it is possible to make the degree of roughness more conspicuous via etching. This is because, normally, when considering the etching rate of grains and grain boundaries, the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher.”),
the directing causing the modified surface to comprise roughened areas having a separation between them (Puyt, Fig. 7B, where the modified regions that have increased surface roughness are shown as 11, where they are separated by a cavity 5).
Regarding claim 8, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 7, as set forth above, discloses wherein the separation is greater than a spot size of the light source (Puyt, Modified Fig. 7A, where the laser spot size is shown, where the separation is greater than laser the spot size).
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Modified Figure 7A, Puyt
Regarding claim 9, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein a separation between locations of the delivery of the light is less than a spot size of the light (Puyt, Modified Fig. 7A, where the laser spot size is shown, where the separation is greater than laser the spot size).
Regarding claim 10, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the directing of the light is across a plurality of hilltops on a top surface of a burl (Puyt, Modified Fig. 7A, where the hilltops along a top surface are shown by the two areas that are laser ablated to increase surface roughness, where the laser ablated structure can be on the top surface of a burl, Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”)
forming part of a reticle clamp (Puyt, Para. 0045, “This may allow an overall clamp flatness to be maintained and the sticking of the substrate 4 to the burls/surfaces to be minimized, so that during fixation of the substrate on the chucks 2, 3, the substrate may more easily relax and overlay problems may be reduced.”; and Para. 0006, “…chuck is provided with a clamping device, such as an electrostatic clamp or a vacuum system, or geometric clamp surfaces, such as burls.”).
Regarding claim 11, Puyt discloses a non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one programmable processor (Para. 0061, “…form of a computer program containing one or more sequences of machine-readable instructions describing a method as disclosed above, or a data storage medium (e.g. semiconductor memory, magnetic or optical disk) having such a computer program stored therein….”, where computer programs that perform the instructions must include a processor to execute those said instructions), cause the at least one programmable processor to perform operations comprising:
directing light to a native surface (Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”, where the native surface is the burls);
ablating at least a portion of the first material of the native surface with the light to increase roughness of the native surface (Para. 0055, “The machining process can be performed after a coating step on the burls, after the burl has been fabricated, by polishing, coating and/or sandblasting, for example. In doing so, the burl surface may be roughened without influencing an overall clamp flatness.”); and
forming a modified surface based on the ablating, such that the increased roughness reduces an ability of an object to stick to the modified surface (Para. 0046, “By providing variations in the local maxima heights, the sticking effect may even be further reduced, as the effective contact area between the substrate 4 and the burls 2, 3 may be reduced while small normal forces apply.”).
Puyt does not disclose:
the light having an energy density configured to selectively ablate a first material of the native surface while causing essentially no ablation of a second material of the native surface, the first material comprising crystalline grains separated by grain boundaries comprising the second material;
wherein the increased roughness is achieved in the micrometer range through combining adjustments to the energy density ratio of the light and adjustments to a path of the light or line spacing between locations where the light is delivered.
However, Sugiyama discloses, in the similar field of laser ablation (Para. 0104, “Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, an etching treatment or laser processing method, for example, is used to form holes 141 to 143 in the first insulating layer 121.”), where the laser energy density selectively ablates material within grain boundaries and leaves the crystalline grains in a surface (Para. 0177, “Moreover, the copper plating layer CP is a polycrystalline structure, and thus it is possible to make the degree of roughness more conspicuous via etching. This is because, normally, when considering the etching rate of grains and grain boundaries, the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher.”, where the laser energy density value is consistent, but the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher and that causes the grain boundaries to be ablated). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the native surface ablation in Puyt to include the selective ablation of grain boundary material as taught by Sugiyama.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the surface roughness of polycrystalline substrates, where the grain boundary ablation allows for recesses and protrusions to be formed, as stated by Sugiyama, Para. 0179, “The copper plating layer CP is polycrystalline, and thus the surface has fine recesses and protrusions. Further, if etched, the boundaries around the grains will be removed, which will make the recesses and protrusions more conspicuous. There could also be a CZ treatment or the like. In other words, the surface becomes rough”.
Regarding if the grain boundary and crystalline grain material were switched, it is the Examiner’s position that reversing the ablation of the two different materials for one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to try. The selective ablating rate would depending the type of material within the polycrystalline layer and a user could control which materials etch at a faster rate in order to pick. As a result, the selective laser etching process has a limited amount of materials that are to be controlled and adjusting which materials are used would be a mere matter of user design choice.
Further, Harrison discloses, in the similar field of ablating a native surface using lasers (Abstract, “A method for creating a mark ( 16) with a desired colour on an article ( 40), wherein the article ( 40) comprises a metal ( 44) having a metal surface ( 5), and which method comprises: providing a laser ( 1) for emitting a laser beam”), where surface roughness in the micrometer range can be achieved through combining energy density ratio and line spacing adjustments (Page 7, last Para., “The method of the present invention may include the step of selecting the spot to spot separation, the hatch distance, the pulse fluence, the pulse width, and the number of times each line is written such that the mark has a surface roughness average Ra value less than or equal to fifty microns.”, where pulse fluence is explained above to be an energy density ratio control, and where the number of times each line is written would be the line spacing of the locations where light is delivered). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the surface roughness in modified Puyt to be achieved through controlling the pulse fluence and line spacing as taught by Harrison.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage being able to produce marks without inks or chemicals without substantially degrading the smoothness of the surface, which is important in the field of jewelry, as stated by Harrison, Page 8, Para. 1, “The surface roughness average Ra value may be less than or equal to five microns. The ability to produce marks, without the use of inks or chemicals, on bare metal surfaces that are smooth, is a particularly novel and surprising aspect of the method of the invention. The ability to produce marks without substantially degrading the smoothness of the bare metal surface is important in jewellery manufacture.”.
Regarding claim 15, Puyt discloses an apparatus comprising:
a modified surface configured to contact an object (Para. 0011, “The substrate table includes a chuck having a plurality of protrusions constructed and arranged to support corresponding parts of a bottom surface of a wafer. The top surface of at least one of the protrusions includes a plurality of elements that define a reduced contact area between the substrate and the top surface of the protrusion.”),
the modified surface being formed by receiving light at locations of a native surface (Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”, where the native surface is the burls) and ablating at least a portion of the native surface with the delivered light to increase roughness of the native surface (Para. 0055, “The machining process can be performed after a coating step on the burls, after the burl has been fabricated, by polishing, coating and/or sandblasting, for example. In doing so, the burl surface may be roughened without influencing an overall clamp flatness.”);
wherein the modified surface has a roughness based at least on a plurality of peaks and a plurality of boundary valleys located below the peaks (Modified Fig. 7A, where the hilltops along a top surface are shown by the two areas that are laser ablated to increase surface roughness, where the laser ablated structure can be on the top surface of a burl, Para. 0055, “…a laser, e.g. a low power laser such as a femto [ s] laser, may be used to machine a defined pattern of elastic micro elements in the upper surface 11 of the burls 2, 3.”, where the valleys 5 are located between the peaks, where the valleys are not laser ablated and would contain the boundary layers).
Puyt does not disclose:
the modified surface being formed from a material comprising a grain structure including crystalline grains and grain boundaries, where the peaks would include grains and the valleys would include boundaries; and
the light having an energy density configured to selectively ablate a first material of the native surface while causing essentially no ablation of a second material of the native surface, the first material comprising crystalline grains separated by grain boundaries comprising the second material;
wherein the increased roughness is achieved in the micrometer range through combining adjustments to the energy density ratio of the light and adjustments to a path of the light or line spacing between locations where the light is delivered.
However, Sugiyama discloses, in the similar field of laser ablation (Para. 0104, “Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, an etching treatment or laser processing method, for example, is used to form holes 141 to 143 in the first insulating layer 121.”), where the laser energy density selectively ablates material within grain boundaries and leaves the crystalline grains in a surface (Para. 0177, “Moreover, the copper plating layer CP is a polycrystalline structure, and thus it is possible to make the degree of roughness more conspicuous via etching. This is because, normally, when considering the etching rate of grains and grain boundaries, the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher.”, where the laser energy density value is consistent, but the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher and that causes the grain boundaries to be ablated; where the selective ablation of the grain boundaries results in the boundaries being valleys while the crystalline grains are peaks). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the native surface ablation in Puyt to include the selective ablation of grain boundary material as taught by Sugiyama.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the surface roughness of polycrystalline substrates, where the grain boundary ablation allows for recesses and protrusions to be formed, as stated by Sugiyama, Para. 0179, “The copper plating layer CP is polycrystalline, and thus the surface has fine recesses and protrusions. Further, if etched, the boundaries around the grains will be removed, which will make the recesses and protrusions more conspicuous. There could also be a CZ treatment or the like. In other words, the surface becomes rough”.
Regarding if the grain boundary and crystalline grain material were switched, it is the Examiner’s position that reversing the ablation of the two different materials for one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to try. The selective ablating rate would depending the type of material within the polycrystalline layer and a user could control which materials etch at a faster rate in order to pick. As a result, the selective laser etching process has a limited amount of materials that are to be controlled and adjusting which materials are used would be a mere matter of user design choice.
Further, Harrison discloses, in the similar field of ablating a native surface using lasers (Abstract, “A method for creating a mark ( 16) with a desired colour on an article ( 40), wherein the article ( 40) comprises a metal ( 44) having a metal surface ( 5), and which method comprises: providing a laser ( 1) for emitting a laser beam”), where surface roughness in the micrometer range can be achieved through combining energy density ratio and line spacing adjustments (Page 7, last Para., “The method of the present invention may include the step of selecting the spot to spot separation, the hatch distance, the pulse fluence, the pulse width, and the number of times each line is written such that the mark has a surface roughness average Ra value less than or equal to fifty microns.”, where pulse fluence is explained above to be an energy density ratio control, and where the number of times each line is written would be the line spacing of the locations where light is delivered). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the surface roughness in modified Puyt to be achieved through controlling the pulse fluence and line spacing as taught by Harrison.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage being able to produce marks without inks or chemicals without substantially degrading the smoothness of the surface, which is important in the field of jewelry, as stated by Harrison, Page 8, Para. 1, “The surface roughness average Ra value may be less than or equal to five microns. The ability to produce marks, without the use of inks or chemicals, on bare metal surfaces that are smooth, is a particularly novel and surprising aspect of the method of the invention. The ability to produce marks without substantially degrading the smoothness of the bare metal surface is important in jewellery manufacture.”.
Claims 4, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puyt et al. (US 20100296073 A1, hereinafter Puyt) in view of Sugiyama et al. (US 20180213642 A1, hereinafter Sugiyama) and Harrison et al. (WO 2017198986 A1, hereinafter Harrison) in further view of Abdolvand (WO 2017153750 A1).
Regarding claim 4, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses where selective ablation reducing a surface area for contacting the object (Puyt, Abstract, “The top surface of at least one of the protrusions includes a plurality of elements that define a reduced contact area between the substrate and the top surface of the protrusion.”, where ablation allows for stickiness to be reduce further, Para. 0046, “By providing variations in the local maxima heights, the sticking effect may even be further reduced, as the effective contact area between the substrate 4 and the burls 2, 3 may be reduced while small normal forces apply.”).
Modified Puyt does not disclose:
further comprising; controlling a light source for the directing, wherein the controlling comprises setting an energy density of the light source to generate light having a fluence at the native surface that, when directed to the surface, causes the ablation to be selective ablation of the native surface based on an atomic structure of the native surface.
However, Abdolvand discloses, in the similar field of laser ablating the surface of a material (Abstract, “…a series of laser pulses emitted by a laser (4) to the surface of a target (10) to produce a periodic arrangement of structures on the surface of the target (10).”), where the light source can be controlled to have an energy density directed to selectively ablate the atomic structure of the surface of the native surface (Page 4, lines 30-37, “The laser pulses may have a duration such that the electrons and the atomic lattice of the material of the surface have a substantially different temperature substantially throughout application of the laser pulses. The laser pulses may have a duration such that material of the surface is at least one of evaporated or vaporised or removed without substantial melting and/or flowing of the surface. The laser pulses may have a duration such that some material of the surface is at least one of evaporated or vaporised or removed without substantial melting and/or flowing of the remaining material of the surface.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the laser and ablation process in modified Puyt to include selective ablation of a top surface based on the atomic structure as taught by Abdolvand.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to ablate the top surface of a native surface while material underneath that top layer can be preserved and not touched, which can help with creating structures located on the top most surface, as stated by Abdolvand, Page 4, lines 35-37, “The laser pulses may have a duration such that some material of the surface is at least one of evaporated or vaporised or removed without substantial melting and/or flowing of the remaining material of the surface.”
Regarding claim 12, modified Puyt teaches the apparatus according to claim 11, as set forth above, discloses the operations further comprising: the selective ablation reducing a surface area for contacting the object (Puyt, Abstract, “The top surface of at least one of the protrusions includes a plurality of elements that define a reduced contact area between the substrate and the top surface of the protrusion.”, where ablation allows for stickiness to be reduce further, Para. 0046, “By providing variations in the local maxima heights, the sticking effect may even be further reduced, as the effective contact area between the substrate 4 and the burls 2, 3 may be reduced while small normal forces apply.”).
Modified Puyt does not disclose:
controlling a light source for the directing, wherein the controlling comprises setting an energy density of the light source to generate light having a fluence at the native surface that, when directed to the surface, causes the ablation to be selective ablation of the native surface based on an atomic structure of the native surface.
However, Abdolvand discloses, in the similar field of laser ablating the surface of a material (Abstract, “…a series of laser pulses emitted by a laser (4) to the surface of a target (10) to produce a periodic arrangement of structures on the surface of the target (10).”), where the light source can be controlled to have an energy density directed to selectively ablate the atomic structure of the surface of the native surface (Page 4, lines 30-37, “The laser pulses may have a duration such that the electrons and the atomic lattice of the material of the surface have a substantially different temperature substantially throughout application of the laser pulses. The laser pulses may have a duration such that material of the surface is at least one of evaporated or vaporised or removed without substantial melting and/or flowing of the surface. The laser pulses may have a duration such that some material of the surface is at least one of evaporated or vaporised or removed without substantial melting and/or flowing of the remaining material of the surface.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the laser and ablation process in modified Puyt to include selective ablation of a top surface based on the atomic structure as taught by Abdolvand.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to ablate the top surface of a native surface while material underneath that top layer can be preserved and not touched, which can help with creating structures located on the top most surface, as stated by Abdolvand, Page 4, lines 35-37, “The laser pulses may have a duration such that some material of the surface is at least one of evaporated or vaporised or removed without substantial melting and/or flowing of the remaining material of the surface.”.
Regarding claim 14, modified Puyt teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, as set forth above, discloses the controlling further comprising:
directing the light at separated locations on the native surface (Puyt, Fig. 7B, where the modified regions that have increased surface roughness are shown as 11, where they are separated by a cavity 5),
the directing causing the modified surface to comprise roughened areas having a separation between them (Puyt, Fig. 7B, where the modified regions that have increased surface roughness are shown as 11, where they are separated by a cavity 5).
Modified Puyt does not disclose:
causing ablation of a portion of the grain boundaries.
However, Sugiyama discloses, in the similar field of laser ablation (Para. 0104, “Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, an etching treatment or laser processing method, for example, is used to form holes 141 to 143 in the first insulating layer 121.”), where the laser energy density selectively ablates material within grain boundaries and leaves the crystalline grains in a surface (Para. 0177, “Moreover, the copper plating layer CP is a polycrystalline structure, and thus it is possible to make the degree of roughness more conspicuous via etching. This is because, normally, when considering the etching rate of grains and grain boundaries, the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher.”, where the laser energy density value is consistent, but the etching rate of the grain boundaries is higher and that causes the grain boundaries to be ablated). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the native surface ablation in modified Puyt to include the selective ablation of grain boundary material as taught by Sugiyama.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the surface roughness of polycrystalline substrates, where the grain boundary ablation allows for recesses and protrusions to be formed, as stated by Sugiyama, Para. 0179, “The copper plating layer CP is polycrystalline, and thus the surface has fine recesses and protrusions. Further, if etched, the boundaries around the grains will be removed, which will make the recesses and protrusions more conspicuous. There could also be a CZ treatment or the like. In other words, the surface becomes rough”.
Claim 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puyt et al. (US 20100296073 A1, hereinafter Puyt) in view of Sugiyama et al. (US 20180213642 A1, hereinafter Sugiyama) and Harrison et al. (WO 2017198986 A1, hereinafter Harrison) in further view of Gupta et al. (US 20130020297 A1, hereinafter Gupta).
Regarding claim 5, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Puyt does not disclose:
wherein: the increased roughness is expressed in terms of a ratio of an energy density of the light such that an energy density ratio of 1.0 forms a surface roughness of approximately 20 nm, an energy density ratio of 1.05 forms a surface roughness of approximately 25 nm, or an energy density ratio of 1.15 forms a surface roughness of approximately 30 nm.
However, Gupta discloses, in the similar field of ablating surfaces to increasing roughness (Para. 0045, “average roughness of laser treated a-Si:H surfaces at different laser fluences”), where laser fluence, which is the energy density of the laser beam in a given area, is correlated with surface roughness and where the roughness increases as the laser fluence in increases (Para. 0098, “Also, the average roughness of the surface correlates with the laser fluence, as illustrated in the graph in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows that the surface roughness increases approximately linearly with the laser fluence.”, where Fig. 9 shows roughness in the nanometer range). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the energy density and surface roughness in modified Puyt to include the relationship as taught by Gupta, where the examiner construes the energy density ratio as being a set laser fluence amount, where a ratio greater than 1 would mean that the laser fluence is greater than expected in a specific area, which would lead to an increase in the surface roughness.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to control the surface roughness to meet specific values through controlling the laser fluence values, as stated by Gupta, Para. 0098, “surface roughness increases approximately linearly with the laser fluence.”.
Regarding the specific surface roughness values and energy density ratios, it is the Examiner’s position that one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious, through routine experimentation, to selectively observe how specific laser fluence amounts form specific surface roughness values; where if a fluence amount is greater than an expected value, meaning that the ratio of received energy is not 100% or 1, then that greater fluence amount would be matched with a greater surface roughness value. See MPEP 2144.05, Section II A and B. Routine optimization would have been desired to one of ordinary skill in the art, as Gupta shows that graphs indication specific laser fluence to surface roughness correlations are known in the prior art; where one of ordinary skill would be able to create their own laser fluence to surface roughness correlations depending on the surface and material being ablated.
Claims 6 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Puyt et al. (US 20100296073 A1, hereinafter Puyt) in view of Sugiyama et al. (US 20180213642 A1, hereinafter Sugiyama) and Harrison et al. (WO 2017198986 A1, hereinafter Harrison) in further view of Abdolvand (WO 2017153750 A1) and Stehle (FR 2796388 A1).
Regarding claim 6, modified Puyt teaches the method according to claim 4, as set forth above.
Modified Puyt does not disclose:
the controlling further comprising: adjusting one or more of an intensity and/or focus of the light source to set the energy density based on a desired roughness of the modified surface.
However, Stehle discloses, in the similar field of laser ablation of a surface to increase the roughness (Claim 4, “…energy used for the treatment of the surface is applied to said surface optically from a laser beam source, and in that the adaptation of the roughness of said surface is obtained by photoablation.”), where the intensity of the laser can be adjusted to alter energy density to create a desired surface roughness (Page 4, Para. 2, “The adaptation of the surface roughness is obtained by adjustments of the laser in intensity, possibly in duration and in number of pulses. The crystallization rate and the crystallization depth are closely correlated with the energy parameters.”, where such adjustments in laser intensity change the energy density outputted). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the laser in modified Puyt to be capable of adjusting intensity in order to create a desired surface roughness as taught by Stehle.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing the surface to cater to an adhesive or decorative product by adjusting the surface roughness depending on the specific adhesive used, where this can be advantageous for Puyt in adjusting roughness to allow for detachment from different substrates, as stated by Stehle, Claim 1, “A process for preparing a surface before deposition of an adhesive or decorative product, characterized in that it comprises a treatment of this surface to adapt the roughness to the adhesive or decorative product to be deposited, especially in terms of depth perpendicular to said surface and spatial distribution in the plane of said surface.”, and Page 6, Para. 4, “Likewise, the geometry of the roughness profiles can vary according to the characteristics of the glues used.”.
Regarding claim 13, modified Puyt teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, as set forth above.
Modified Puyt does not disclose:
the controlling further comprising: adjusting one or more of an intensity and/or focus of the light source to set the energy density based on a desired roughness of the modified surface.
However, Stehle discloses, in the similar field of laser ablation of a surface to increase the roughness (Claim 4, “…energy used for the treatment of the surface is applied to said surface optically from a laser beam source, and in that the adaptation of the roughness of said surface is obtained by photoablation.”), where the intensity of the laser can be adjusted to alter energy density to create a desired surface roughness (Page 4, Para. 2, “The adaptation of the surface roughness is obtained by adjustments of the laser in intensity, possibly in duration and in number of pulses. The crystallization rate and the crystallization depth are closely correlated with the energy parameters.”, where such adjustments in laser intensity change the energy density outputted). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the laser in modified Puyt to be capable of adjusting intensity in order to create a desired surface roughness as taught by Stehle.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing the surface to cater to an adhesive or decorative product by adjusting the surface roughness depending on the specific adhesive used, where this can be advantageous for Puyt in adjusting roughness to allow for detachment from different substrates, as stated by Stehle, Claim 1, “A process for preparing a surface before deposition of an adhesive or decorative product, characterized in that it comprises a treatment of this surface to adapt the roughness to the adhesive or decorative product to be deposited, especially in terms of depth perpendicular to said surface and spatial distribution in the plane of said surface.”, and Page 6, Para. 4, “Likewise, the geometry of the roughness profiles can vary according to the characteristics of the glues used.”.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN GUANHUA WEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9940 and whose email is kevin.wen@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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/KEVIN GUANHUA WEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
12/19/2025
/IBRAHIME A ABRAHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3761