DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/12/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ submission, filed on 11/12/2025, in response to the rejection of claims 1, 6-9, and 26-29 from the final office action (08/13/2025), by amending claim 1 is entered and will be addressed below.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-24 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Invention group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Interpretations
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
The newly added “one or more confining elements“ in claim 1, this is considered magnetic element (P32, 2nd complete paragraph), or electromagnet (P33, bottom).
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
The following are considered as an intended use of the apparatus:
“such that the first temperature is different from the second temperature” of claim 1,
When an apparatus that is capable of performing the claimed process/function, it is considered read into the claim.
It has been held that claim language that simply specifies an intended use or field of use for the invention generally will not limit the scope of a claim (Walter, 618 F.2d at 769, 205 USPQ at 409; MPEP 2106). Additionally, in apparatus claims, intended use must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim (In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967); In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963); MPEP2111.02). When the structure recited in the reference is substantially identical to that of the claims, claimed properties or functions are presumed to be inherent (In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977); MPEP 2112.01).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 6-9, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHADSEY Jr. et al. (US 2665320, from IDS, hereafter ‘320), in view of Erb et al. (DE 102013219999, from IDS, hereafter’999), KAZAMA et al. (JP H08193262, from IDS, hereafter ‘262) and Maschwitz et al. (US 6444945, hereafter ‘945).
‘320 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: In the present invention the apparatus for evaporating and depositing the metal coating in vacuum preferably includes a vacuum-tight chamber (Fig. 1, col. 2, lines 20-22, includes the claimed “A deposition system comprising”):
The means for vaporizing the metal comprises a metal-holding crucible 22 having a main body portion 24, in which the metal 26 is to be held in molten condition and heated to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the metal at a high rate under the pressure existing in the vacuum chamber 12 (col. 3, lines 39-45), The heating means, in a preferred form, comprises an induction heating means, such as an induction coil, which is capable of inducing eddy currents in the metal and in the walls of the crucible to heat the metal up to the desired high temperature (col. 2, lines 32-37), This heating means preferably comprises an induction coil having a portion 34 for heating the main body of the crucible and the metal carried thereby and a portion 36 for heating the lip 28 of the metal-holding crucible (col. 3, lines 51-55, includes the claimed “an induction crucible apparatus configured to produce a material vapour, wherein, in use, the induction crucible apparatus is configured to inductively heat a crucible to generate two or more thermal zones in the crucible; wherein the induction crucible apparatus comprises: the crucible; a first induction coil arranged around a first portion of the crucible; and a second induction coil arranged around a second portion of the crucible “);
These advantages are achieved by maintaining a sufficient temperature differential between the upper edge of the crucible and the main body portion thereof so that this upper edge is at a temperature in the neighborhood of about 1000 C. higher than the temperature of the molten metal in the crucible (col. 2, line 50 to col. 3, line 1, includes the claimed “wherein the first induction coil, second induction coil are configured to generate a first thermal zone at a first temperature in at least a first portion of the crucible and a second thermal zone at a second temperature in at least a second portion of the crucible, such that the first temperature is different from the second temperature“);
Within the chamber 12 there is provided a means for supporting a base material to be coated, this means being shown schematically as a first spool 16 and a second spool 18 carrying therebetween the base material 20 (col. 3, lines 34-38, includes the claimed “a substrate support configured to support a substrate”).
‘320 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 1: (1A) (a first induction coil arranged around a first portion of the crucible) and electrically connected to a first electric power source; and
(a second induction coil arranged around a second portion of the crucible) and electrically connected to a second electric power source, wherein the first electric power source is different from the second electric power source;
(wherein the first induction coil), first electric power source, (second induction coil), and second electric power source (are configured to generate a first thermal zone at a first temperature in at least a first portion of the crucible and a second thermal zone at a second temperature in at least a second portion of the crucible, such that the first temperature is different from the second temperature);
a control system configured to independently control the first electric power source and second electric power source, and thus independently control the first temperature of the first thermal zone and the second temperature of the second thermal zone;
(1B) and a plasma source configured to generate a plasma between the induction crucible apparatus and the substrate support such that transmission of the material vapour at least partly through the plasma generates a deposition material for deposition on the substrate, wherein the plasma source further comprises one or more confining elements configured to confine the plasma within the deposition zone such that the plasma is generated and confined between the induction crucible apparatus and the substrate support such that the plasma is absent from the crucible.
‘999 is analogous art in the field of Pot Vaporizer (title), a crucible evaporator, in particular for use in coating plants for coating substrates by means of gas separation (abstract). ’999 teaches that To heat the crucible, n heating elements 11 are used, in the case shown n = 2 heating elements, one being arranged on the base surface and another on the top surface of the crucible 1. The two heating elements 11 shown are supplied by power supplies 110, 111 (Fig. 1, English translation, [0016]), To regulate the evaporation rate from the crucible 1, a control device 4 is provided, with which the power supply to the heating devices 11 and thus the temperature of the melt 10 can be regulated via the temperature controller 41 ([0020]), for the purpose of maintaining the evaporation rate at a desired constant value ([0012]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have replaced single power supply 38 of ‘310 with two power supplies regulated by the temperature controller 41 of ‘999 (the limitation of 1A), for the purpose of for the purpose of maintaining the evaporation rate at a desired constant value, as taught by ‘999 ([0012]).
‘262 is analogous art in the field of the present invention heats an object to be processed in a vacuum container into which oxygen is introduced and evaporates aluminum, and the evaporated particles are treated as the object to be processed ([0006]), A substrate holder 8 is provided above the inside of the vacuum container 1 so that the substrate 7 as the object to be processed is attached so as to face the crucible 3 (Fig. 1, [0013]). ’262 teaches that a pressure gradient type hollow cathode type plasma gun 11 as a plasma generator for generating plasma 10 between the substrate 7 and the crucible 3 in the container 1 is attached to the side of the vacuum container 1. At the same time, a counter electrode 12 dedicated to plasma is provided on the side of the container 1 facing the plasma gun 11 to increase the ionization rate ([0014]), aluminum is melted and heated to evaporate, and a part of the evaporated particles is ionized or excited by the plasma 10 to become active, and adheres to the substrate 7 to form an alumina film on the substrate 7 ([0018]), an alumina film forming method capable of forming an α-alumina film at a low temperature in a short time ([0005]) and The distance between the center of the plasma 10 and the substrate 7 is controlled to 100-700mm, and hence the substrate 7 is not affected with the heat of the plasma 10 (abstract, Fig. 1 shows crucible is further away from plasma 10 than substrate 7, similar to Applicants’ Fig. 7. Note the object to be processed is up to 700 mm, [0006], therefore, the distance between plasma 10 and the crucible is much larger than Applicants’ minimum of 1 mm, middle of page 35).
‘262 further teaches that a focusing coil 16 is provided outside the vacuum container 1 (page 4, 3rd paragraph). However, ‘262 is silent on what the focusing coil 16 is made of.
‘945 is analogous art in the field of Applications of the bipolar plasma source of the invention include (i) an effusion cell in which heat used to evaporate the evaporant material is directly or indirectly supplied by plasma generated within two opposed hollow cathodes (col. 1, lines 15-19). ’945 teaches that The plasma sheet source of the application illustrated in FIG. 5 also includes two facing hollow cathode structures 30,31, but the hollow cathode structures are positioned between a vacuum deposition source 32 and a substrate 33 to be coated. The vacuum deposition source 32 may be a source corresponding to the effusion source illustrated in FIG. 4, but is not limited to such a plasma-heated source. In this application, the hollow cathode structures are arranged to generate a plasma in a gas which is to be combined with emissions from the source to form a coating on the substrate (col. 9, lines 56-65), In order to restrict the electron path between the hollow cathodes to a straight line directly between the hollow cathode shapes, a magnetic field is established parallel to the electron path, by magnets 34,35,36,37 having complementary facing poles extending along the edges of the cathode slots. Magnets 34,35,36,37 may either be permanent magnets or electro-magnetics and are arranged so as to provide a uniform magnetic field (col. 10, lines 5-12), the magnetics field also has the advantage of causing the electrons to travel in a confined path within the parallel electric and magnetic fields. The confined path increases the chance of collisions between electrons and gas molecules, further improving the ratio of energized species (col. 10, lines 20-25).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a plasma generator 11 further away from the crucible than the substrate of ‘262, between the substrate 20 and the crucible 22 of ‘320, furthermore, to have replaced the focusing coil 16 of ‘262 with magnets 34,35,36,37 of ‘945, (the limitation of 1B), for the purpose of forming film at a low temperature in a short time, as taught by ‘262 ([0005]) and for the purpose of confine electron path and improving the ratio of energized species, as taught by ‘945 (col. 10, lines 20-25).
‘262 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 6-7: The plasma gun 11 is connected to a plasma gas tank 13 for supplying an inert gas which is a plasma processing gas, for example, Ar, and is also connected to an oxygen tank 14 which supplies oxygen as a reaction gas. , Ar . ([0015], includes the claimed “comprising a gas supply system configured to provide at least one gas between the induction crucible apparatus and the substrate support” of claim 6 and “wherein the gas supply system comprises at least one of: a first gas inlet to provide a first gas though the plasma, in use” of claim 7).
Claim 7: An oxygen tank 15 as a reaction gas is connected to the side of the vacuum container 1, and oxygen necessary for film formation (including oxygen supplied to the plasma gun) is supplied into the container 1 ([0017], includes the claimed “a second gas inlet to provide a second gas between the plasma and the induction crucible apparatus, in use”, an alternative rejection of the claim 7).
Claim 8: Fig. 1 shows valve to each of the gas tank 13-15 (includes the claimed “wherein the gas supply system is configured to control a rate at which the at least one gas is provided between the induction crucible apparatus and the substrate support”).
Claim 9: Fig. 1 shows the claimed “wherein the deposition system is configured to transmit the material vapour at least partly through the plasma and at least partly through the gas to interact material of the material vapour with the at least one gas and/or the plasma to generate the deposition material, in use”).
The combination of ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 further teaches the limitations of:
Claim 27: by dividing the two portion of coil 32 of ‘320 into two independent coils as taught by ‘999 would have had the claimed “wherein the induction crucible apparatus only utilizes the first and second induction coils for heating and is free of other heating systems”.
Claims 28, and alternatively claims 1, 6-9, and 27, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945, as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of MIYAMOTO (US 20180067339, hereafter ’339).
The combination of ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 26: wherein the plasma source is spaced apart from the induction crucible apparatus by more than 1 meter.
‘262 further teaches coating optical thin films ([0002]).
‘339 is analogous art in the field of a vacuum evaporation device (hereinafter also simply called “evaporation device”) 30 used to form the layers 7a and 7b to 11a and 11b of the optical multilayer films 3a and 3b (Fig. 3, [0113]). ’339 teaches that ion-beam assisted deposition ([0122]), the ion gun 37 placed away from the evaporation source 35a (Fig. 4, [0125]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have moved the imported plasma gun 11 from ‘262 away from the crucible 22 of ‘320, for the purpose of ion-beam assisted deposition forming optical films, as taught by ‘339. As a result, the distance between the plasma source and the induction crucible is an effect parameter. It has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Placing the plasma gun away from the crucible 22 of ‘320 clearly reads into “the plasma is absent from the crucible” of claim 1. The rejection of dependent claims 6-9 and 27 are discussed above.
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 (optionally with ‘339), as being applied to claim 6 rejection above, further in view of Erb et al. (JP 2015137405, from IDS and previously cited, hereafter ’405).
The combination of ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 (optionally with ‘339) does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 26: wherein the gas supply system comprises a gas inlet arranged to provide a gas between the plasma and the substrate support.
‘405 is analogous art in the field of FILM DEPOSITION METHOD AND FERROELECTRIC FILM (title). ’405 teaches that In the vacuum vessel 2, an evaporation source 4 (4 a, 4 b, 4 c) that evaporates the film forming material, a reaction gas supply pipe 5 that supplies oxygen (O2 ) as a reaction gas into the vacuum vessel 2 (middle of page 2, Fig. 1 shows the outlet of pipe 5 is between the plasma 20 and the substrate support/holder 6), an oxide thin film having a perovskite structure (middle of page 2).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a gas supply pipe between the plasma generator 11 and the substrate support of ‘262, and then combined with ‘320, for the purpose of an oxide thin film having a perovskite structure, as taught by ‘405 (middle of page 2).
Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 (optionally with ‘339), as being applied to claim 1 rejection above, further in view of Nam et al. (US 20210017640, hereafter ’640).
The combination of ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 (optionally with ‘339) also teaches some limitations of:
Claim 29: the induction coil are continuous over two portions 34, 36, by dividing the two portions into independent coil as taught by ’999 would have had the claimed “wherein at least one of the first induction coil or the second induction coil comprises a continuous coil of wire having a plurality of turns of wire”.
The combination of ‘320, ‘999, ‘262, and ‘945 (optionally with ‘339) does not teach the limitations of:
Claim 29: wherein the plurality of turns of wire are arranged around a central axis in circles with increasing radii.
‘640 is analogous art in the field of DEPOSITION APPARATUS (title), a crucible (Fig. 3, [0009]), An induction heating unit 25 used the same induction heating unit ([0047]). ’640 teaches that The shape of the non-floating induction heating unit 25 is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, various types such as a vertical type, a V type, and the like may be used, and the number of windings may vary, such as 2 or 5 turns ([0052]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have changed the induction coil 32 of ‘320 into V-shaped as shown in Fig. 4(c) of ‘640, for its suitability with predictable results. The selection of something based on its known suitability for its intended use has been held to support a prima facie case of obviousness. MPEP 2144.07.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/12/2025 have been fully considered but they are not convincing in light of the new grounds of rejection above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 4016389 is cited for increasing coil radii around a crucible (Fig. 12, compared to Fig. 11).
US 20180245207 is cited for independent heaters 210H, 220H and controller 80 (Fig. 1B).
Applicants’ IDS, each of KR 20150076890 (Fig. 1) shows plasma absent from the crucible.
US 20200063254 is cited for independent control of two inductive coils to heat of crucible (Fig. 22), may include plasma in the crucible ([0128]). Note this has an earlier date than KR 20180062918 from IDS.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEATH T CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1870. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00 pm.
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/KEATH T CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716