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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 5/29/2029 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claim 1 is amended in view of applicant’s response filed 5/29/2026. Claims 2-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11-12, 14-15 and 17-18 are canceled. Therefore, claims 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16 are currently under examination.
Status of Previous Rejections
The rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, has been withdrawn in view of applicant’s claim amendment in the response filed 5/29/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is amended to recite “such that yttrium oxyfluoride (YOF) forming a surface layer of a fluoride coating layer has a fluorine (F) content of 5 to 10 at.%”. However, instant claim 1 does not explicitly describe where the claimed yttrium from the oxyfluoride (YOF) surface layer is coming from. Nothing in claim 1 mentions that the fluorination-target component comprises yttrium. Although the instant specification discloses the presence of an yttria (Y2O3) coating layer and fluorinating the yttria (Y2O3) coating by atmospheric plasma spraying, paragraph [0089] of the instant specification indicates that the YOF fluoride layer was not clearly identified, even with the content of the F increases up to 15 at.%. Therefore, it is confusing if the scope of claim 1 include a fluorination target component comprising yttrium or yttria (Y2O3) coating layer or if the yttrium from YOF oxyfluoride is introduced during the claimed processing method. It is also not clear that the claimed yttrium oxyfluoride (YOF) is present as a integral part of a fluoride coating layer or a separate surface layer on a fluoride coating layer.
Therefore, the instant claim 1 is vague and indefinite.
Claims 4, 7, 10, 13 and 16 are also rejected since they depend on vague and indefinite claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 13 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR10-2161704(KR704).
KR704 teaches a process for fluorinating a surface of a target component, comprising:
Placing a target component in a processing chamber (Fig. 1 #600) having a plasma reaction space( area between Fig. 1 #100 and #10);
Introducing a mixed gas(Fig. 1. #300) into the processing chamber, wherein the mixed gas comprising a discharge gas such as He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe, a non-fluorine reactive gas such as O2, N2 and air, and a fluorine containing reactive gas such as CF4, C2F6 and C4F8[0013];
Supplying the mixed gas into the plasma reaction space via the processing chamber (Fig.1);
Applying a high-frequency power to the processing chamber and fluorinating the surface of the target component, wherein the plasma fluorination step is taking place at an atmospheric pressure[0026](Fig. 1 #100).
Examples 5-6 of KR704 further teach that the target component is yttria(i.e. yttrium oxide) coated aluminum plate[0105, 0111], wherein the surface of the yttria coating is fluorinated to form a layer of yttrium oxyfluoride[0108, 0113]. Example 6 of KR704 teaches Ar flow rate of 30 lpm, O2 flow rate of 0.1 lpm and CF4 flow rate of 0.3 lpm[0112], producing a Ar:O2:CF4 flow rate ratio of 30:0.1:0.3, which reads on the Ar:O2:CF4 flow rate ratio of the instant application. Example 6 of KR704 further teaches that the high-frequency power is supplied at 300 W and at frequency of 13.56 MHz [0112], which reads on the high frequency power disclosed by the instant application.
Examples 4 and 6-7 further teaches a distance between the target component and the plasma is 3.5mm[0101, 0112, 0118]. Example 5 of KR704 further teaches that the fluorination is performed without heating (i.e. at room temperature). Example 5 of KR704 shows fluorine penetration after the fluorination step can reach 120nm from the surface(i.e. 0.12µm)(Fig. 7a, [0108]), implying a coating thickness of 0.12 µm, which reads on the same fluoride coating thickness as the instant application. Example 6 of KR704 further shows a fluorination temperature of 350°C[0112] and fluorine penetration after the fluorination step reaching 200nm from the surface(i.e. 0.2µm)(Fig. 8a, [0113]), implying a coating thickness of 0.2 µm, which also reads on the same fluoride coating thickness as the instant invention.
Regarding claims 13 and 16, although KR704 does not explicitly teach the fluorine content in the yttrium oxyfluoride surface layer, KR704’s fluorination process has the same steps as the fluorination process of the instant application using the same amount of mixing gas with the same composition at the same fluorination temperature and under the same plasma power and frequency as claimed. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected that the formed yttrium oxyfluoride coating layer to have the same amount of fluorine content as claimed.
Although the process of KR704 do not explicitly include the repeated cycles of supplying mix gases and plasma generation with a pause time of 60sec to 10min in between, the fluorinated component obtained by the process of KR704 would have still have the claimed yttrium oxyfluoride surface layer with significantly similar fluorine content. Therefore, the fluorinated component produced by the process of KR704 reads on the claimed fluorinated component.
Lastly, claims 13 and 16 are product-by-process claims. It is well settled that a product-by-process claim defines a product, and that when the prior art discloses a product substantially the same as that being claimed, the burden falls upon the applicant to show that any process steps associated therewith results in a product materially different from that disclosed in the prior art. See In re Thorpe, (227 USPQ 964), In re Brown, (173 USPQ 685), In re Fessman, (180 USPQ 524) and MPEP 2113. Since the fluorinated component of KR704 is substantially the same as claimed fluorinated component, the burden falls upon the applicant to show that the claimed repeated cycles of supplying mix gases and plasma generation with a pause time of 60sec to 10min in between would result in a product materially different from the fluorinated component of KR704.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 4, 7 are 10 are free of art rejections.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art is KR10-2161704(KR704), whose teaching are discussed in section 8 above. However, KR704 also does not teach the claimed one or more repeated cycles of mixed gas supplying step and plasma generation step, wherein a pause time between the cycles is 60 seconds to 10 minutes.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the same reasons set forth in the rejection of claims 13 and 16 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOIS L ZHENG whose telephone number is (571)272-1248. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:15-4:45.
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LOIS ZHENG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/LOIS L ZHENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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