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 .
Response to Arguments
Regarding the previous rejection of claims 20, 37-38, 44, 46, and 54 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), the claim amendments dated 05/26/2026 have overcome the rejections with the exception of one remaining issue in claim 44. This claim contains one remaining recitation of the term “substantially” which gives rise to an issue of indefiniteness as discussed in the prior Office Action.
Applicant’s arguments, see pp. 7-11, filed 05/26/2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 20, 37-38, 44, 46 and 54 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wagner et al. in view of Madrid have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
However, the claim amendments dated 05/26/2026 have necessitated a new grounds of rejection, presented below.
Claim Objections
Claims 20 and 38 objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 20, it is believed “a pulse laser configured to illuminate one or more of the chambers comprising the plurality of chambers, where the laser is configured to heat the metal region in each chamber and a fluid contained within the respective chambers transforms the fluid into a supercritical fluid that ejects out to the front surface of the substrate through the one or more microchannels” should read “a pulse laser configured to illuminate one or more of the chambers comprising the plurality of chambers, where the laser is configured to heat the metal region in each chamber and a fluid contained within the respective chambers to transform[[s]] the fluid into a supercritical fluid that ejects out to the front surface of the substrate through the one or more microchannels” or similar.
In claim 38, it is believed that “the metal region comprises a metal disk or metal film ranges from about 1 µm up to about 30 µm in average diameter” should read “the metal region comprises a metal disk or metal film that ranges from about 1 µm up to about 30 µm in average diameter” or similar.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 37-38 and 44 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.
Regarding claim 37, the claim states that “each chamber comprising the plurality of chambers comprises a metal region”. However, claim 20, from which claim 37 depends, already recites that “each chamber comprising the plurality of chambers comprises a metal region disposed on the bottom surface or the wall”. Therefore, it would appear that the base claim already recites the same subject matter and it is unclear how claim 37 further limits the subject matter of the base claim. Thus, the metes and bounds of claim 37 are unclear.
The term “substantially” in claim 44 (line 3) is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The specification appears to merely restate the claim language and does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree of the term “substantially”.
Dependent claims are rejected for the same reason as the base claim upon which they depend.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 20, 46, and 54 are allowed.
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.
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/HOLLY KIPOUROS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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