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 Amendment
The amendment and/or arguments submitted on 06/01/2026 is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claims 1-17 are pending:
Claims 1, 12-17 are examined on the merits
Claims 2-11 are withdrawn
Claims 14-17 are new
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments and/or amendments, with respect to specification objections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The specification objections of record has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and/or amendments, with respect to claim limitations invoking an interpretation under 112f have been fully considered.
Applicant’s amendments have provided corresponding structure to achieve the function for “gas supply unit” and “gas exhaust unit”.
After further consideration, the office is reading “temperature controlling space” as a naming convention to label the instant “space”, as the space itself does not control the temperature, but rather the space is the location that temperature is controlled via the gas supply/exhaust structure surrounding the space; and therefore the instant term does not invoke an interpretation under 112f.
Applicant’s arguments and/or amendments, with respect to claim objections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The claim objections of record has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and/or amendments, with respect to 35 USC 102 art rejection by Wang (CN 112 013 674) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 102 art rejection of record has been withdrawn.
In particular, the amendment of new matter (see corresponding section below) to redefine the “temperature controlling space” to be located in the space between the inner and outer cylinder within the processing chamber, while maintaining the supply / exhaust unit structure within the furnace body, and requiring that the supply / exhaust units of the furnace body fluidly interact with the interior space within the processing chamber (as opposed to the prior space between the furnace body and the outside of the processing chamber) overcomes the arrangement of Wang.
Wang discloses that the first space in the interior of the processing chamber and the second space between the outside of the processing chamber and the inside of the furnace body are fluidly separate, as does applicant’s disclosure.
Applicant’s assertions, page 3-6, are dependent upon the claimed gas flow path that is defined by the new matter amendment.
The office respectfully agrees that Wang fails to disclose the scope of the new matter claim scope. The office respectfully notes that applicant’s disclosure also fails to disclose the scope of the new matter.
Applicant asserts, page 6, that new claims 14-17 are allowable based on the assertions on pages 3-6 in the context of independent claims 1/12.
The office respectfully notes that new dependent claims 14-17 have the same new matter issues as discussed above due to dependency.
Claim Interpretation
Language and/or terms in the claims are interpreted as follows:
“temperature controlling space” is being read as a naming convention to label the instant “space”, as the space itself does not control temperature, but rather the space provides the location in which temperature is controlled via the gas supply/exhaust structure surrounding the space.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1, 12-17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1
Claim 1 and in particular limitations “a gas supply unit including a plurality of supply flow paths provided in the reinforcing part along an axial direction of the furnace body and a plurality of supply holes provided in the heat insulating part along the axial direction and configured to supply a cooling gas to a temperature controlling space between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder; … the gas exhaust unit is configured to exhaust the gas in the temperature controlling space the plurality of exhaust holes and the plurality of exhaust flow paths to an outside of the reinforcing part.” fails to comply with the written description requirement, as the subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the cited limitation.
See Fig6 for clarity:
The disclosed temperature controlling space 53 is located between the furnace body 50 and the processing chamber 10. The gas exhaust unit 70 exhausts space 53. The instant claimed “a temperature controlling space between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder” would correspond to the interior region of the processing chamber 10, which is exhausted by processing gas exhaust unit 40. All of the required structure of the gas supply unit and the gas exhaust unit correspond to the structure in the furnace body 50, which does not correspond to the instantly claimed interior region of the processing chamber 10. Resulting in the claimed arrangement not having written support due to the new matter of the amended claim language. Therefore, the amended structure defining the instant temperature controlling space in combination with how the gas flows through the arrangement is new matter.
Claim 12
Claim 12 and in particular limitations “supplying a cooling gas to a temperature controlling space between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder by a gas supply unit including a plurality of supply flow paths provided in the reinforcing part along the axial direction and a plurality of supply holes provided in the heat insulating part along the axial direction; … wherein the exhausting the gas exhausts the gas in the temperature controlling space by the gas exhaust unit to the outside of the reinforcing part via the plurality of exhaust holes and the plurality of exhaust flow paths.” fails to comply with the written description requirement, as the subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the cited limitation.
See Fig6 for clarity:
The disclosed temperature controlling space 53 is located between the furnace body 50 and the processing chamber 10. The gas exhaust unit 70 exhausts space 53. The instant claimed “a temperature controlling space between the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder” would correspond to the interior region of the processing chamber 10, which is exhausted by processing gas exhaust unit 40. All of the required structure of the gas supply unit and the gas exhaust unit correspond to the structure in the furnace body 50, which does not correspond to the instantly claimed interior region of the processing chamber 10. Resulting in the claimed arrangement not having written support due to the new matter of the amended claim language. Therefore, the amended structure defining the instant temperature controlling space in combination with how the gas flows through the arrangement is new matter.
Claims dependent on rejected claims are rejected based on dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 11,462,401 to Takagi: Fig1, heat-resistant quartz / SiC materialled curved and flat top processing chamber cylinders with multiple wafers as claimed in Claim 16-17
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 JOHN HUNTER JR whose telephone number is (571)272-5093. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-18.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached at (571) 270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN S HUNTER, JR/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
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