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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: “to with” should read --to--, --with--, or --to/with--. Appropriate correction is required.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 3/2/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “the features of independent claims 1 and 11 are sufficiently related that it would not be an undue burden for the Office to search them together.” This is not found persuasive because the Inventions are drawn to separate statutory classes, i.e. process vs product. This results in a divergent search, at least with respect to employing different search strategies or search queries. Additionally, there is an examination burden, as the product claims are likely to be rejectable using different references than the process claims, necessitating writing separate rejections.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 3/2/2026.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 4 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vix (US2017/0076966A1).
Vix discloses (refer to Figs. 2a-2c) the claimed invention as follows:
Claim 1. A method for assembling a semiconductor processing system (2) in a room of a semiconductor fabrication plant, the semiconductor processing system comprising at least one equipment module (9) and a pedestal (22), a first equipment module (9) of the at least one equipment module being movable (see [0049]; see arrows in Fig. 2c) over the pedestal to bring the first equipment module in an end position (e.g. against the stop 25), the first equipment module having a plurality of stop surfaces (sides of 22), the method comprising:
placing the pedestal in the room (see [0011]; it is understood the same applies with respect to base table 22);
providing at least two stops (four sides of frame 25);
placing the at least two stops on the pedestal (see Fig. 2a) and positioning the at least two stops in a horizontal plane defined by an X-direction and a Y-direction relative to reference elements (e.g. sides of 22, which is in the room) in the room;
connecting the at least two stops to the pedestal so that the positions of the at least two stops in the X-direction and the Y-direction are fixed relative to the pedestal (see Fig. 2a and [0052]); and
moving the first equipment module over the pedestal until the stop surfaces of the first equipment module abut against the least two stops (see [0052]) so as to position the first equipment module in the X-direction and the Y-direction relative to the reference elements (i.e. the frame 25 keeps the module 9 from sliding off the pedestal 22, positioned in the X-Y plane within the boundary defined by frame 25).
Claim 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the reference elements are one or more reference points in the room (e.g. sides of 22).
Claim 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein each stop of the at least two stops comprises a vertically extending
Claim 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein after positioning the at least one equipment module in the X-direction and the Y-direction, the at least one equipment module is vertically positioned in a Z-direction (see [0051]; table 18 of module 9 can be adjusted in the z-direction) and optionally after that coupled to with the pedestal.
Vix discloses the claimed invention, except it is unclear whether the frame 25 is attached to the base 22 prior to or after placing the base 22 in the room.
However, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to transport the various parts of the apparatus to the room, and assemble the various parts at that location, such as placing the base 22 on the floor, attaching the frame 25 to the base, and placing table 9 on the base 22, within frame 25, to ensure all the parts of the apparatus are properly assembled, leveled and calibrated at the location where the apparatus is to be used.
Regarding claim 4, the vertical parts of the frame 25 are shown as having rectangular prism shape. However, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to, alternatively, make them cylindrical, as changing the shape of the vertical elements would not change how the frame 25 functions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 5-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIVIUS R CAZAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8032. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday noon-8:30 pm ET.
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/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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