CTNF 18/218,794 CTNF 80577 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Election/Restrictions 08-25-01 Applicant’s election with traverse of Claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 3/2/26 is acknowledged. Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1, 5, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kumar et al. (US Pub. No. 2018/0374736) . Regarding claim 1, Kumar discloses a bipolar electrostatic chuck, comprising: an electrostatic chuck; and a plurality of electrodes disposed in the electrostatic chuck, wherein the plurality of electrodes include a positive electrode (220A) arranged in a first pattern comprising a plurality of first arcuate bands (1ab: see below) coupled together via first connection fingers (224A) that extend radially therebetween and a negative electrode (220B) arranged in a second pattern comprising a plurality of second arcuate bands (2ab) coupled together via second connection fingers (224B) that extend radially therebetween, wherein the plurality of first arcuate bands are arranged in an alternating pattern with the plurality of second arcuate bands, wherein there is a gap between the first pattern and the second pattern (paragraph 28. Please note, paragraph 28 recites and explains the location of the gap as “225”, however, it is inadvertently left out/not indicated in the figures). [AltContent: textbox (2ab)] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] [AltContent: arrow] PNG media_image1.png 488 562 media_image1.png Greyscale [AltContent: textbox (1ab)] Regarding claim 5, Kumar discloses wherein the plurality of first arcuate Bands (1ab) include a plurality of first fingers (224A) extending from one or both sides of each of the first arcuate bands and the plurality of second arcuate bands (2ab) include a plurality of second fingers (224B) extending from one or both sides of each of the second arcuate bands (see figure above). Regarding claim 8, Kumar discloses wherein at least one of: the plurality of first fingers (224A) of a radially innermost first arcuate band of the plurality of first arcuate (1ac) bands extend only radially outward from the radially innermost first arcuate band, or the plurality of second fingers (224B) of a radially outermost second arcuate band of the plurality of second arcuate bands (2ac) extend only radially outward from the radially outermost second arcuate band (see figure above). Regarding claim 9, Kumar discloses wherein the plurality of first fingers (224A) and the plurality of second fingers (224B) are generally alternately arranged such that individual first fingers (224A) are disposed between adjacent individual second fingers (224B) and individual second fingers (224B) are disposed between adjacent individual first fingers (224A) (figure 2) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 2-4, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar et al. (US Pub. No. 2018/0374736) . Kumar discloses all aspects of the invention as set forth in the rejection above. Regarding claims 2, 6 and 7, Kumar discloses “The electrode fingers 224A, 224B (i.e. first and second fingers) may be formed with different lengths and geometry thus reads on the claimed limitation of the gap between the first pattern and the second pattern is about 0.5 mm to about 1.5 mm, the fingers having a width of 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm and at least some of the plurality of first fingers and at least some of the plurality of second fingers being tapered so that a width of the first fingers and a width of the second fingers vary along a length of the first fingers and a length of the second fingers. Regarding claim 3, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old and well known in the chucking art to includes a central gas opening for the purpose of having uniform cooling/heating of the wafer, have simpler gas routing etc. Regarding claim 4, Kumar discloses the claimed invention (i.e. plurality of first arcuate bands and plurality of second arcuate bands) except for it being 10 to about 20 bands. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to choose any number of arcuate bands depending on the size, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co. , 193 USPQ 8. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARA ADDISU at (571) 272-6082. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (Mondays and Wednesday-Friday). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil K. Singh can be reached on (571) 272-3460 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SARA ADDISU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722 6/10/26 Application/Control Number: 18/218,794 Page 2 Art Unit: 3722
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