DETAILED ACTION
Elections/Restrictions
1. This office action is a response to Applicant's election filed on 07/20/2026 without traverse of Group I, claims 1-7 & 9-21 for further examination. Claim 8 was cancelled. Claims 7, 9, 12-13 & 15-16 were amended. Claim 21 is new.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/10/2023 & 04/11/2025 are being considered by the examiner.
References lined-through were not considered as an English abstract or translation has not been provided.
Drawings
4. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “second stage” recited in claims 1, 5, 7 & 15 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
5. Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: it depends from cancelled claim 8.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-7 & 9-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
As regards to claims 1, 7 & 15, line 3 recites “a substrate” then line 7 recites “a substrate” then lines 8 & 11 recite “the substrate” wherein it is unclear whether they are all the same or different. For examination purposes, examiner is interpreting “a substrate” in line 7 as “the substrate”. To correct this problem, amend line 7 to recite “the substrate”.
As regards to claims 1, 7, & 15, last line recites “substrate mounted on the second stage” however line 3 recites “first stage configured to mount a substrate” wherein it is unclear how the substrate gets mounted on the second stage after being mounted on the first stage. For examination purposes, examiner is interpreting “a flow” as the volumetric flow rate. To correct this problem, amend claim 1 to recite “a volumetric flow rate”.
As regards to claim 6, line 3 recites “an edge-coated substrate” which is previously recited in claim 1, lines 11-12 and referenced as “the edge-coated substrate” in claim 1 lines 15 & 17, wherein it is unclear whether they are all the same or different. For examination purposes, examiner is interpreting “an edge-coated substrate” as “the edge-coated substrate”. To correct this problem, amend claim 6 to recite “the edge-coated substrate”.
Claims 2-6, 9-14 & 16-21 are rejected at least based on their dependency from claims 1, 7 & 15.
Because the claims are indefinite, assessing the scope of the claim in its entirety and establishing a further rejection would require speculation with regard to the metes and bounds of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, it is not clear which problem the
invention is trying to solve, and how the technical features contribute to it. As far as understood from the application, the invention aims at depositing a layer to the peripheral surface of a substrate. However, these features are known to one of ordinary skill in the art and disclosed in Kawakami et al. (JP 2018049987 A). After resolving the AIA 35 U.S.C. 112(b) issues, the Applicant is therefore invited to provide amendments/arguments in support of the inventive features, particularly emphasis should be given to the features, technical effect and to the problem to be solved.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: all references cited on the attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited excluding the above relied upon references.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jethro M Pence whose telephone number is (571)270-7423. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 8:00 A.M. - 6:30 P.M..
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dah-Wei D. Yuan can be reached on 571-272-1295. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jethro M. Pence/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1717
Prosecution Insights