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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Claims 17-32 are pending in the current application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 29-30 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yudovsky (US 20120225195).
As to claim 29, Yudovsky discloses a continuous flow vacuum system comprising:
A vacuum chamber with a plurality of treatment stations (figure 3: system 300 with vacuum chamber; paragraph 43);
A transport device with at least one carrier (figure 3: wheel 350 with carriers 370);
The carrier having multiple positions including a load/unload position (figure 3: load/unload area at 332 for plurality of carriers 370 with substrates 360).
As to the limitations of the use of the substrate holding positions for various purposes (test, empty, etc.), the manner of operating a device does not differentiate an apparatus claim from the prior art. A recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structure limitations of the claim. MPEP 2114. In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997). As discussed above, Yudovsky discloses a multiple substrate holding positions with loading and unloading mechanisms.
As to claim 30, Yudovsky discloses providing any desired number of positions and stations for the substrate carrier (paragraph 51).
As to claim 32, Yudovsky discloses a load/unload station for removing and adding substrates (figure 3: load unload area 332 with robots 382/384).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 26-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yudovsky (US 20120225195) in view of Zejda (US 5803521).
As to claim 26, Yudovsky discloses a loading station comprising:
A planar receiving surface to hold a substrate (figure 3: system 300 with substrate carriers 370);
A gripper configured to hold a substrate on the receiving surface (figure 3: robot arm 382 for loading substrates to carriers);
A movement unit to move the gripper in a direction perpendicular to the receiving surface (paragraph 42: robot capable of movement in vertical direction [perpendicular to carrier surface] to load and unload substrates – necessarily involving a ‘unit’ to move the robot).
Yudovsky, while disclosing a substrate loading station in an apparatus for processing a substrate at various processing stations with a gripper to transfer the substrate, is silent as to activatable and deactivatable holding of the substrate.
Zejda discloses a gripper for transferring a planar substrate within a processing apparatus with multiple processing stations (abstract; col 1 lines 23-29). Zedja also discloses knowledge in the art of using a gripping mechanism for activatable and deactivatable gripping of the substrate for its movement (figure 2: gripper arms 24-25 with movement of arm 24 to grip/release substrate 3) in a quick and reliable way (col 1 lines 60-64).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a gripping mechanism as disclosed by Zejda, in the system of Yudovsky, because this allows for quick and reliable gripping of planar substrates.
As to claim 27, Yudovsky discloses a rotation axis perpendicular to the holding surface (figure 3: showing rotation axis [unlabelled – drawn circle centers for rotation – axes into and out of drawn page] perpendicular to holder 370 surface).
As to claim 28, Zejda discloses a spring compressible perpendicular to the substrate surface [and therefore oriented the same with respect to a holding surface and cushioning with respect to the surface] (figure 3: spring 30 within gripping structure).
Claim(s) 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yudovsky as applied to claim 29 above, and further in view of Koh (US 20080075858).
As to claim 31, Yudovsky discloses a processing system with a plurality of processing stations and a carrier rotating between stations, but is silent as to a shield facing the processing side of the carrier.
Koh discloses a vacuum processing system in which substrates are rotated between processing stations (figure 2b) the individual stations separated by a shield to allow for separate atmospheres at each processing station (figure 2b: unlabeled divided shield between stations; abstract; paragraphs 63-64).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a shield, as disclosed by Koh, in the system of Yudovsky, because this allows for separation of processing stations atmospheres to prevent cross contamination.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-25 are allowed.
Claim 17 requires a method in which substrates being moved through a plurality of processing steps include a test substrate which is in-situ removed and replaced with a second test substrate and testing is performed in the test substrates.
While prior art exists disclosing substrates moving through processing stations, loading and unloading at the beginning and end of processing, and various testing methods for testing treated substrates, none of the methods include the step of removal and replacing the test substrate after a first treatment and movement of the second substrate to a different subsequent treatment.
Correspondence Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON BERMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5265. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday 8-4.
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/JASON BERMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794