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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 01/27/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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) 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Yamauchi et al (WO 2018/084285 – see US2023/0136771 for English version).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Yamauchi discloses a surface modification method (N2 RIE treatment, N2 radical treatment) in which a bonding surface of a substrate to be bonded to another substrate is modified by plasma of a processing gas that is nitrogen gas, the surface modification method including:
an adjustment step of adjusting the water content in a processing container that can accommodate the substrate by supplying a humidified gas into the processing container (it is indicated in paragraphs [0077] and [0078] that a gas containing H2O is supplied into a chamber before the N2 RIE treatment or N2 radical treatment so that the RIE treatment or radical treatment is performed in a state where the gas containing H2O is abundant, and a sufficient amount of OH groups can be generated, and it is considered that the adjustment is performed so that a predetermined amount of H2O is contained in the chamber), and
a modification step of modifying the bonding surface of the substrate by generating plasma of the processing gas in the processing container in a state where the water content in the processing container is adjusted (N2 RIE treatment, N2 radical treatment).
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.
Claim(s) 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamauchi et al (WO 2018/084285) in view of Hiroyuki et al (JP 2004-193401).
Regarding claim 2, In the invention disclosed in Yamauchi, an O2 RIE treatment is performed in the same chamber before the N2 RIE treatment or the N2 radical treatment, but a person skilled in the art could have performed, as appropriate, the N2 RIE treatment and the N2 radical treatment in a separate chamber from the O2 RIE treatment.
Further, it is well known to have a configuration wherein, as disclosed in Hiroyuki, a predetermined humidity in the chamber necessary for performing a predetermined process on a substrate can be adjusted by supplying a humidified gas into the chamber, in the interval from when the conveyance of the substrate is started until the substrate is conveyed into the chamber. It would have been easy for a person skilled in the art to adopt this well-known feature in the invention disclosed in Yamauchi.
Regarding claims 3-4, since Yamauchi (paragraphs [0077], [0078]) indicates that the RIE treatment or radical treatment is performed in a state where the gas containing H2O is abundant, and a sufficient amount of OH groups can be generated, continuing the supply of the gas containing H2O even during the RIE treatment or radical treatment in order to maintain the amount of H2O during the treatment is merely an exercise of the ordinary creativity a person skilled in the art Moreover, there is no particular difficulty in also performing the same treatment when a new substrate is conveyed in after the substrate subjected to the RIE treatment or the radical treatment has been conveyed out.
Regarding claim 5, Hiroyuki further discloses an adjustment operation of measuring the humidity in the chamber and adjusting the moisture content of the supplied gas on the basis of the measurement results. Further, performing the humidity adjustment operation by adjusting the flow rate of the supplied gas is merely an addition of a well-known and commonly used feature.
Regarding claim 6, it is the examiner’s position that it is within the skill of one having ordinary skill in the art to performing the prescribed treatment until the humidity reaches the level required for the prescribed treatment.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES D SELLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1237. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5.
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JAMES D. SELLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1745
/JAMES D SELLS/
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