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 1-20 are pending in the current application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 17 requires “a lift assembly attached to the cooling assembly to move the pedestal along a height of the stem portion” [emphasis added]. Claim 1, from which claim 17 depends indirectly, defines the pedestal as containing a base portion and stem portion. It is therefore unclear how the pedestal can be moved along a height of the stem when the stem, along with the base, itself forms the pedestal. This claim is therefore indefinite as it is unclear how the entirety of the apparatus can be moved with respect to a component that forms the apparatus.
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) 1-3, 5-6, 9-15, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishikawa (US 20210243850, English publication of WO2020/153079, PCT/JP2019/050428).
As to claim 1, Ishikawa discloses a pedestal comprising:
A base portion (figure 2: base portion [ceramic plate] 20);
A stem portion having a first end attached to a center region of the base portion (figure 2: stem [shaft] 40);
A heater arranged in the base including a first loop in a center region, the first loop having a first perimeter less than the second perimeter of the first end of the stem portion (figure 2: resistance heating element 23 in zone ‘Z1’ inside perimeter of stem 40; figure 4: showing element 23 with central loop [and many concentric loops] within zone Z1).
As to claim 2-3, Ishikawa discloses the stem has a conical portion with first end attached to the base portion and a second end having a smaller cross section than the first end (figure 2: showing top portion of stem 40 with ‘flared’ cone section first portion with greater cross section and lower section with smaller cross section; figure 1: showing top ‘conical’ portion of stem 40) and a cylindrical portion having the smaller diameter extending from the second end of the conical portion (figure 1-2: showing bottom ‘cylindrical’ portion of stem 40 under flared/conical section).
As to claim 5-6, Ishikawa disclose the heater includes a second loop concentrically surrounding the first lop having a greater diameter than the first end of the stem portion (figures 2 and 4: heater portion 25 in zone “Z2” surrounding inner portion heater element with concentric loops).
As to claim 9, Ishikawa discloses a sloped/rounded curve between a horizontal extension and the vertical connection of the top of stem 40 (figure 2). Therefore Ishikawa’s top stem portion extends at all angles from 0-90 degrees to make this sloped curve, including 25-30 degrees.
As to claim 10, Ishikawa discloses the top conical portion is less than one third the overall length of the stem (figure 2). Therefore, Ishikawa discloses a height of the conical portion to be one-third a chosen intermediate height of a portion of the overall stem, arbitrarily chosen to meet the on-third length requirement.
As to claim 11, Ishikawa discloses the stem is monolithic (figure 1 and 2: single piece stem 40).
As to claim 12, Ishikawa discloses the stem portion is y-shaped (figure 2: stem 40 with ‘flared’ top).
As to claim 13, Ishikawa discloses the stem portion is cylindrical (figure 1: showing cylindrical length of stem 40).
As to claim 14, Ishikawa discloses the first portion is cup shaped (figure 1 and 2: showing narrow to wide open structure ‘cup’ of top of stem 40).
As to claim 15, Ishikawa discloses the first portion has a polygon shape (figure 2, partially reproduced with rectangle and arrow added to show rectangle cross section).
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As to claim 18, Ishikawa discloses a pedestal comprising:
A base portion (figure 2: base portion [ceramic plate] 20);
A stem portion having a first end attached to a center region of the base portion (figure 2: stem [shaft] 40);
A heater arranged in the base including a first loop in a center region with a first loop and second loop surrounding the first loop with the first loop diameter less than the stem top portion and the second loop third diameter greater than the stem diameter and less than the base diameter (figure 2: resistance heating element 23; figure 4: showing central and surrounding ‘loops’, including central loop in zone Z1 inside stem perimeter, and outer loops in zone Z2 with perimeters greater than the stem portion and less than the base portion which contains the loops)
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) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa (US 20210243850).
As to claims 7-8, Ishikawa discloses a heating element with a plurality of concentric loops form the center to the edge of the plate containing the heating element (figures 2 and 4).
The outermost loop is illustrated as being over five times the diameter of the innermost loop. Although the drawing is not necessarily to scale, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide loops with multiples of the inner diameter loop, including three times the diameter, as this would provide the concentric loop structure required by Ishikawa spanning from the center of the round plate to the outside of the plate. Additionally, 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 loop that is approximately 4/5 the diameter of the pedestal as the loops start at the center and continue to nearly the edge of the plate of the pedestal.
Claim(s) 4 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa, as applied to claim 1 and 18 above, and further in view of Lin (US 20160230281).
As to claims 4 and 19, Ishikawa discloses a pedestal with base containing a resistive heater and a stem, but is silent as to the thickness of the stem walls being 0.25 to 0.35 inches.
Lin discloses a substrate pedestal including a base and stem portion, the base containing a resistive heater (figure 2; paragraph 29). Lin also discloses knowledge in the art of providing a stem with thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 inches to control the thermal conductance of the shaft as desired (paragraph 40).
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 thickness of 0.25 to 0.35, as taught within the range of Lin, in the system of Ishikawa, because this allows for control over thermal conductance in the stem.
Claim(s) 16-17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa, as applied to claim 1 and 18 above, and further in view of Lei (US 6494955).
As to claim 16 and 20, Ishikawa discloses a base plate, stem and heating system for a substrate support, but is silent as to a cooling system mounted to the stem.
Lei discloses a substrate support with support plate and stem, the support [base portion] containing an embedded heater electrode (abstract; figure 1, 2a: heater electrode 234 in plate 210 on stem 204). Lei also discloses knowledge in the art of providing a cooling system mounted on the stem (figure 2a: heat exchange 256) to remove heat and obtain temperature uniformity in the support structure (col 7 lines 40-50).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to mount a cooling system to the stem, as disclosed by Lei, in the system of Ishikawa, because this allows for temperature control and uniformity.
As to claim 17, Lei discloses a lift system for the pedestal structure (figure 1: lift 144).
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Lin can be reached on (571) 272-8902. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON BERMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794