DETAILED ACTION
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 Group I in the reply filed on January 30, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 12-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on January 30, 2026.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 10, Line 1, “the substrate” should read “the source material”.
In Claim 3, Line 2, “the processing position” should read “the process position”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 10 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 1, Line 8 recites “a chuck for securing a source substrate contain source material” and Claim 10, Lines 1-2 recites “the stage has a thermal chuck from securing the substrate”. It is unclear whether the limitation in Claim 10 refers to the same chuck or different chucks on the stage. For examination purposes, it will be assumed that “a chuck” in Claim 1 and “a thermal chuck” in Claim 10 are different chucks.
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.
(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.
Claims 1,6-8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tantillo (Automating 2-D Material Exfoliation with Suji Park, cited in IDS).
Regarding Claim 1, Tantillo teaches a system for exfoliating a layer of material from a source material (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator) comprising:
a first rotary device (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- tape unwinder 1) and a second rotary device (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- tape rewinder 5); the first and second rotary devices each being selectively rotatable in a clockwise and counter clockwise directions (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- see arrows showing rotations of tape unwinder 1 and rewinder 5);
a flexible tape having an adhesive surface, the tape extending between the first and second rotary devices (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- PSA tape);
a press roller operably connected to a frame and adapted to provide a biasing force in a first direction (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- press roller 3);
a stage (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- sample-x stage) having a chuck for securing a source substrate containing source material (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- source material deposition roller), the stage being operably connected to a stage actuator for moving the stage between an initial position (Page 5 Figure- The QPress R2R exfoliation system- showing the source material deposition roller in an inactive position) and a process position (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- showing the source material deposition roller in an active process position); and
the tape being disposed between the press roller and the source substrate when stage is in the process position (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator),
wherein the press roller applies pressure to the tape and the source material disposed on the source substrate adheres the tape to the source material (Page 5- How does the R2R exfoliator work?- the tape runs over the source material deposition roller), and
wherein movement of the stage from the process position to the initial position causes the tape to exfoliate a layer of an exfoliated material from the source material on the source substrate (Page 5 Figure- The QPress R2R exfoliation system and Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- material is only exfoliated when the source material deposition roller is in the active position).
Regarding Claim 6, Tantillo further teaches a peeling roller operably connected to the frame, the peeling roller being disposed between the press roller and the second rotary device and in contact with the tape, the peeling roller directing the tape toward the first rotary device (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- peeling angle adjustment roller).
Regarding Claim 7, Tantillo further teaches the peeling roller is positionally adjustable to adjust a peeling angle from which the tape is separated from the exfoliated material (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- peeling angle adjustment roller; Page 5- How does the R2R exfoliator work?-the peeling angle can be adjusted).
Regarding Claim 8, Tantillo further teaches the stage actuator moves the stage along a first linear axis (Page 5 Figure- The QPress R2R exfoliation system and Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- showing the linear axis the source material deposition roller rotates on).
Regarding Claim 10, Tantillo further teaches the stage has a thermal chuck for securing the source material and selectively supplying heat thereto (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- heating plate).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5, 9, and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art to dependent Claim 2 is Tantillo (Automating 2-D Material Exfoliation with Suji Park, cited in IDS) as set forth above. However, the prior art fails to teach or suggest a substrate changer that removes the source substrate from the stage and replaces it on the stage with a target substrate as Tantillo shows two different devices for separately exfoliating the source material and applying the exfoliated material to the sample (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator- showing a separate roller for exfoliation and sample stage for receiving the exfoliated material). Further, there is no teaching or suggestion to modify the device of Tantillo to include a substrate changer that removes the source substrate from the stage and replaces it on the stage with a target substrate. Thus, the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed invention.
Claims 3-5 and 11 would be allowable by virtue of their dependency on Claim 2.
The closest prior art to dependent Claim 9 is Tantillo (Automating 2-D Material Exfoliation with Suji Park, cited in IDS) as set forth above. However, the prior art fails to teach or suggest the stage actuator moves the stage along a second linear axis, the second linear axis being perpendicular to the first linear axis. Examiner notes the source material deposition roller appears to be manually adjustable on a vertical axis (Page 6 Figure- A labeled setup of the R2R exfoliator) but provides no indication of an actuator doing so. Further, there is no teaching or suggestion to modify the device of Tantillo to include the stage actuator moves the stage along a second linear axis, the second linear axis being perpendicular to the first linear axis. Thus, the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kye et al (PGPub 2008/0236743) teaches an alternative exfoliation device with a vacuum chuck.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Adrianna Konves whose telephone number is (571)272-3958. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00 MST (Arizona).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abbas Rashid can be reached at (571) 270-7457. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1748 2/26/26
/Abbas Rashid/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1748