DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-8 and 15 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on December 17, 2025.
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 12-14 and 16-23 in the reply filed on December 17, 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the species only applied to invention I. This is found persuasive and the species restriction for invention I, is withdrawn. No argument is present with regards to restriction between inventions I & II.
The requirement between invention I & II is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Drawings
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 regulator that influences the gas flow and the control device that determine an information representing a spatial distribution of the material vapor flow 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 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.
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Choi (KR 20150118393, provided translations are cited below).
In regards to claim 12, Choi teaches a deposition apparatus (100, steam distribution device) comprising:
a distribution pipe (120, steam distribution channel) comprising a cavity (inherently provided by interior of the distribution pipe) (fig. 2-5; para. 33, 39);
a plurality of nozzles (150, emission nozzles) fluidly coupled to each other by the cavity of the distribution pipe, and emits an evaporated deposition material (material vapor flow) out of the cavity (fig. 2-5; para. 39-43, 47); and
a plurality of discharge ports (131a, 132a, gas outlets) provide a gas flow superposed on the evaporated deposition material (fig. 2-5; para. 44-46).
In regards to claim 13, Choi teaches the plurality of nozzles (150, emission nozzles) arranged in series along a direction, and the plurality of discharge ports (131a, 132a, gas outlets) are arranged in series along the direction (fig. 3).
In regards to claim 14, Choi teaches the plurality of discharge ports (131a, 132a, gas outlets) are directed to an area to which the deposition material (material vapor flow) is emitted from the cavity (fig. 5; para. 48-50, 59).
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.
Claims 16-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi (KR 20150118393) as applied to claims 12-14 above, and further in view of DePalma (US 2019/0211440).
In regards to claim 16, Choi as discussed above, where Choi further teaches gas pipes (131/132) that provide the gas flow to the plurality of discharge ports (131a, 132a, gas outlets), where the flow of gas is controlled to guide (influence) the evaporated deposition material to the predetermined area of the substrate (2) (fig. 3-5; para. 45-48, 54-59).
Choi does not explicitly teach a regulator configured to influence, based on a control device, the gas flow, and the control device determines an information representing a spatial distribution of the material vapor flow and control the regulator to influence, based on the information, the gas flow.
However, DePalma teaches a gas manifold (50) comprising a first gas manifold-50a and a second gas manifolds-50b arranged on opposed sides of the coating envelope (48), where the gas manifolds direct gas to the coating envelope (fig. 2; para. 28).
DePalma teaches a gas manifold-62 is near a crucible (44) and helps direct the stream/plume from the crucible to increase the deposition rate onto the substrate. DePalma teaches the gas manifolds are used to adjust and shape the vapor plume from the crucible (fig. 2; para. 29, 34).
DePalma teaches the gas manifolds are connected to metering valves to provide a control of the flow gas, where the metering valves are controlled by a controller (C, control device) (fig. 2; para. 29, 33-35).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the claimed invention, to incorporate the meter valves and the controller of DePalma onto the gas pipes of Choi because DePalma teaches it allows for attaining a desired coating speed and desired coating composition (para. 34).
Specifically with regards to the claimed the control device determines an information representing a spatial distribution of the material vapor flow, as DePalma teaches the gas flows are controlled to adjust and shape the vapor plume from the crucible, the adjustments must be made based information/data that has been provided to the controller.
In regards to claim 17, Choi and DePalma as discussed above, where DePalma teaches an instance to provide a less dense plume (first specification) by adjusting the flow of gas from the gas manifolds (para. 33-34).
In regards to claim 18, Choi and DePalma as discussed above, where the prior art teaches the coating completed in a batch process, as a running/moving substrate is not provided (see Choi-fig. 1-2, DePalma-fig. 2; para. 30). Therefore, when the coating process is completed (time-dependent function), the gas flows are stopped by closing of the metering valves that are controlled by the controller.
In regards to claim 19, Choi and DePalma as discussed above, where DePalma teaches an instance to provide a denser plume (second specification) by adjusting the flow of gas from the gas manifolds (para. 33-34).
In regards to claims 20 and 21, Choi and DePalma as discussed above, where Choi teaches inert gas such as Argon (Ar) (para. 25, 44, 46) and DePalma teaches the use of Argon (Ar) gas (para. 29, 34).
In regards to claims 22-23, Choi and DePalma as discussed above, where DePalma teaches the control of the flow gas by the metering valves (para. 33-34) and is capable of adjusting gas flows to provide the material vapor flow with a first spatial distribution, the gas flow being configured to transform the first spatial distribution into a second spatial distribution.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Binu Thomas whose telephone number is (571)270-7684. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday, 8:00AM-5:00PM.
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/Binu Thomas/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1717