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
Claims 1-15 and 23 cancelled
Claim 36 new
Claims 16-17, 21, 28, 32-33 amended
Claims 16-22, 24-31, 36 allowed
Claims 32-35 pending
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) 32-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chuang (PG Pub 2021/0116821 A1) in view of Hori (Aligned Growth of Single-Walled and Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films by Control of Catalyst Preparation, 2011).
Consider Claim 32, Chuang teaches the process of manufacturing plurality of auxiliary structures/pressing unit (140/240) and the reticle carrier (100) (figure 1 and figure 2), where the auxiliary structures include substrate (8412) having pins (241/341/841/921/1041) (figures 2-3, figures 8-9, and figure 10a) and the pin (841/921) have raised structure/pressing part (8411/9211) which comprises contact pattern/contact protrusions (8414/9212) (figure 8, [0051]), and where the pin (1041) comprises carbon nanotubes [0055]. Chuang teaches the auxiliary structures (441/421) are mountable to an inner baseplate (120/420) or an inner cover plate (130/430) of the reticle carrier (R) (figure 1 and 4A);
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Chuang teaches the inner base plate having a first pair of auxiliary structures/pins (Figure 1), and the inner cover plate have a second pair of auxiliary structures/pins (figure 1) for mounting the reticule (R) (figure 1). Chuang teaches the first distance is less than the second distance (figure 5).
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Chuang does not teach the detailed process of forming the contact pattern having carbon nanotubes.
However, Hori is in the prior art of forming carbon nanotube films (introduction, page 2), teaches the process of forming carbon nanotubes on a photoresist layer has a plurality of openings; depositing a metal material into the openings in the photoresist layer; depositing a plurality of Co/Ti catalyst nanoparticles over the metal material; and growing a plurality of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from the metal catalyst nanoparticles (figure 24, page 31 and first paragraph, page 32).
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A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention would combine Chuang with Hori to form contact pattern/contact protrusions (8414) from vertically aligned CNT, to provide with an electrostatic dissipative material process for dissipating the electrostatic charge away for the reticle structure (Chuang, [0054]-[0055]).
Consider Claim 33, the combined Chuang (with Hori) teaches the growing of CNT on Co/Ti nano particles (Hiro, 1st paragraph, page 32) in straight shape (Hiro, step 4, figure 24), where it would be obvious for skilled person in the art to change the shape from strips to angles or to islands. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966) (The court held that the configuration of the claimed disposable plastic nursing container was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed container was significant.) MPEP 2144.04, IV-B.
Consider Claim 34, the combined Chuang (with Hori) teaches the step of removing the photoresist layer is performed to remove any excess metal material and catalyst nanoparticles located over the photoresist layer (Hori, figure 24, step 4).
Consider Claim 35, the combined Chuang (with Hori) teaches the carbon nanotubes are grown such that the carbon nanotubes are substantially aligned along a growth direction corresponding to the strip pattern (Hori, figure 24, step 5).
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 16;
None of the prior arts disclose or suggest the process of forming auxiliary structure, where the forming of raised structure comprises coating a photoresist layer over the substrate, where the photoresist layer half plurality of openings, where the substrate comprises raised structure, depositing a metal in the opening on the raised structure, depositing plurality of metal catalyst nanoparticles over the metal layer, and growing vertically aligned carbon nanotubes forming contact pattern comprising independent physical strips directly on the raised structure, as claimed.
Regarding claim 21;
None of the prior arts disclose or suggest the process of providing an inner pod configured to receive a reticle, include forming first auxiliary structure on the inner surface of the inner base plate, wherein forming the first auxiliary structure comprises forming a raised structure of the substrate of the first auxiliary structure, forming a contact pattern on the raised structure having plurality of parallel strips extending along the raised structure, forming a contact layer over the plurality of strips of the contact pattern, wherein the contact layer comprises flexible material with a stiffness less than a stiffness of the contact pattern, assembling the inner pod and outer pod, as claimed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 04/20/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 32-35 under 103a have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Chuang and Hori.
The applicant argued against claim 32, on the ground that none of the prior arts disclose the newly amended claims, including a first distance between the first pair of the auxiliary structure is less than the second distance between the second pair of the auxiliary structures.
However, the prior art of Chaung discloses the first pair of auxiliary structures having a first distance on the inner base plate (120), and a second pair of auxiliary structures having a second distance on the inner cover plate (130) in figure 1, where in figure 5 the auxiliary structure of the first pair of the auxiliary structure having a wider area than the auxiliary structure of the second pair of the auxiliary structure as seen in figure 5, leading to having a first distance between the first pair of the auxiliary structure is less than the second distance between the second pair of the auxiliary structures, as claimed.
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All other applicant arguments not specifically addressed above are deemed unpersuasive as either not commensurate in scope with the broadly drafted claims or are unsupported by factual evidence and are deemed mere attorney speculation.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mohammad Mayy whose telephone number is (571)272-9983. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 11:00AM-7:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gordon Baldwin can be reached at 571-272-5166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mohammad Mayy/
Art Unit 1718
/GORDON BALDWIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1718
Prosecution Insights