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 .
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 1-3 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yanagisawa et al. (US 2017/0186634 A1).
Claim 1: Yanagisawa et al. discloses a wafer holder device (see Figure 5) having a heating function (paragraph [0075]), that includes a fixing ring (202b of Figure 5) surrounding a hollow area (transfer space 203 of Figure 5) and having a top (portion in contact with insulation part 10) and a bottom (surface through which lift 217 of Figure 5 extends); wherein the hollow area connects the top and the bottom (as depicted in Figure 5 the fixing ring surrounds the hollow space 203 where the wafer 200 is transferred into the wafer processing device 100); a holder plate (202a of Figure 5) having a holding surface (surface in contact with 233 of Figure 5 holds 233) and a bottom surface (surface in contact with insulation part 10); wherein the holder plate is removably fixed to the top of the fixing ring (connected by partition plate 204) and the bottom surface of the holder plate covers the hollow area (forms a cover over the hollow space); wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion of the holder plate is smaller than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the fixing ring (the holder plate is disclosed as being made of quartz and the fixing ring is disclosed of being made of aluminum; paragraph [0071]); and a heating plate (212,213 of Figure 5, paragraph [0075]) provided within the hollow area for heating the bottom surface of the holder plate.
Claim 2: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses that a linear coefficient of thermal expansion of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the holder plate is smaller than 15x10-6/°C (paragraph [0071]).
Claim 3: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses a flexible thermal conductive medium (10 of Figure 5) clamped between the bottom surface of the holder plate and the heating plate.
Claim 9: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses a fixing plate (212 of Figure 5) and a fixing member (214 of Figure 5), wherein the fixing plate is configured to hold the heating plate (heating plate 213 is held within the fixing plate 212), and the fixing member is combined with an edge of the fixing plate to support the heating plate (combined with the top and bottom edges of 212 and is in contact with the heat plate to locate it within the fixing member).
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.
Claims 6-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yanagisawa et al. (US 2017/0186634 A1).
Claim 6: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses a gas channel (224 of Figure 5) is formed inside the holder plate, the holder plate is provided with an air suction port (221 of Figure 5), the gas channel connects the holding surface and the air suction port (as depicted in Figure 5 the gas channel is located between the holding surface and 221), but fails to disclose that the the gas channel is provided with a plurality of ventilation openings formed in the holding surface.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to duplicate the air suction port and gas channel of Yanagisawa et al. in order to provide a plurality of ventilation openings in the holder plate because it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St, Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Claim 7: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses that the holder plate further comprises a plurality of air guide trenches (234a of Figure 5), and the air guide trenches extend on the holding surface and extend to at least to one of the ventilation openings (as depicted in Figure 5).
Claim 8: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses that the the air suction port is located on a lateral surface of the holder plate (as depicted in Figure 5).
Claim 10: Yanagisawa et al. further discloses a thermal insulation block (10 of Figure 6) combined with the top of the fixing ring, and the fixing member is fixed to the thermal insulation block (paragraph [0075]. Yanagisawa et al. fails to disclose that the insulation block is coming with the bottom of the fixing ring.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to relocate or duplicate the insulation block such that it was combined with the bottom of the fixing ring because this would require only routine skill in the art.
It has long been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japiske, 86 USPQ 70.
Further, it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St, Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON L VAUGHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5704. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Friday 8:30 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil Singh can be reached at (571) 272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON L VAUGHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
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