Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/500,465

FILM FORMING APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Nov 02, 2023
Examiner
NELSON, JAMEL M
Art Unit
1743
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Resonac Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allow Rate
280 granted / 383 resolved
+8.1% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+17.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
35 currently pending
Career history
418
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.2%
-38.8% vs TC avg
§103
49.9%
+9.9% vs TC avg
§102
14.7%
-25.3% vs TC avg
§112
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 383 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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. Status of Claims Claims 1-4 are currently pending. 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 4 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 4 recites the limitation “ one or more magnets ” in line 3 . Claims must particularly point out and distinctly define the metes and bounds of the subject matter. A claim is indefinite if the scope of the claim is not clear to a hypothetical person possessing the ordinary level of skill in the pertinent art. One cannot ascertain whether the “ one or more magnets ” recited in claim 4 is the same as or different than “a magnet” previously recited in claim 1. Appropriate correction is required. 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurokawa ( JP-2010033645-A - translation provided ) in view of Aust (US 2022/0208426 A1). Regarding claim s 1 and 3 , Kurokawa teaches a film forming apparatus comprising plurality of chambers configured to perform a film forming process; a carrier configured to hold a substrate to be subjected to the film forming process in the plurality of chambers; and a transport mechanism configured to successively transport the carrier through the plurality of chambers ; wherein the carrier includes a support surface configured to support the carrier from below when transporting the carrier, the support surface is provided parallel to the transport direction, the plurality of chambers include a plurality of rotating members, provided parallel to the transport direction, and configured to make contact with the support surface when transporting the carrier, and a magnet is provided around each of the plurality of rotating members ; and a rotation unit provided with the plurality of rotating members arranged in a line in a direction parallel to the transport direction, and a magnet unit including the magnet (fig 3- 7, Translation, Pg 3-5 ) . While Kurokawa teaches an apparatus comprising bearings 75 and 77 ( plurality of rotating members ), Kurokawa does not specify wherein the plurality of rotating members are made of a magnetic material . However, reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned ( magnetic rotating members; see MPEP 2141.01(a) ), Aust teaches that magnetic material is a known material useful for bearings (¶0077-0078). O ne of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to substitute the material of the bearings taught by Kurokawa with the magnetic material of bearings taught by Aust since the selection of a known material, which is based upon its suitability for the intended use, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the art. MPEP 2144.07. Regarding claim 2 , as applied to claim 1, Kurokawa in view of Aust does not explicitly teach an apparatus wherein an upper end of the magnet is located at a position lower than an uppermost portion of each of the plurality of rotating members by a distance corresponding to ⅓ of a diameter of each of the plurality of rotating members or greater. O ne of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to modify the apparatus disclosed in Kurokawa in view of Aust such that an upper end of the magnet is located at a position lower than an uppermost portion of each of the plurality of rotating members by a distance corresponding to ⅓ of a diameter of each of the plurality of rotating members or greater , since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention is an obvious matter of design choice and would not have modified the operation of the device . MPEP 2144.04(VI)(C). Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurokawa ( JP-2010033645-A - translation provided) in view of Aust (US 2022/0208426 A1) , as applied to claim 3, and in further view of Kang (US 2003/0224109 A1). Regarding claim 4 , as applied to claim 1, Kurokawa in view of Aust does not explicitly teach an apparatus wherein the magnet unit includes a nonmagnetic material, and one or more magnets attached to the rotation unit via the nonmagnetic material. However, reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned ( magnet unit s includ ing a nonmagnetic material ; see MPEP 2141.01(a) ), Kang teaches the known technique of a magnetic body comprising a nonmagnetic plate and a magnet attached to the lower surface of the nonmagnetic plate (claim 15). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention would have found it obvious to modify the apparatus disclosed in Kurokawa in view of Aust by applying the known technique of providing a magnet unit includes a nonmagnetic material disclosed in Kang to the magnet unit disclosed in Kurokawa in view of Aust such that the one or more magnets attached to the rotation unit via the nonmagnetic material with predictable results and resulting in an improved apparatus. MPEP 2143(D). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT JaMel M Nelson whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-8174 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Galen Hauth can be reached on FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 270-5516 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JAMEL M NELSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 02, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
73%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+17.4%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 383 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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