DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species b, (fig. 6) in the reply filed on June 29, 2026 is acknowledged.
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 1-2, 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Je (US 2020/0263303).
In regards to claims 1 and 18, Je teaches a shower head comprising:
an inflow plate-24 (first plate) comprising circular holes (25a), where the circular holes provides an arc shape and the hole represents the slits (fig. 1-2, 4; para. 33, 35, 37, 39);
a diffusion plate-22 (second plate) comprising circular holes (22a), where the circular holes provides an arc shape and the hole represents the slits (fig. 1-3; para. 33, 35-36);
the diffusion plate-22 is below and vertically overlaps the inflow plate-24, the circular holes of the inflow plate-24 does not overlap the circular holes of the diffusion plate-22 (fig. 2).
In regards to claim 2, Je teaches a shower head main body-16 (third plate) comprising circular holes (16a), where the circular holes provides an arc shape and the hole represents the slits and where the circular holes of the shower head main body-16 does not overlap the circular holes of the inflow plate-24 and the diffusion plate-22 (fig. 1-2; para. 33).
In regards to claim 16, Je teaches the inflow plate-24, the diffusion plate-22 and the main body-16 have a common central axis (fig. 1-2).
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 3, 14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Je (US 2020/0263303) as applied to claims 1-2, 16 and 18 above, and further in view of Boyd (US 2023/0323537).
In regards to claim 3, Je teaches a gas supply hole-18a (gas inlet port) which supplies a gas and the central axis of the gas supply hole-18a coincides with a central axis of the inflow plate-24 (fig. 1-2; para. 31, 33).
Je does not explicitly teach a first ring formed in a vicinity of the gas inlet port and configured to introduce at least an etching gas or a carrier gas, the first ring having a plurality of first gas discharge ports, wherein
a central axis of the first plate coincides with a central axis of the gas inlet port.
However, Boyd teaches a central gas inlet point-12 (gas inlet port) and a gas distribution element-24 which has a ring shape and has a plurality of opening-25 (first gas discharge ports) (fig. 1; para. 42-44).
Boyd teaches a central axis of the central gas inlet point-12 coincides with the central axis of the gas distribution element-24 (fig. 1).
Therefore, at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the gas distribution element of Boyd onto the shower head of Je, because Boyd teaches it helps with uniformity of the flow of gases (para. 8).
In regards to claim 14, Je and Boyd as discussed, where Je teaches the structure of gas supply hole-18a which supplies the gas.
Je and Boyd do not explicitly teach the film forming gas is dodecacarbonyltriruthenium (DCR) gas, the etching gas is a gas mixture of 03 gas and 02 gas, and the carrier gas is CO gas.
However, regarding the gases used during processing, the courts have held that expressions relating the apparatus to contents thereof during an intended operation are of no significance in determining patentability of the apparatus claim (MPEP 2115).
As Je and Boyd teach the structure equivalent to that being claimed, Je and Boyd is capable of supplying the claimed film forming gas and the etching gas.
In regards to claim 18, Je and Boyd as discussed, where Boyd teaches a control device-42 which controls the flow of gases and capable of a process of alternating a supply of gases by controlling which mass flow controllers (32, 37, 34) are engaged (fig. 1; para. 59, 63).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-13, 15 and 17 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 Binu Thomas whose telephone number is (571)270-7684. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday, 8:00AM-5:00PM PT.
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/Binu Thomas/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1717
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