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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claim 1 in the reply filed on 12/30/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 2-3 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/30/25.
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 1 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “main” in claim 1 which is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “main” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2017-218345 (English machine translation provided herein) in view of Maeda et al. (US 2004/0126614).
JP2017-218345 discloses a ceramic sintered body for semiconductor production
equipment having a main phase of an Yttrium oxyfluoride with a polycrystalline structure having 50 % or more of crystals with a grain size of 1 to 5 µm or having a multiple phase of the oxyfluoride and a fluoride (paragraphs [0001-0002], [0031], [0034-0036], [0040], [0044]).
JP2017-218345 does not disclose having an L* value of 20 to 65, an a* value of -1 to 10 and a b* value of -1 to 10 in the L*a*b* color system.
Maeda discloses a sintered body comprising a coating of Yttrium fluoride and Yttrium oxyfluoride having an L* value of 20 to 65, an a* value of -1 to 10 and a b* value of -1 to 10 in the L*a*b* color system for the purpose of providing improved corrosion resistance and/or restraining discoloration (paragraphs [0002-0004], [0051-0053], [0071], [0083], [0101] and Table 5).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time applicant’s invention was made to have provided having an L* value of 20 to 65, an a* value of -1 to 10 and a b* value of -1 to 10 in the L*a*b* color system in JP2017-218345 in order to provide improved corrosion resistance and/or restraining discoloration as taught or suggested by Maeda.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL C MIGGINS whose telephone number is (571)272-1494. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 1-9 pm EST.
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/MICHAEL C MIGGINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1782
MCM
January 22, 2026