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 Group I, claims 1-13 drawn to an apparatus in the reply filed on 06/08/2026 is acknowledged. Group II, claims 14-25 are cancelled in the reply filed on 06/08/2026. Claims 26-37 are newly added. Claims 1-13 and 26-37 are currently examined on the merits.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “ribbon growth volume” “process gas path” “sump gas path” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “130” has been used to designate both “process gas inlet” and “process gas feed”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "130" and "202" have both been used to designate “process gas inlet”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 26-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 26 recites "...a ribbon growth volume…a process gas path … a sump gas path… separately from the process gas path", which is not described in the specification as originally filed. Claims 27-37 are rejected because they depend on claim 26.
Claim 31 recites "carbon fiber insulation", which is not described in the specification as originally filed.
Claim 32 recites "the sump region extends around an entire circumference of the inner chamber", which is not described in the specification as originally filed.
Claim 33 recites "the process gas path … the ribbon growth volume ", which is not described in the specification as originally filed.
Claim 34 recites "...the sump gas path ", which is not described in the specification as originally filed.
Claim 35 recites " the ribbon growth volume ", which is not described in the specification as originally filed.
Claim 36 recites " return process gas filtered by the filtering system to the process gas path", which is not described in the specification as originally filed.
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.
Claims 1-13 are 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.
The recited in claim 1 “…a volume of the inner chamber… a volume of the inner chamber…” constitutes an indefinite subject matter. It is not clear whether the “volume of the inner chamber” refers to the previously recited “volume of the inner chamber” or not. Therefore, the metes and bounds of claim 1 are not readily ascertainable. Clarification and/or correction are/is required. Claims 2-13 are rejected because they depend on claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. No new matter should be introduced into claims.
Claims 26-37 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement, set forth in this Office action. No new matter should be introduced into claims.
The objections to drawings should also be addressed/corrected, set forth in this Office action. No new matter should be introduced into claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the closest prior art of record Sun et al (US 20170051430 A1, “Sun”) teaches an apparatus for forming a crystalline ribbon grown on a surface of a melt, but does not teach, disclose or reasonably suggest that “an outer chamber, wherein the outer chamber surrounds at least part of the inner chamber and defines an opening for the process gas feed and a sump inlet; a plurality of heaters disposed in a sump region between an interior surface of the outer chamber and an exterior surface of the inner chamber; and a sump gas feed in fluid communication with the sump inlet, wherein the sump gas feed is configured to deliver a sump gas to the sump region” as recited in claim 1, and “an outer chamber at least partially surrounding the inner chamber; a sump region disposed between an interior surface of the outer chamber and an exterior surface of the inner chamber; one or more heaters disposed in the sump region and configured to heat the inner chamber… a sump gas path configured to deliver a sump gas to the sump region separately from the process gas path” as recited in claim 26. Claims 2-13 and 27-37 would be allowable because they depend on claims 1 and 26.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hua Qi whose telephone number is (571)272-3193. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-6pm.
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/HUA QI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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