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 § 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) s 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozawa (JP2016/132473) in view of Isido (US6351925) and in further view of Hotta (WO2018037805).
Referring to claim 1. Ozawa discloses a “Packing Carton For Substrate Storage Container”. See Figs. 1-11 and respective portions of the specification. Ozawa further discloses a packaging member (1) for packaging an object to be transported between cleanrooms, the packaging member being used for packaging the object to be transported for transport thereof between clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory (See at least Sect. 0025). Ozawa further discloses wherein the packaging member/container comprises materials with low moisture resistance, waterproofness and low moisture permeability (See at least Sect. 0011). Ozawa doesn’t explicitly disclose wherein the object being transported is a FOUP or FOSB or wherein the packaging member includes a dust-free cloth having dust-proof properties. Isido discloses a “Method Of Packing A Semiconductor Manufacturing Apparatus To Be Carried Into A Clean Room. See Figs. 1-6 and respective portions of the specification. Isido further discloses packing material for packing an object (101, ) to be carried into a clean room (130), wherein the packing material consist of cloth-like material of low dust evolution, that is capable of being cleaned and further discloses wherein the packing material is composed of material with dust-proof properties (See at least Col. 3 L. 25-35, 48-66). Hotta discloses a “Storage Method”. See Figs. 1-13 and respective portions of the specification. Hotta further discloses a container (30), which consist of a FOUP or a FOSB is packaged using an accommodating bag (44) having a low water vapor permeability. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Isido and Hotta with the Packaging member as taught by Ozawa wherein the packaging member/container used packaging material that was cloth-like and capable of being clean with dust-proof properties and accommodated FOUP and FOSB so that FOUP and FOSB could be protected from dust and water and capable of being transported into and out of clean rooms.
Referring to claims 2-3. Ozawa in view of Isido and in further view of Hotta disclose a combination consisting of a packaging member/container for packaging an object to be transported between clean rooms, the object being a FOUP or a FOSB, the packaging member including a dust-free cloth having dust-proof and damp-proof properties. Claims 2-3 recite method steps that correspond directly to the operational steps necessarily executed when the packaging container is used for its disclosed purpose of packaging and transporting objects. As such a person of ordinary skill in the art would have necessarily performed the steps recited in claims 2-3 during normal use of the packaging member/container as disclosed in the cited references. Claims 2-3 therefore merely recite the inherent operational method of the known device (container) and do not impose any additional steps, constraints, or technical effects beyond those already taught by the prior art.
Conclusion
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/TERRELL H MATTHEWS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653