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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on December 21, 2026. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-4 and 11-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
• Each claim begins with a capital letter and ends with a period (MPEP § 608.01(m)).
Claim 1
line 2, please amend the word “A” to the word - -a --.
line 4, please amend the word “A” to the word - -a --.
line 7, please amend the word “A” to the word - -a --.
line 9, please amend the word “A” to the word - -a --.
Claim 2
line 4, please amend the word “Determining” to the word -- determining --.
line 6, please amend the word “Determining” to the word -- determining --.
line 8, please amend the word “Detecting” to the word -- detecting --.
line 10, please insert the word -- and -- after the word “area;”.
line 11, please amend the word “Taking” to the word -- taking --.
Claim 3
line 3, please amend the word “An” to the word -- an --.
line 4, please amend the word “A” to the word -- a --.
line 6, please insert the word -- and -- after the word “angle;”.
line 7, please amend the word “A” to the word -- a --.
Claim 4
line 3, please amend the word “A” to the word -- a --.
line 4, please amend the word “Several” to the word -- several --.
line 5, please amend the word “Several” to the word -- several --.
Claim 11
line 1 (preamble), recites “An electroplating method for non-circular substrate”. The body of claim 11 recites the non-circular substrate, however, the body of claim 11 does not recite a positive step of electroplating it.
line 2, please amend the word “Dividing” to the word -- dividing --.
line 6, please deleted the “.” (period) after the word “area”. Each claim begins with a capital letter and ends with a period (MPEP § 608.01(m)).
line 7, please amend the word “Tracking” to the word -- tracking --.
line 7, line 6, please deleted the “.” (period) after the word “substrate”. Each claim begins with a capital letter and ends with a period (MPEP § 608.01(m)).
line 7, please insert the word -- and -- after the word “substrate”.
line 8, please amend the word “Controlling” to the word -- controlling --.
Claim 12
line 4, please amend the word “Determining” to the word -- determining --.
line 6, please amend the word “Determining” to the word -- determining --.
line 8, please amend the word “Detecting” to the word -- detecting --.
line 11, please amend the word “Taking” to the word -- taking --.
Claim 13
line 3, please amend the word “Tracking” to the word -- tracking --.
line 4, please amend the word “Determining” to the word -- determining --.
line 6, please insert the word -- and -- after the word “angle;”.
line 7, please amend the word “Controlling” to the word -- controlling --.
Claim 14
line 3, please amend the word “A” to the word -- a --.
line 4, please amend the word “Several” to the word -- several --.
line 5, please amend the word “Several” to the word -- several --.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
• Antecedent basis must be laid for each recited element in a claim, typically, by
introducing each element with the indefinite article (“a” or “an”). See Slimfold Mfg. Co. v. Kincaid Properties, Inc., 626 F. Supp 493, 495 (N.D. Ga. 1985), aff'd, 810 F.2d 1113 (Fed. Cir. 1987) (citing P. Rosenberg, 2 Patent Law Fundamentals § 14.06 (2d. Ed. 1984)). Subsequent mention of an element is to be modified by the definite article “the”, “said” or “the said,” thereby making the latter mention(s) of the element unequivocally referable to its earlier recitation.
Claim 1
lines 5-6, “the circumscribed circle” lacks antecedent basis. See also claim 5, lines 3-4.
line 10, “the on-off” lacks antecedent basis.
line 11, “the rotating position” lacks antecedent basis.
lines 11-12, “the electrodes” are indefinite. Are these the point electrodes?
line 13, “the electrodes” are indefinite. Are these the point electrodes?
Claim 21
line 4, “the position” lacks antecedent basis.
line 5, “the circle” is indefinite. Is this the inscribe circle (claim 1, line 3) or the circumscribed circle (claim 1, line 5)?
line 6, “the opening angle” lacks antecedent basis.
line 11, “the origin” lacks antecedent basis.
line 11, “the projection area” lacks antecedent basis.
line 13, “the point electrodes covered by the substrate” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 3
line 3, “the rotation angle” lacks antecedent basis.
line 4, “the position” lacks antecedent basis.
line 8, “the point electrodes currently in the projection area” lack antecedent basis. line 9, “the point electrodes currently not in the projection area” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 5
lines 1-4, recite “wherein there are several concentric-ring shape peripheral electrode areas starting from the central electrode area and circling outward in turn, the outermost
peripheral electrode area size of which is the circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate”.
Claim 1, lines 4-6, recite “A peripheral electrode area configured with a close arrangement of point electrodes filling the peripheral electrode area which peripheral size is the circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate surrounding the central electrode area”.
It is unclear from the claim language what the relationship is between the circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate surrounding the central electrode area and the circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate. Does the non-circular substrate have two circumscribed circles?
line 3, “the outermost peripheral electrode area size” lacks antecedent basis.
line 5, “the circumscribed circle” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 6
lines 3-4, “the point electrodes in the corresponding peripheral electrode area” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 7
lines 4-5, “the same switching device” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 8
line 4, “the same power supply unit” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 9
line 3, “the point electrode” (singular) lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 11
line 2, “the electrode area” lacks antecedent basis.
line 3, “the inscribed circle” lacks antecedent basis.
line 5, “the circumscribed circle” lacks antecedent basis. See also claim 15, lines 3-4.
line 7, “the rotation” lacks antecedent basis.
line 7, “the rotating position” lacks antecedent basis.
line 8, “the on-off” lacks antecedent basis. See also at line 9; and claim 13, line 7.
line 8, “the electrodes” are indefinite. Are these the point electrodes?
line 8, “the power supply unit” lacks antecedent basis. See also claim 13, lines 9-10; claim 16, lines 1-2; claim 17, lines 1-2; and claim 18, lines 1-2.
line 9, “the control device” lacks antecedent basis. See also at line 11.
line 11, “the electrodes” are indefinite. Are these the point electrodes?
line 11, “the area covered” lacks antecedent basis.
line 12, “the electrodes” are indefinite. Are these the point electrodes?
line 12, “the area not covered” lacks antecedent basis.
lines 13-14, “the electrodes” are indefinite. Are these the point electrodes?
Claim 12
line 4, the “position” lacks antecedent basis.
line 5, “the circle” is indefinite. Is this the inscribe circle (claim 11, line 3) or the circumscribed circle (claim 11, line 5)?
line 6, “the opening angle” lacks antecedent basis.
line 8, “the position” lacks antecedent basis.
line 11, “the origin” lacks antecedent basis.
line 11, “the projection area” lacks antecedent basis. See also at line 13.
line 13, “the point electrodes covered by the substrate” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 13
lines 1-2, “the controlling device” lacks antecedent basis.
line 3, “the rotation angle” lacks antecedent basis.
line 4, “the position” lacks antecedent basis.
lines 7-8, “the point electrodes currently in the projection area” lack antecedent basis.
line 8, “the point electrodes currently not in the projection area” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 15
lines 1-4, recite “wherein there are several concentric-ring shape peripheral electrode
areas starting from the central electrode area and circling outward in turn, the outermost
peripheral electrode area size of which is the circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate”.
Claim 11, lines 4-6, recite “a peripheral electrode area configured with a close arrangement of point electrodes filling the peripheral electrode area which peripheral size is the
circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate surrounding the central electrode area”.
It is unclear from the claim language what the relationship is between the circumscribed
circle of the non-circular substrate surrounding the central electrode area and the
circumscribed circle of the non-circular substrate. Does the non-circular substrate have two circumscribed circles?
line 3, “the outermost peripheral electrode area size” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 16
lines 3-4, “the point electrodes in the corresponding peripheral electrode area” lack antecedent basis.
Claim 17
lines 4-5, “the same switching device” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 18
line 4, “the same power supply unknit” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim 19
line 3, “the point electrode” (singular) lacks antecedent basis.
• Since the claimed elements do not always use the exact same claim terminology, Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become
aware in the claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 1-10 define over the prior art of record because the prior art does not contain any language that teaches or suggests an electroplating apparatus for non-circular substrate comprising a circular central electrode, a peripheral electrode area, a power supply and a control device as presently claimed, esp., a control device being connected between the power supply unit, the central electrode and the point electrodes for controlling the on-off of the central electrode and the point electrodes, wherein the control device tracks the rotating position of the substrate so that the electrodes in the central electrode area and the peripheral electrode area covered by the substrate will be turned on and the electrodes not covered by the substrate will be turned off.
Claims 11-20 define over the prior art of record because the prior art does not contain any language that teaches or suggests an electroplating method for non-circular substrate, including the steps of dividing, tracking and controlling as presently claimed, esp., the steps of tracking the rotation of the substrate and tracking the rotating position of the substrate and
controlling the on-off of the electrodes, the power supply unit connected to the central electrode and the point electrodes through the control device configured to control the on-off
of the central electrode and the point electrodes to supply power to the central electrode and the point electrodes, wherein the control device turns on the electrodes in the area covered by
the substrate and turns off the electrodes in the area not covered by the substrate in the central electrode area and the peripheral electrode area according to the rotating position of the substrate so that the electrodes are turned on or off following the rotation of the substrate.
Therefore, a person skilled in the art would not have been motivated to adopt the above conditions, and a prima facie case of obviousness cannot be established.
Hander et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0090599 A1) teaches that a switch controller enables the selection of which anodes should be turned on or off during processing. In this way, current density across the anode assembly can be controlled in a uniform manner by turning on and off select anodes. Turning off a portion of the anodes may lower current density in that region. Likewise, turning on the portion of anodes will increase the current density in that region (abstract; and Fig. 5:
PNG
media_image1.png
497
398
media_image1.png
Greyscale
).
CN 102330125 teaches that the array electrodes shown in Figure 3 can be electrodeposited to form the loop-shaped metal structure shown in Figure 4. Therefore, in
practical implementation, it is only necessary to control the on/off state of each electrode in
the array electrode to design a complex nozzle structure, thereby depositing a complex
structure (ρ [0041]; and Figs. 3 and 4:
PNG
media_image2.png
520
232
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Greyscale
).
Claims 1-4 and 11-14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the claim objection(s) set forth in this Office action.
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended 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.
Citations
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure.
Tzanavaras et al. (US Patent No. 5,421,987) is cited to teach using a bias ring 40 (col. 5, line 46 to col. 6, line 2).
Griego et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0049038 A1) is cited to teach that tubes 102 may optionally be configured in multiple concentric regions or zones 210, 210', 210'', 210''' (page 6, [0085]).
WO 01/94656 is cited to teach that although the anode segments 203a, 203b, 203c, and 203d are depicted as being cylindrical or ring-shaped, any suitable anode configuration may be utilized where the anode is segmented into a plurality of anode segments 203a, 203b, 203c, and 203d. For example, the anode segments may be rectangular as depicted in FIG. 6 (page 8, lines 18-22).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDNA WONG whose telephone number is (571) 272-1349. The
examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM- 3:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Luan Van can be reached at (571) 272-8521. The fax phone number for the
organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDNA WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
1 Claim 2 recites all process steps and does not further limit the structure of the apparatus. The manner in which an apparatus operates is not germane to the issue of patentability of the apparatus itself. Ex parte Wildahl 10 USPQ 2d 1546, 1548 (BPAI 1989); Ex parte McCullough 7 USPQ 2d 1889, 1891 (BPAI 1988); In re Finsterwalder 168 USPQ 530 (CCPA 1971); In re Casey 152 USPQ 235, 238 (CCPA 1967).
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