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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carroll et al. (US 20220076923) in view of Cuk (US 20110285369).
As to claim 6, Carroll et al.’s figures 4 and 23 show an electrically variable capacitor circuit comprising: a first node (at upper node of L1 or node between C1 and C2) connected to one side of an RF power supply (102 or further includes C1 and C2. Circuit that provides power is considered as a power supply); a second node (ground) connected to the other side of the RF power supply; a variable capacitor (C3) connected to the first node (connected directly or via C2. Figure 4 shows that L1 connected in series with C3. Interchanging the places of L1 and C3 will not change the transfer function of the series connected circuit L1 and C3. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to interchanging the places of L1 and C3 due to the doctrine of equivalent function, MPEP 2144.06). The figures fail to show the internal structure of at least one of the switches shown in figure 23. However, Cuk’s figure 2f shows an equivalent switch circuit that operatable in first and second quadrants. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use Cuk’s figure 2f for at least one of the switches S1-S13 shown in Carroll et al.’s figure 23 due to the doctrine of equivalent and allowing the device to operate in first and second quadrants, thereby achieving optimum performance. Thus, the modified Carroll et al.’s figures further show a parallel branch (the variable inductor L1 which comprises inductor L11 connected in parallel with switch S11 shown in figure 23, wherein switch S11 comprises Cuk’s transistor connected in series with diode) connected to the second node, the parallel branch comprises a first branch and a second branch connected in parallel, wherein the first branch comprises a PIN diode (Cuk’s diode used in switch S11) and a switch (Cuk’s transistor in switch S11) connected in series and the second branch comprises an inductor (L11); and the variable capacitor (C3) connected to the first node and connected to the parallel branch in series, wherein the first node is directly connected to the RF power supply.
Claim(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Carroll et al. (US 20220076923) in view of Cuk (US 20110285369) and Iizuka et al. (US 20140091980)
As to claim 1, the modified Carroll’s figures fail to show plurality of variable capacitor circuits connected in parallel. However, Iizuka et al.’s figure 4 shows an impedance matching circuit comprises plurality of similar variable capacitor circuits connected in parallel. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to add a duplicated variable capacitor circuit (L1 and C3) connected in parallel to Carroll et al.’s current variable capacitor circuit L1 and C3 for the purpose of achieving desired gain and transfer function, or it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use the modified Carroll et al.’s variable capacitor circuit L1 and C3 for each of Iizuka et al.’s variable capacitor circuits for the purpose of achieving desired inductances. Thus, the modified Carroll et al.’s figures show a radio frequency (RF) power supply (Carroll et al.’s 102 or further includes C1 and C2) configured to generate and supply RF power; a plasma chamber (106) configured to receive the RF power from the RF power supply; and an impedance matching circuit (L1 and C3) disposed between the RF power supply and the plasma chamber to match output impedance to the plasma chamber, wherein the impedance matching circuit includes a plurality of electrically variable capacitor circuits [(L1, C3) and (duplicated L1 and duplicated C3)], and each of the electrically variable capacitor circuits includes a first node connected to one side of the RF power supply, a second node connected to the other side of the RF power supply, a parallel branch connected to the second node, the parallel branch comprises a first branch and a second branch connected in parallel, wherein the first branch comprises a PIN diode and a switch connected inseries and the second branch comprises an inductor, and a variable capacitor connected to the first node and connected to the parallel branch in series, wherein the first node is directly connected to the RF power supply (see the rejection of claim 6).
As to claim 2, the modified Carroll et al.’s figures show that the plurality of electrically variable capacitor circuits have the same structure.
As to claim 3, selecting the number of the plurality of electrically variable capacitor circuits to be 8 to 28 is seen as an obvious design preference to ensure optimum performance, MPEP 2144.05.
As to claim 4, the modified Carroll et al.’s figures show an anode of the PIN diode is connected to the variable capacitor; and a cathode of the PIN diode is connected to the switch (Cuk’s figure 2f shows that diode is connected in series with transistor. Interchanging the places of diode and transistor will not change the transfer function of the series connected circuit diode and transistor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to interchanging the places of diode and transistor due to the doctrine of equivalent function, MPEP 2144.06).
As to claim 5, the modified Carroll et al.’s figures show that a cathode of the PIN diode is connected to the variable capacitor; and an anode of the PIN diode is connected to the switch (if L1, C3 and Cuk’s transistor and diode remain in their original positions).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/QUAN TRA/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2843