CTNF 18/587,311 CTNF 80577 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Drawings 06-36 AIA 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 “reversible detachable plate” 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. 07-34-01 Claims 1-10 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. Claims 1 and 10 recite a “reversible detachable plate”. Based on the figures it is not clear how the detachable plate can be reversible. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1, 2, 4-6, 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sekiya (USP 4,521,995) . Regarding claims 1 and 10, Sekiya discloses an apparatus for securing a substrate comprising: a detachable plate (13), wherein the detachable plate is configured for reversible attachment to a base (22) of a chuck, wherein the detachable plate includes one or more first reservoirs (17/18) on a backside/bottom portion of the detachable plate and one or more second reservoirs (16) (figure 3). Please note, Sekiya discloses an alternative to 16 type of setup is to have circular slots 2/3 on a frontside/top portion of the detachable plate (figures 1 and 2 & col. 1, lines 12-27) therefore, in the rejection, the alternative method of figure 1 is utilized to figures 4 (i.e. 16 would be on the frontside/top portion of the detachable plate (13) in the form of grooves similar to 2/3 but will be referred to as 16 hereafter). Furthermore, Sekiya discloses wherein the base (22) includes one or more base-substrate inlet channels (27) and one or more base-plate inlet channels (19/20), wherein the detachable plate (13) is configured to establish fluidic connection between the one or more first reservoirs (17/18) on the backside portion of the detachable plate and the one or more base-plate inlet channels (27) for forming a first vacuum seal between the detachable plate and the base, wherein the detachable plate includes one or more pass-through channels (19/20) for fluidic connection with the one or more base-substrate inlet channels (27) to establish fluidic connection between the one or more second reservoirs (16) on the frontside portion of the detachable plate for forming a second vacuum seal between the detachable plate and the substrate (figures 1, 2 and 4a/b), and wherein the one or more base-substrate inlet channels and the one or more base-plate inlet channels are configured for receiving air via fluidic connection with an air supply sub-system, wherein one or more portions of a common fluidic pathway are shared for the receiving of the air, and for the formation of the first vacuum seal, and for the formation of the second vacuum seal (figure 7). Regarding claim 2, Sekiya discloses wherein the air supply sub-system comprises an air purge sub-system (51) configured to purge an environment around the substrate (figure 7 and abstract, last 3 lines). Regarding claim 4, Sekiya discloses wherein the detachable plate (13) is secured to the base (22) via the first vacuum seal between the detachable plate and the base (figures 4a/b). Regarding claims 5 and 6, Sekiya discloses wherein the detachable plate is coated with one or more anti-reflective coatings (col. 3, lines 34-35 and 55-62). Regarding claim 9, Sekiya discloses wherein the substrate comprises: a semiconductor wafer (abstract) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 3, 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sekiya (USP 4,521,995) . Sekiya discloses all aspects of the invention as set forth in the rejection above. Regarding claims 3 and 7, Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old and well known in the chucking art to use fasteners to secure a detachable plate to a base for ease of cleaning, maintenance, assembly etc. It is also old and well known for at least a portion of the detachable plate is formed from at least one of polyetheretherketone polymer, carbon fiber, or silicon carbide the properties od high wear/erosion resistance, low thermal expansion etc . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sekiya (USP 4,521,995) and as evidenced by Huang (US Pub. No. 2015/0179495) Sekiya discloses all aspects of the invention as set forth in the rejection above. Sekiya is silent about the chuck being mechanically coupled to a rotational drive unit, wherein the rotational drive unit comprises: a spindle; and a motor. Examiner takes Official Notice that chuck art has a rotational drive, spindle and motor as evidenced by Huang (paragraph 42). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARA ADDISU at (571) 272-6082. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (Mondays and Wednesday-Friday). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil K. Singh can be reached on (571) 272-3460 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SARA ADDISU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3722 6/13/26 Application/Control Number: 18/587,311 Page 2 Art Unit: 3722
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