CTNF 18/663,611 CTNF 81023 DETAILED ACTION 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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) 1-2, 4, 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (JPH09213647) in view of Wada (US5275521) . Referring to claim 1. Kato discloses a “Wafer Boat”. See Figs. 1-11 and respective portions of the specification. Kato further discloses a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a wafer boat (44) to hold substrates by arranging the substrates in a horizontal posture in multiple stages along a vertical direction (See Sect. 0011, 0013); a plate-shaped member provided along an outer periphery of each substrate of the substrates held by the boat (See Sect. 0004, 0013-0015); and a boat elevator for moving a wafer boat vertically into and out of the reaction vessel (46) (See Sect. 0011). Kato does not explicitly disclose a driver configured to change a relative position between the boat and the plate-shaped member in the vertical direction. Wada disclose a “Wafer Transfer Device”. Wada further discloses a transfer device including transfer picks/forks (transfer fork assembly 31, See Col. 3-5, See Figs. 3-4) configured to move beneath wafers and perform coordinated transfer operations through controlled vertical and positional movement between substrate support structure and transfer mechanism. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wafer boat apparatus of Kato to incorporate the coordinated transfer motion teachings of Wada as a means to provide controlled relative vertical positioning between the boat supported substrates and transfer structures, as this would greatly improve loading and unloading precision, reduce transfer damage and improve automation reliability. Referring to claim 2. Kato in view of Wada disclose the combination as set forth above as applied to claim 1. Kato discloses moving the boat via boat elevator (45) (See Sect. 0011) and the teachings of Wada ‘s use of relative motion for transfer disclosed above render the claim obvious for the reasons above, specifically, improving loading/unloading precision and improving automation reliability. Referring to claim 4. Kato in view of Wada disclose the combination as set forth above as applied to claim 1. Kato and Wada disclosed the teachings of the driver moving the boat relative to the plate-shaped member. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to move the support structure/plate-shape member relative to the boat, as it would produce predictable results and is the obvious reversal or rearrangement of parts. Referring to claims 7, 10. Kato discloses a “Wafer Boat”. See Figs. 1-11 and respective portions of the specification. Kato further discloses a substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a wafer boat (44) to hold substrates by arranging the substrates in a horizontal posture in multiple stages along a vertical direction (See Sect. 0011, 0013); a plate-shaped member provided along an outer periphery of each substrate of the substrates held by the boat (See Sect. 0004, 0013-0015); and a boat elevator for moving a wafer boat vertically into and out of the reaction vessel (46) (See Sect. 0011). Kato does not explicitly disclose a driver configured to change a relative position between the boat and the plate-shaped member in the vertical direction. Wada disclose a “Wafer Transfer Device”. Wada further discloses a transfer device including transfer picks/forks (transfer fork assembly 31, See Col. 3-5, See Figs. 3-4) configured to move beneath wafers and perform coordinated transfer operations through controlled vertical and positional movement between substrate support structure and transfer mechanism. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Wada’s transfer-pick methodology to Kato’s wafer boat structure to enable predictable automated transfer from the boat supported arrangement to improve handling precision and reduce wafer damage. It should be that loading is the reciprocal counterpart of unloading and would have been predictably implemented using the same transfer system. Referring to claims 8-9, 11-12. Kato in view of Wada disclose the combination as set forth above as applied to claim 1. As discussed above Kato discloses lowering/raising via boat elevator, while Wada teaches a coordinated means of transferring substrates to picks. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kato to incorporate the teachings of Wada, as a way to improve loading and unloading precision . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (JPH09213647) in view of Wada (US5275521) and in further view of Kuwahara (US20170263483) . Referring to claims 3, 5-6. Kato in view of Wada disclose the combination as set forth above as applied to claim 1. Kato does not disclose a position determiner. Kuwahara discloses a “Substrate Processing Apparatus and Substrate Processing Method”. See Figs. 1-23 and respective portions of the specification. Kuwahara discloses a position detector and a controller configured to detect positional relationship between a substrate, holder and reference position, determine deviation amounts, and generate correction/target position information (See Sects. 0008-0018, 0235-0243). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the position determination teachings of Kuwahara into the combination of Kato and Wada in order to improve substrate alignment accuracy during transfer, compensate for positional deviations, and improve placement precision. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERRELL HOWARD MATTHEWS whose telephone number is (571)272-5929. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael McCullough can be reached at (571)272-7805. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent- center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /TERRELL H MATTHEWS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 Application/Control Number: 18/663,611 Page 2 Art Unit: 3653 Application/Control Number: 18/663,611 Page 3 Art Unit: 3653 Application/Control Number: 18/663,611 Page 4 Art Unit: 3653 Application/Control Number: 18/663,611 Page 5 Art Unit: 3653 Application/Control Number: 18/663,611 Page 6 Art Unit: 3653 Application/Control Number: 18/663,611 Page 7 Art Unit: 3653
