DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-6, 10, 14, 16, 22-23, 26-28, 30-33, 36 and 38-39 are pending.
Claims 7-9, 11-13, 15, 17-21, 24-25, 29, 34-35 and 37 are cancelled.
Claims 27-28, 30-33 and 36 are withdrawn from consideration.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 23 December 2025 has been entered.
Status of Objections and Rejections
All previous grounds of rejection are withdrawn.
New grounds of rejection are presented.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 38-39 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claims may be more appropriately written with the use of a hyphen to introduce the phrases. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 10 and 14 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.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the flow devices" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "each flow device" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Objections
Claim 22 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 1. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 14 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 1-6, 16, 22-23, 26 and 38-39 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art alone or in combination does not disclose or render obvious the combination of claim limitations of claims 1, 38 and 39, separately. In particular, the prior art does not disclose the claimed system for electrolytic treatment…a conveyor for conveying substrates…in a transport direction…a number of eductor flow devices…being directed in a discharge direction that extends opposite to the transport direction to create a flow of electrolytic liquid with a flow direction that is opposite to the transport direction in combination with the remaining claim limitations.
The closest prior art includes the teachings of Hara et al. (US 2007/0163886) and Reents et al. (US 2006/0151328) as described in the Office action dated 29 October 2025. Briefly, Hara et al. disclose conveying substrates in an electrodeposition solution and a number of nozzles circulating processing solution in an opposite direction. Hara et al. fail to disclose the claimed eductor flow devices. Although the prior art teaches eductors for dispersing and circulating electrolytic liquid as described by Reents et al. and additionally, Gebhart et al. (US 2005/0205429), the combination of prior art does not render the claimed invention obvious. Further, the remarks presented on pages 10-15 of the response dated 23 December 2025 are found persuasive. In particular, Hara et al. disclose reducing turbulent flow of processing solution.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEFANIE S WITTENBERG whose telephone number is (571)270-7594. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:00 am -4:00 pm EST.
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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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/Stefanie S Wittenberg/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
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