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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 6/2/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/2/2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/30/3024 and 8/18/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Izumoto et al. (PG Pub U.S 2014/0051258).
Regarding claim 1, Izumoto teaches a substrate processing method (fig 1; abstract), including comprising: holding a substrate by using a holding part that holds the substrate horizontally and rotatably (para 0047-0048); subsequently heating the substrate that is held thereby (para 0055-0056); subsequently regulating a temperature of a peripheral part of the substrate that rotates (para 0056-0057) before a first processing liquid is discharged from a first nozzle that is arranged at a predetermined processing position to the peripheral part (para 0063-0066 and claim 11), in such a manner that an in-plane temperature distribution of the substrate approaches an in-plane temperature distribution during discharging of the first processing liquid from the first nozzle (para 0129-0130) that is arranged at the processing position to the peripheral part of the substrate that rotates (para 0129); and subsequently discharging the first processing liquid from the first nozzle that is arranged at the processing position to the peripheral part of the substrate that rotates (para 0063-0066 and claim 11).
Regarding claim 2, Izumoto teaches wherein: the discharging the first processing liquid includes discharging the first processing liquid to the peripheral part of the substrate at a side of a front surface thereof (para 0063-0066); and regulating includes discharging a second processing liquid from a second nozzle to the peripheral part of the substrate (para 005-0056) that rotates at a side of a back surface thereof (para 0047).
Regarding claim 3, Izumoto teaches comprising discharging the second processing liquid from the second nozzle to the peripheral part of the substrate that rotates at a side of a back surface thereof, in parallel with the discharging the first processing liquid (para 0055).
Regarding claim 5, Izumoto teaches wherein the second processing liquid is a liquid that does not influence a film that is formed on a back surface of the substrate (para 0055-0056).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 6-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement for reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art of record is Izumoto et al. (PG Pub U.S 2014/0051258).
Izumoto teaches the limitations of claim 1 as detailed above.
Regarding claim 4, Izumoto fails to teach wherein: the discharging the second processing liquid includes discharging the second processing liquid to the peripheral part of the substrate at a side of a back surface thereof at a first flow rate; and the regulating includes discharging the second processing liquid to the peripheral part of the substrate at a side of a back surface thereof at a second flow rate that is greater than the first flow rate.
Regarding claim 6, Izumoto fails to teach wherein: the discharging the first processing liquid includes moving the first nozzle from an outer side of the substrate to the processing position while the first processing liquid is discharged from the first nozzle; and the regulating includes increasing a flow rate of the first processing liquid that is discharged therefrom as the first nozzle approaches the processing position.
Regarding claim 7, Izumoto fails to teach determining whether or not the regulating is executed for the substrate in a case where a processing condition is changed.
Conclusion
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/P.P/Examiner, Art Unit 1714
/KAJ K OLSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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