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 Group I, claims 1-10, in the reply filed on 14 July 2026is acknowledged.
Claim 11 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention(s), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the aforementioned reply.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2010/0260936 to Kato et al.
Regarding claim 1: Kato et al. disclose a substrate-processing apparatus, comprising: a processing container (Fig. 4, 1); a raw material gas supply/nozzle (e.g. Fig. 5, 31) configured to supply an interior of the processing container with a raw material gas; a reaction gas supply/nozzle (32) configured to supply the interior of the processing container with a reaction gas, the reaction gas capable of reacting with the raw material gas; and a dehydration gas supply/nozzle (200) configured to supply the interior of the processing container with dehydration gas to eliminate moisture, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is capable of supplying the raw material gas to a substrate that is accommodated inside the processing container, followed by supplying the reaction gas and the dehydration gas to the substrate. Regarding intended use, the courts have ruled that a claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).
With respect to claim 2, in Kato et al., the processing container includes a space (e.g., inner volume of processing container) in which the reaction gas supplied by the reaction gas supply and the dehydration gas supplied by the dehydration gas supply may be mixed. See above with respect to intended use.
With respect to claims 3-4, which are solely drawn to an intended use of the apparatus, see above with respect to intended use.
With respect to claim 5, the substrate-processing apparatus of Kato et al. further comprises: a rotary table (2) rotatably disposed in the processing container, the rotary table including mounting portions (24) in each of which the substrate may be mounted, each of the mounting portions being disposed in a position from a center of rotation, wherein the raw material gas supply includes a raw material gas nozzle (see above) configured to discharge the raw material gas in a direction crossing a rotational direction of the rotary table toward the mounting portions, the reaction gas supply includes a reaction gas nozzle (see above) configured to discharge the raw material gas in a direction crossing the rotational direction of the rotary table toward the mounting portions, and the dehydration gas supply includes a dehydration gas nozzle (see above) configured to discharge the dehydration gas in a direction crossing the rotational direction of the rotary table toward the mounting portions. Also see, e.g., Figs. 6-8.
With respect to claim 6, which is solely drawn to an intended use of the apparatus, see above with respect to intended use.
With respect to claim 7, see above with respect to intended use. Additionally, it is noted that depending on the relative arrangement of the rotary table with respect to top plate 11, the presence or non-presence of a/the substrate at any of the mounting portions, and the overall processing conditions of the substrate-processing apparatus (e.g. gas supply and gas exhaust) the claimed pressure differential is capable of being achieved.
With respect to claims 8-10, which are drawn to an intended use of the apparatus using specific materials, see above regarding intended use. Also, it is noted that the courts have ruled expressions relating the apparatus to contents thereof during an intended operation are of no significance in determining patentability of the apparatus claim. Ex parte Thibault, 164 USPQ 666, 667 (Bd. App. 1969). Finally, in Kato et al., the raw material gas may be a gas including zirconium, hafnium, aluminum or silicon; the reaction gas may be a gas including ozone and the dehydration gas may be a gas including ethanol (see, e.g., para. 86).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent No. 12,618,148 discloses a similar apparatus.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARLA MOORE whose telephone number is (571)272-1440. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm EST.
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/KARLA A MOORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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