DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
Acknowledgements
This office action is in response to the communication filed 1/13/2026.
Claims 1-20 are pending, Claims 8-20 are withdrawn, and Claims 1-7 have been examined.
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 with traverse of Group I, Claims 1-7, in the reply filed on 1/13/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the inventions include similar claim scope and are related to similar subject matter and as a result, separate searches would likely identify the same references. This is not found persuasive because the combination Group II does not require all the features of the subcombination Group I.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 8-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 1/13/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abe et al. (US 6,374,834 B1) in view of Bailey et al. (US 7,129,167 B1).
Re claim 1, Abe discloses an apparatus for substrate cleaning (abstract), the apparatus comprising:
a first support roller (refs. 12) configured to support and rotate (via ref. 8) a substrate in contact with the first support roller; and
a detection assembly (ref. 56, 56a), the detection assembly comprising:
a body (ref. 56a);
a sensor (ref. 56) disposed in the body, the sensor configured to direct an optical signal (image sensing camera 56) along the major axis and toward the substrate positioned in contact with the first support roller; and
Abe further discloses an outlet (refs. 44, 45) being configured to direct a fluid (processing solution such as pure water or a chemical solution) toward a surface of the substrate positioned in contact with the first support roller; and an inlet in fluid communication with the outlet (inherent in ability to supply processing solution).
Abe does not explicitly disclose a channel disposed through the body, the channel having a major axis aligned with an outlet of the channel; and to direct the optical signal along the major axis of the channel and out of the outlet. However, Bailey discloses it is old and well-known in the substrate cleaning art (abstract) to provide a detection assembly (ref. 1300) comprising a body (see figs. 13a-13b ref. 1300), a channel (refs. 1302, 1304, 1306, see annular arrangement of channel fig. 13a) disposed through the body having a major axis (see fig. 13a center of head) aligned with an outlet of the channel, a sensor (ref. 1320) to direct an optical signal along the major axis of the channel and out of the outlet (see fig. 13b).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the fluid outlet and sensor of Abe, to form a combined detection assembly and fluid outlet, as suggested by Bailey, in order to provide optical end-point detection at the processing location.
Re claim 2, Bailey further discloses wherein the sensor is an optical sensor configured to send and receive light through the outlet of the channel (the sensor can be an optical end-point detection sensor).
Re claims 3 and 5, Abe further discloses a target in line with the major axis of the channel (ref. 10a notch); further comprising an idler roller (ref. 12, see fig. 6 unpowered) configured to monitor a first radial orientation of the substrate, the detection assembly configured to direct the optical signal through a notch (ref. 10a) in the substrate positioned in contact with the first support roller and the idler roller.
Re claim 4, Regarding “wherein the major axis of the channel is about parallel to a first axis of the first support roller”, Abe discloses the nozzles 52, 53 about parallel to sensor 56 (see fig. 8).
Re claim 6, Bailey further discloses wherein the channel is configured to direct a liquid through the inlet to the outlet (various inlets, 1302, 1304, 1306 e.g. IPA or chemistry inlets).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abe et al. (US 6,374,834 B1) in view of Bailey et al. (US 7,129,167 B1), as applied above, and further in view of Hirakawa (US 2016/0296982 A1).
Re claim 7, Abe/Bailey discloses as shown above but does not explicitly disclose wherein the detection assembly further comprises a window disposed between the sensor and the channel. However, Hirakawa discloses it is well-known in the substrate detection and cleaning art (abstract) to provide a window (ref. 712a lens, see fig. 3) disposed between the sensor (ref. 712) and the optical outlet (see fig. 3 arrows to ref. H).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the detection assembly of Abe/Bailey to further include a window/lens, as suggested by Hirakawa, in order to uniformly detect the substrate and/or protect the sensor.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-7299. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am to 6:30pm.
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KEVIN G. LEE
Examiner
Art Unit 1711
/KEVIN G LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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