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 1-3 in the reply filed on 06/11/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 4-5 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claims 1-3 are currently examined on the merits.
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.
Claim 3 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
The recited in claim 3 “…supplying a reactive gas to a raw material reaction chamber; reacting a starting group-III element source with a reactive gas to generate a group-III element oxide gas…” constitutes an indefinite subject matter. It is not clear whether the “reactive gas” refers to the previously recited “reactive gas” or not. Therefore, the metes and bounds of claim 3 are not readily ascertainable. Clarification and/or correction are/is required.
The recited in claim 3 “…generate a group-III nitride crystal” constitutes an indefinite subject matter. It is noted that parent claim 1 already recites “a group-III nitride crystal;” It is not clear whether the “group-III nitride crystal” refers to the previously recited “group-III nitride crystal” or not. Therefore, the metes and bounds of claim 3 are not readily ascertainable. Clarification and/or correction are/is required.
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 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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Tomoaki et al (JP 2017178772 A, machine translation, “Tomoaki”).
Regarding claim 1, Tomoaki teaches a method of manufacturing a group-III nitride crystal comprising supplying a group-III element oxide gas to a growth chamber 111 (figs 1 and 2, 0015-0017, 0021, 0030, 0037, 0043); supplying a nitrogen element-containing gas to the growth chamber 111 (figs 1 and 2, 0015, 0016, 0023, 0030, 0031, 0037, 0043); and supplying an oxidizable gas to the growth chamber 111 (figs 1 and 2, 0006, 0009-0011,0015, 0016, 0019, 0020, 0025-0027, 0035, 0037, 0043).
Regarding claim 2, Tomoaki teaches reacting an oxide other than the group-III element oxide gas in the growth chamber with the oxidizable gas (0015, 0025, 0026, 0035).
Regarding claim 3, Tomoaki teaches supplying a reactive gas to a raw material reaction chamber (figs 1 and 2, 0015, 0017-0020, 0037, 0043); reacting a starting group-III element source with a reactive gas to generate a group-III element oxide gas (figs 1 and 2, 0015, 0017-0020, 0037, 0043); and reacting the group-III element oxide gas with the nitrogen element-containing gas to generate a group-III nitride crystal (figs 1 and 2, 0009, 0015, claim 1).
Conclusion
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/HUA QI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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