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 .
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.
Claims 15, 16, 22, 23, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2017/0076938 (Mitsuoka hereinafter).
Regarding claim 15, Mitsuoka teaches a substrate processing system that discloses a processing container accommodating the substrate (Processing container 3A in Figure 3); a fluid supplier configured to supply the supercritical fluid to an interior of the processing container (Supplier 414 per ¶ 40-41); a heating mechanism configured to heat the interior of the processing container (Heater 322); a temperature meter configured to measure a temperature of the interior of the processing container (Temperature meter 323); and a controller configured to control the fluid supplier and the heating mechanism (Controller 5 per ¶ 42 and 53), wherein the controller is configured to: acquire temperature information on the temperature of the interior of the processing container measured by the temperature meter during a duration from when the substrate is loaded to the interior of the processing container until the substrate is unloaded from the processing container (¶ 39 and 59), and store temperature-time data in which the temperature information is associated with time (¶ 39 and 59; extract a temperature during a temperature adjustment target period from the stored temperature-time data (¶ 39), and determine whether or not correction of a set temperature of the heating mechanism is necessary based on comparison between the temperature during the temperature adjustment target period and a reference temperature held in advance (¶ 39); and when the correction of the set temperature is determined to be necessary, correct the set temperature and control an output of the heating mechanism according to the corrected set temperature (¶ 39 and 59).
Regarding claim 16, Mitsuoka’s teachings are described above in claim 15 where Mitsuoka would further disclose that the duration has: a pressure-increasing period during which a pressure of the interior of the processing container is increased to a set pressure after the substrate is loaded to the interior of the processing container (¶ 61); a circulation period during which the supercritical fluid circulates at the set pressure to process the substrate (¶ 62-64); and a pressure-decreasing period during which the pressure of the interior of the processing container is decreased after the substrate is processed (¶ 67-71), and wherein the temperature adjustment target period is the pressure-decreasing period (¶ 69).
Regarding claim 22, Mitsuoka’s teachings are described above in claim 15 where Mitsuoka would further disclose a temperature adjustment gas supplier configured to supply a temperature adjustment gas to the interior of the processing container (Correction detailed in ¶ 53), wherein, the correction of the set temperature is determined to be necessary, the controller controls the temperature adjustment gas supplier to supply the temperature adjustment gas (¶ 61).
Regarding claim 23, Mitsuoka’s teachings are described above in claim 15 where Mitsuoka would further disclose that the controller controls the output of the heating mechanism to be constant when the set temperature remains constant during a supercritical drying that involves supplying the supercritical fluid to the substrate and drying the substrate (¶ 69).
Regarding claim 27, Mitsuoka teaches a substrate processing system and method of operation that discloses performing a supercritical drying by loading the substrate to an interior of a processing container (¶ 56-71), supplying the supercritical fluid to the interior of the processing container (Via supplier 414 in Figure 3 with ¶ 40-41), and heating the interior of the processing container with a heating mechanism (Heater 322); acquiring temperature information on a temperature of the interior of the processing container measured by a temperature meter during a duration from when the substrate is loaded to the interior of the processing container until the substrate is unloaded from the processing container (¶ 39 and 59), and storing temperature-time data in which the temperature information is associated with time (In storage 5A); extracting a temperature during a temperature adjustment target period from the stored temperature-time data, and determining whether or not correction of a set temperature of the heating mechanism is necessary based on comparison between the temperature during the temperature adjustment target period and a reference temperature held in advance (¶ 39 and 59 with the discussion of temperature adjustments); and when the correction of the set temperature is determined to be necessary, controlling an output of the heating mechanism according to a corrected set temperature (¶ 39).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 24-26 and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0076938 (Mitsuoka) in view of US 2011/0214694 (Toshima hereinafter).
Regarding claim 24, Mitsuoka’s teachings are described above in claim 15 but are silent with respect that the heating mechanism includes a plurality of container heaters, temperatures of the plurality of container heaters being adjusted independently of each other, and wherein the controller is configured to determine whether or not the correction of the set temperature is necessary for each of the plurality of container heaters.
However, Toshima teaches a device for processing a substrate with supercritical fluid that discloses a heating mechanism that includes a plurality of container heaters, temperatures of the plurality of container heaters being adjusted independently of each other (¶ 105 with heaters 314/322/452 in Figure 3), and wherein a controller is configured to determine whether or not the correction of the set temperature is necessary for each of the plurality of container heaters (Resultant combination with the heater control of Mitsuoka in ¶ 39 and Toshima ¶ 105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the heater of Mitsuoka with the plurality of heaters in Toshima to allow for individual control of areas of the heater.
Regarding claim 25, Mitsuoka’s modified teachings are described above in claim 24 where the combination of Mitsuoka and Toshima would further disclose that the plurality of container heaters are arranged to face an upper surface or a lower surface of the substrate accommodated in the interior of the processing container (Figure 3 of Toshima with heaters 322/314), wherein the temperature meter includes a plurality of heater temperature sensors provided respectively in the plurality of container heaters (Resultant combination would have sensors for each heater as shown in Mitsuoka), and wherein the controller is configured to correct the set temperature of a respective container heater among the plurality of container heaters based on pieces of temperature information from the plurality of heater temperature sensors (Resultant combination for Mitsuoka to correct/control the temperature of the heaters).
Regarding claim 26, Mitsuoka’s modified teachings are described above in claim 25 where the combination of Mitsuoka and Toshima would further disclose that the controller is configured to: compare a measured temperature from each of the plurality of heater temperature sensors during the temperature adjustment target period with a predetermined threshold range (¶ 39 of Mitsuoka to control each heater now present in the combination with Toshima); and when the measured temperature falls outside the predetermined threshold range, correct the set temperature of the respective container heater (Inherent correction applied by Mitsuoka per ¶ 39).
Regarding claim 32, Mitsuoka’s teachings are described above in claim 15 but are silent with respect that the heating mechanism includes a plurality of container heaters, temperatures of the plurality of container heaters being adjusted independently of each other, and wherein the determining whether or not correction of a set temperature is necessary is performed for each of the plurality of container heaters.
However, Toshima teaches a device for processing a substrate with supercritical fluid that discloses a heating mechanism that includes a plurality of container heaters, temperatures of the plurality of container heaters being adjusted independently of each other (¶ 105 with heaters 314/322/452 in Figure 3), and wherein a controller is configured to determine whether or not the correction of the set temperature is necessary for each of the plurality of container heaters (Resultant combination with the heater control of Mitsuoka in ¶ 39 and Toshima ¶ 105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the heater of Mitsuoka with the plurality of heaters in Toshima to allow for individual control of areas of the heater.
Regarding claim 33, Mitsuoka’s modified teachings are described above in claim 32 where the combination of Mitsuoka and Toshima would further disclose that the plurality of container heaters are arranged to face an upper surface or a lower surface of the substrate accommodated in the interior of the processing container (¶ 39 of Mitsuoka to control each heater now present in the combination with Toshima), and wherein the substrate processing method comprises: correcting the set temperature of a respective container heater among the plurality of container heaters based on temperature information from a plurality of heater temperature sensors provided respectively in the plurality of container heaters (Resultant combination for Mitsuoka to correct/control the temperature of the heaters).
Regarding claim 34, Mitsuoka’s modified teachings are described above in claim 33 where the combination of Mitsuoka and Toshima would further disclose that during the heating by the heating mechanism, the determining whether or not correction of a temperature is necessary includes: comparing a measured temperature from each of the plurality of heater temperature sensors during the temperature adjustment target period with a predetermined threshold range (¶ 39 of Mitsuoka to control each heater now present in the combination with Toshima); and when the measured temperature falls outside the predetermined threshold range, correcting the set temperature of the respective container heater (Inherent correction applied by Mitsuoka per ¶ 39).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-21 and 28-31 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.
Claim 17 requires the claim language of “wherein the controller is configured to: extract a lowest temperature of the temperature-time data in the pressure-decreasing period; when the lowest temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature, determine that the correction of the set temperature is necessary; and when the lowest temperature is less than the reference temperature, determine that the correction of the set temperature is not necessary.” The primary reference Mitsuoka discloses the opposite in ¶ 64. A combination to teach the limitation of claim 17 would have to teach away from Mitsuoka and this would be and improper combination. For at least this reason, dependent claim 17 and further dependent claims 18-21 are objected to as being allowable over the prior art. Dependent claim 28 and its further dependent claims 29-31 require similar claim language as claim 17 and are objected to as allowable for the same reason.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2011/0220152 teaches the processing of a substrate utilizing supercritical fluids.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR J. TREMARCHE whose telephone number is (571)272-2175. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 0700-1700 Eastern.
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/CONNOR J TREMARCHE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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