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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kubota (US 2023/0197488), which in figures 1-5 discloses the following claimed invention:
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In re claim 1: substrate storing container comprising: a container main body 2 including a tubular wall portion 20 that has one end at which a container main body opening portion 21 is formed and an other end closed 22, the container main body 2 having a substrate storing space 27 defined by an inner surface of the tubular wall portion 20, the substrate storing space 27 being capable of storing a plurality of substrates and communicating with the container main body opening portion 21; a lid body 3 detachably attachable to the container main body opening portion 21 and capable of closing the container main body opening portion 21 (see FIG.2); a lid body side substrate support portion 7 disposed on a part 34 of the lid body 3, the part 34 facing the substrate storing space 27 when the container main body opening portion 21 is closed by the lid body 3, the lid body side substrate support portion 7 being capable of supporting edge portions of the plurality of substrates when the container main body opening portion 21 is closed by the lid body 3; and a back side substrate support portion 5/6 disposed to form a counterpart to the lid body side substrate support portion 7 in the substrate storing space 27 and capable of supporting the edge portion of the plurality of substrates, the back side substrate support portion 5/6 being configured to cooperate with the lid body side substrate support portion 7 to support the plurality of substrates such that the edge portions of the plurality of substrates are arranged in parallel when the container main body opening portion 21 is closed by the lid body 3 (see FIG.3); wherein the lid body side substrate support portion 7 has support flat surfaces respectively configured to contact with peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of the plurality of substrates so as to support the substrates, the support flat surfaces adjacent to each other have a positional relationship of being parallel to each other, and the support flat surfaces that contact with the peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of adjacent ones of the plurality of substrates have respective central portions in an upward/downward direction that do not face each other in a direction parallel to upper surfaces of the substrates, and have, in at least one of an upper end portion thereof or a lower end portion thereof in the upward/downward direction, an overlap portion adjacent to another overlap portion in the direction parallel to the upper surfaces of the substrates (see FIG.5 above).
It should be noted that a the plurality of substates are not positively being claim and therefore specific features of them are also not positively being claimed.
In re claim 2: the support flat surfaces are provided to correspond to the peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of the plurality of substrates on a one-to-one basis (see FIG.5 above).
In re claim 3: each support flat surface is located at a free end of a cantilever spring 72 (see FIG.5 above).
In re claim 4: each support flat surface contacts with one substrate of the plurality of substrates at one point on a peripheral surface of the edge portion of a front part of the one substrate (see FIG.5 above).
In re claim 5: the substrate storing space stores the plurality of substrates arranged in parallel, and each support flat surface has a length of 5 mm or greater in a direction in which the plurality of substrates are arranged in parallel (see [0049]).
In re claim 7:a lid body side substrate support portion 7 for a substrate storing container 2/3 that includes: a container main body 2 including a tubular wall portion 20 that has one end at which a container main body opening portion 21 is formed and an other end closed 22, the container main body having a substrate storing space 27 defined by an inner surface of the tubular wall portion 20, the substrate storing space 27 being capable of storing a plurality of substrates and communicating with the container main body opening portion 21; a lid body 3 detachably attachable to the container main body opening portion 21 and capable of closing the container main body opening portion 21 (see FIG.2); the lid body side substrate support portion 7 disposed on a part 34 of the lid body 3, the part 34 facing the substrate storing space 27 when the container main body opening portion 21 is closed by the lid body 3, the lid body side substrate support portion 7 being capable of supporting edge portions of the plurality of substrates when the container main body opening portion 21 is closed by the lid body 3 (see FIG,3); and a back side substrate support portion 5/6 disposed to form a counterpart to the lid body side substrate support portion 7 in the substrate storing space 27 and capable of supporting the edge portion of the plurality of substrates, the back side substrate support portion 5/6 being configured to cooperate with the lid body side substrate support portion 7 to support the plurality of substrates such that the edge portions of the plurality of substrates are arranged in parallel when the container main body opening portion 21 is closed by the lid body 3, the lid body side substrate support portion 7 comprising: support flat surfaces configured to respectively contact with peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of the plurality of substrates so as to support the substrates, wherein the support flat surfaces adjacent to each other have a positional relationship of being parallel to each other, and the support flat surfaces that contact with the peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of adjacent ones of the plurality of substrates have respective central portions in an upward/downward direction that do not face each other in a direction parallel to upper surfaces of the substrates, and have, in at least one of an upper end portion thereof or a lower end portion thereof in the upward/downward direction, an overlap portion adjacent to another overlap portion in the direction parallel to the upper surfaces of the substrates (see FIG.5 above).
It should be noted that a the plurality of substates are not positively being claim and therefore specific features of them are also not positively being claimed.
In re claim 8: the support flat surfaces are provided to correspond to the peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of the plurality of substrates on a one-to-one basis (see FIG.5 above).
In re claim 9: each support flat surface is located at a free end of a cantilever spring 72 (see FIG.5 above).
In re claim 10: each support flat surface contacts with one substrate of the plurality of substrates at one point on a peripheral surface of the edge portion of a front part of the one substrate (see FIG.5 above).
In re claim 11: the substrate storing space stores the plurality of substrates arranged in parallel, and each support flat surface has a length of 5 mm or greater in a direction in which the plurality of substrates are arranged in parallel (see [0049]).
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.
Claim(s) 6 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota (US 2023/0197488), Kubota discloses the claimed invention as discussed above with the exception of the following claimed limitations:
In re claim 6: each support flat surface has an area of 50 mm2 or greater.
In re claim 12: each support flat surface has an area of 50 mm2 or greater.
Kubota discloses the general conditions of the claimed invention except for the express disclosure of each support flat surface has an area of 50 mm2 or greater. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate that each support flat surface has an area of 50 mm2 or greater, since the claimed values are merely an optimum or workable range. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.In this case, the prior art is designed to hold the same or very similar substrates and which are a certain thickness which the flat supports would need to accommodate and the figures of the prior art appear to be on a similar scale to the invention and therefore have appear to have a similar surface area as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the attached PTO-892 for prior art that teaches and suggest structural limitations of the claimed and disclosed invention. Specifically, Yajima et al. (US 2003/0221985) teaches the provision of a lid body side substrate support portion 4/5 comprising: support flat surfaces 6/8 configured to respectively contact with peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of the plurality of substrates so as to support the substrates, wherein the support flat surfaces 6/8 adjacent to each other have a positional relationship of being parallel to each other, and the support flat surfaces 6/8 that contact with the peripheral surfaces of the edge portions of adjacent ones of the plurality of substrates have respective central portions in an upward/downward direction that do not face each other in a direction parallel to upper surfaces of the substrates, and have, in at least one of an upper end portion thereof or a lower end portion thereof in the upward/downward direction, an overlap portion adjacent to another overlap portion in the direction parallel to the upper surfaces of the substrates (see FIG.3 of Yajima et al.).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERNESTO A GRANO whose telephone number is (571)270-3927. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00-3:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Stashick can be reached at (571)272-4561. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERNESTO A GRANO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3735