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, 4, 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent 9,810,208 to Kimura (Kimura).
In reference to claim 1, Kimura teaches a method for regenerating a cryopump (10, FIG. 1-3), in which the cryopump (10, FIG. 1) includes a cryopanel (18, FIG. 1) and a cryopump container (38, FIG. 1) that accommodates the cryopanel, the method comprising raising a temperature of the cryopanel from a cryogenic temperature to a temperature rising completion temperature (S10, FIG. 2; col 8, lines 4-16); and completing regeneration of the cryopump in a state where the temperature of the cryopanel is raised to the temperature rising completion temperature (S24, FIG. 2; based on the input from sensors 90 and 92, FIG. 1; col 6, lines 65-67 and col 7, lines 1-12), wherein the completion includes acquiring a history of a pressure rise rate in the cryopump container by repeating supply of a purge gas to the cryopump container, rough pumping of the cryopump container, and measurement of the pressure rise rate, and determining whether or not to complete the regeneration of the cryopump, based on the acquired history of the pressure rise rate (col 12, lines 29-46).
In reference to claim 4, Kimura teaches the method as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, and Kimura implicitly teaches wherein the rough pumping of the cryopump container is ended when the cryopump container is decompressed to a pressure range of about 100 Pa or more and less than about 1000 Pa (col 6, lines 41-53).
In reference to claim 5, Kimura teaches the method as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, and Kimura implicitly teaches supplying a purge gas to the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1-3) when the regeneration of the cryopump (10, FIG. 1) is completed.
In reference to claim 8, Kimura teaches a cryopump (10, FIG. 1-3) comprising a cryopanel (18, FIG. 1); a cryopump container (38, FIG. 1) that accommodates the cryopanel (18, FIG. 1); a heat source (col 4, lines 55-60) that raises a temperature of the cryopanel (18, FIG. 1); a purge valve (74, FIG. 1) that supplies a purge gas to the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1); a rough valve (72, FIG. 1) that exhausts a gas from the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1) to a rough pump (73, FIG 1); a pressure sensor (94, FIG. 1) that measures a pressure in the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1); and a controller (100, FIG. 1) configured to operate the heat source (col 4, lines 55-60) to raise the temperature of the cryopanel (18, FIG. 1) from a cryogenic temperature to a temperature rising completion temperature (S10, FIG. 2; col 8, lines 4-16), and to complete regeneration of the cryopump in a state where the temperature of the cryopanel (18, FIG. 1) is raised to the temperature rising completion temperature (S24, FIG. 2; based on the input from sensors 90 and 92, FIG. 1; col 6, lines 65-67 and col 7, lines 1-12), wherein the controller (100, FIG. 1) is configured to acquire a history of a pressure rise rate in the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1) by operating the purge valve, the rough valve, and the pressure sensor to repeat supply of a purge gas to the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1), rough pumping of the cryopump container (38, FIG. 1), and measurement of the pressure rise rate, and determine whether or not to complete the regeneration of the cryopump, based on the acquired history of the pressure rise rate (col 12, lines 29-46).
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 (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 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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 2-3 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura.
In refence to claim 2, Kimura teaches the method as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, but does not teach explicitly wherein the acquisition includes acquiring an amount of change in the pressure rise rate each time the pressure rise rate is measured, and the determination includes completing the regeneration of the cryopump when the number of times that the acquired amount of change in the pressure rise rate is consecutively within an allowable range reaches a predetermined number of times.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of various manners to control the completion of the regeneration process, especially when based on measured pressure within the cryogen container, to be obvious in order to provide the most efficient and cost saving regeneration process.
In refence to claim 3, Kimura teaches the method as explained in the rejection of claim 2 above, but does not teach explicitly wherein the predetermined number of times is at least two times.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of various manners to control the completion of the regeneration process, especially when based on measured pressure within the cryogen container, specifically to limit the number of pressure rise occurrences to two, to be obvious in order to provide the most efficient and cost saving regeneration process.
In refence to claim 6, Kimura teaches the method as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, but does not teach explicitly wherein the regeneration of the cryopump is performed in a state where the cryopump is mounted on a vacuum chamber to be evacuated by the cryopump, and the method further comprises removing the cryopump from the vacuum chamber after the regeneration of the cryopump is completed.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of various regeneration processes for cryopumps having a step of removing the vacuum pump from the vacuum chamber to be obvious in order to provide the maintenance and prevent malfunctioning of the pump.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See attached form PTO-892 for relevant prior art.
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/FILIP ZEC/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
6/11/2026
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