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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on September 23, 2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-15 are currently presented in the instant application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/23/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 10 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishii et al. (US 2010/0186667).
With respect to claim 1, Ishii discloses in figure 2 a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing container (2, e.g., a tube, chamber or container) configured to accommodate a substrate holder (41, e.g., a wafer boat or a substrate holder) that holds a substrate (W, e.g., a wafter or a substrate); a pipe branching (610-630, e.g., pipes) from the processing container and extending horizontally from a sidewall (SW, e.g., sidewalls) of the processing container (see figure 2); a temperature controller (7, e.g., a control section for controlling the temperature of the container thereof) including a housing (31, e.g., a cover or a housing) surrounding the pipe and configured to adjust a temperature of the pipe (paragraph 0028, e.g., “the temperature inside the reaction tube 2 is controlled”); and an injector (43, e.g., an injector) arranged in the pipe (see figure 2).
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With respect to claim 10, Ishii discloses in figure 2 a substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing container (2, e.g., a tube, chamber or container) configured to accommodate a substrate holder (41, e.g., a wafer boat or a substrate holder) that holds a substrate (W, e.g., a substrate); a pipe branching (610-630, e.g., pipes) from the processing container body (11, e.g., a container body) and extending horizontally from a sidewall (SW, e.g., sidewalls) of the processing container (see figure 2); and a temperature controller (7, e.g., a temperature controller) detachably arranged in the pipe (figure 3B shows a temperature sensor 35 thereof).
With respect to claim 12, Ishii discloses that wherein the pipe includes a plurality of pipes (610-630) provided in an axial direction (having a horizontal direction) of the processing container (see figure 2 of Ishii).
With respect to claim 13, Ishii discloses that wherein the pipe includes a plurality of pipes (610-630) provided in a circumferential direction (having a horizontal direction) of the processing container (see figure 2 of Ishii).
With respect to claim 14, Ishii discloses that wherein a plurality of pipes (610-630) is provided in a circumferential direction (having a horizontal direction) and an axial direction (having a horizontal direction) of the processing container, and the plurality of pipes are arranged radially toward a central axis of the processing container (see figure 2 of Ishii).
With respect to claim 15, Ishii discloses that wherein a plurality of pipes (610-630) is provided in a circumferential direction (having a horizontal direction) and an axial direction (having a horizontal direction) of the processing container, and the plurality of pipes are arranged parallel to each other (see figure 2 of Ishii).
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 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishii et al. (US 2010/0186667) in view of Matsunaga et al. (US 2011/0129619).
With respect to claim 2, Ishii discloses that wherein the temperature controller includes a heater (3, e.g., a heater) and except for specifying that a cooler provided in an inside of the housing.
Matsunaga discloses in figure 1 a substrate processing apparatus comprising a controller (50) and a housing (36, 38), wherein the controller includes a cooler provided in an inside the housing (figures 1-2 and paragraph 0043, e.g., “a coolant passages are formed inside the cover 36 and can be supplied with a coolant”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the apparatus of Ishii with a cooling feature as taught by Matsunaga for the purpose of reducing heat to protect the device thereof since this configuration for the stated purpose would have been deemed obvious to a person skilled in the art.
With respect to claim 3, the combination of Ishii and Matsunaga disclose that wherein the heater is wound around an outer periphery of the pipe inside the housing (see figure 2 of Ishii).
With respect to claim 4, the combination of Ishii and Matsunaga disclose that wherein the cooler is a flow path formed in the housing to flow a thermal fluid therethrough (see paragraph 0043 of Matsunaga, e.g., “a coolant passages are formed inside the insulating protection cover 36 and can be supplied with a coolant such as cooled gas”).
With respect to claim 5, the combination of Ishii and Matsunaga disclose that wherein the injector is detachably arranged in the pipe (see figure 2 of Ishii).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 11 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 (claims 7-9 are also objected as being dependent on claim 6).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior art Matsuura – US 7,632,757
Prior art Sato et al. – US 2021/0202216
Prior art Tateno et al. – US 2018/0204742
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUNG X LE whose telephone number is (571)272-6010. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander H. Taningco can be reached at 571-272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TUNG X LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845 August 3, 2026
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