DETAILED ACTION
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maeda (JP 2019165184 A which has been machine translated).
As to claims 1, 3, 4 and 5, Maeda discloses an electrostatic chuck device that comprises a bonding layer made of silicone-based material with a young’s modulus of less than 8 MPa so that the thermal expansion difference between the support plate (dielectric substrate, made of ceramic) and the base member can be absorbed and keep the durability of the bonding layer. Further the base member can be made of a metal material and there are though holes 17 located. However this reference is silent to the distance of the through holes with a central axis of the dielectric substrate and a central axis of each hole to satisfy the claimed equation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Maeda and formed the through holes at a position of x being greater than 75mm as one ordinary skill in the art would know how to adjust the location of the through holes to provide the least stress on the chuck and allow for proper adhesion of the layers. Maeda discloses the same material is used for the bonding layer and that the goal of Maeda is to have a strong bonding layer that remains durable and can absorb the thermal expansion difference of the two layers when subjected to increasing and decreasing thermal cycles. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would know how to form a electrostatic chuck that meets the claimed equation absent unexpected results.
As to claim 2, Maeda renders claim 1 obvious for the reasons noted above, however is silent to the diameter of the through holes being .2mm or less. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have formed the through holes to be less than .2 mm as one of ordinary skill in the art would know how to adjust the size of the hole to allow for the proper amount of cooling gas to be supplied. See MPEP 2144.06. Change in size.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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