Detailed Correspondence
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 Interpretations
The “wherein the substrate is a silicon substrate” of claim 16, Applicants’ substrate 1700 is a starting material of forming the mask (Figs. 21-25) and then etched away ([0212]). If not completely etched away, the left over seem to be the mask support 1840. Therefore, claim 16 is not part of the deposition mask apparatus, or at best is a product by process claim.
Claim 17 recites “a second substrate including a plurality of cell areas and a mask frame excluding the plurality of cell areas”, therefore, the second substrate is the mask itself. Note Applicants’ mask frame is at the same plane as the cell areas ([0209]). This is not the common usage of mask frame, common usage of mask frame is a support of the mask.
The “a substrate” of claims 1 and 14 is also the mask itself.
See also discussion of claim 16 above, the substrate 1700 is not part of the deposition apparatus.
The “a mixed layer” of claim 14, Applicants’ Specification describes the process of forming a mixed layer in Figs. 21-25, however, there may or may not be reaction amongst these sources. Therefore, a layer that contains the named inorganic and metal as components, either physically mixed or chemically reacted, is considered read into this limitation.
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.
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.
Claims 1-13 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SAKIO et al. (JP 2020109208, from IDS, hereafter ‘208), in view of Paik et al. (US 20210140061, hereafter ‘061).
‘208 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 1: VAPOR DEPOSITION MASK (title, includes the claimed “A deposition mask comprising”):
The vapor deposition mask 100 includes a magnetic metal body 20 and a stacked body 10 arranged on the main surface 20s of the magnetic metal body 20 (P5, 2nd paragraph), A plurality of openings (hereinafter, “second openings”) 13 are formed in the first region 10a of the laminated body 10. The plurality of second openings 13 are formed in a size, shape and position corresponding to the vapor deposition pattern to be formed on the work (P5, last paragraph, includes the claimed “a substrate comprising a plurality of cell areas and a mask frame area excluding the plurality of cell areas; and a mask membrane disposed in each of the plurality of cell areas”),
The stacked body 10 includes a first layer m1 and a second layer m2 arranged between the first layer m1 and the magnetic metal body 20 (P5, 3rd last paragraph), As the material of the first layer m1, … silicon nitride film, silicon oxide film, … titanium oxide, … As the material of the second layer m2, … metallic material such as nickel, Invar alloy, etc. (bridging paragraph between pages 8 and 9, includes the claimed “wherein a cross-sectional structure of the mask membrane includes an inorganic layer and a metal layer stacked”).
Claim 17: when performing the vapor deposition process using the vapor deposition mask 100, the vapor deposition mask 100 is arranged such that the magnetic metal body 20 is located on the vapor deposition source side and the laminated body 10 is located on the work (vapor deposition target) side (P5, 4th last paragraph), depressurizing the chamber (P19, 4th paragraph, includes the claimed “A deposition equipment comprising: a chamber; a deposition source disposed in the chamber; a mask disposed between a first substrate and the deposition source in the chamber”),
A frame 40 may be provided on the peripheral portion of the mask body 30. The frame 40 may be joined to the surface of the magnetic metal body 20 opposite to the main surface 20s (P5, 4th paragraph, includes the claimed “and a mask support disposed between the deposition source and the mask to support at least a portion of the mask”),
The vapor deposition mask 100 includes a magnetic metal body 20 and a stacked body 10 arranged on the main surface 20s of the magnetic metal body 20 (P5, 2nd paragraph), A plurality of openings (hereinafter, “second openings”) 13 are formed in the first region 10a of the laminated body 10. The plurality of second openings 13 are formed in a size, shape and position corresponding to the vapor deposition pattern to be formed on the work (P5, last paragraph, includes the claimed “the mask comprises:
a second substrate including a plurality of cell areas and a mask frame excluding the plurality of cell areas; and a mask membrane disposed in each of the plurality of cell areas”),
The stacked body 10 includes a first layer m1 and a second layer m2 arranged between the first layer m1 and the magnetic metal body 20 (P5, 3rd last paragraph), As the material of the first layer m1, … silicon nitride film, silicon oxide film, … titanium oxide, … As the material of the second layer m2, … metallic material such as nickel, Invar alloy, etc. (bridging paragraph between pages 8 and 9, includes the claimed “and a cross-sectional structure of the mask membrane includes an inorganic layer and a metal layer stacked”).
‘208 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claims 1 and 17: wherein a cross-sectional structure of the mask membrane includes a multilayer in which a plurality of inorganic layers and a plurality of metal layers are alternately stacked each other.
‘208 further teaches that The present inventor has conducted further studies and has come up with a novel mask structure capable of more effectively suppressing vapor deposition blur caused by bending (P4, 2nd last paragraph). Note that FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of the vapor deposition mask 100, and the size, number, arrangement relationship, length ratio, and the like of each constituent element are not limited to the illustrated example (P5, 1st paragraph). Therefore, it is merely duplicated the number of m1 and m2 layers. It has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Furthermore, ‘061 is analogous art in the field of DEPOSITION MASK (title), the plated metal plate having a thickness of 1 μm or more has a problem that the quality of the product is lowered due to an increase in thermal expansion coefficient ([0011], last paragraph). ‘061 teaches that in the multi-layered metal plate according to the embodiment, the manufacturing efficiency of the mask for deposition including a plurality of fine through-holes having a uniform size may be excellent ([0074]), the forming of the multi-layered plating plate by alternately repeating the nickel plating layer and the iron plating layer to be disposed thereon will be described with reference to FIG. 8 ([0109]), Relation between a number n of the iron plating layers M2 and a number of the nickel plating layers M1 included in the multi-layered plating plate may be n:n to n:(n+1) ([0121]). Note the alternating metal layers having differing thermal expansion coefficient between adjacent layers same as ‘208 layers m1 and m2.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have duplicated the stacked layer of m1 and m2 layer of ‘208 three times or more, as taught by ‘061, for the purpose of fine through-holes having a uniform size, as taught by ‘061 ([0074]).
The combination of ‘208 and ‘061 further teaches the limitations of:
Claims 2-13 and 18-20: The stacked body 10 includes a first layer m1 and a second layer m2 arranged between the first layer m1 and the magnetic metal body 20 (P5, 3rd last paragraph), As the material of the first layer m1, … silicon nitride film, silicon oxide film, … titanium oxide, … As the material of the second layer m2, … metallic material such as nickel, Invar alloy, etc. (‘208, bridging paragraph between pages 8 and 9, by duplicating m1 and m2 three times, reads into the claimed “wherein a cross-sectional structure of the mask membrane comprises: a first metal layer; a first inorganic layer disposed on the first metal layer; a second metal layer disposed on the first inorganic layer; a second inorganic layer disposed on the second metal layer; a third metal layer disposed on the second inorganic layer; and a third inorganic layer disposed on the third metal layer” of claims 2 and 18, “wherein, when viewed from a cross-section in which the mask membrane is cut, the first metal layer is disposed on a lowermost layer of the mask membrane and the third inorganic layer is disposed on an uppermost layer of the mask membrane” of claims 3 and 19, “wherein the first inorganic layer includes at least one of silicon (Si), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon oxide (SiOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and aluminum oxide (AlOx)” of claim 4, “wherein the second inorganic layer includes at least one of silicon (Si), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon oxide (SiOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and aluminum oxide (AlOx)” of claim 5, “wherein the third inorganic layer includes at least one of silicon (Si), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon oxide (SiOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and aluminum oxide (AlOx)” of claim 6, “wherein materials of the first inorganic layer, the second inorganic layer and the third inorganic layer are same” of claim 7, “wherein materials of the first inorganic layer, the second inorganic layer and the third inorganic layer are different from each other” of claim 8 by choosing different m1 material from ‘208, “wherein the first metal layer includes at least one material of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), and invar” of claim 9, “wherein the second metal layer includes at least one material of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), and invar” of claim 10, “wherein the third metal layer includes at least one material of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), and invar” of claim 11, “wherein the materials of the first metal layer, the second metal layer and the third metal layer are same” of claim 13, “wherein the materials of the first metal layer, the second metal layer and the third metal layer are different from each other” by choosing different metal from ‘208, and “the first inorganic layer, the second inorganic layer and the third inorganic layer include at least one of silicon (Si), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon oxide (SiOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and aluminum oxide (AlOx), and the first metal layer, the second metal layer and the third metal layer include at least one material of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), and invar” of claim 20).
Claims 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘208, in view of Kim et al. (US 10253550, hereafter ‘550).
‘208 teaches some limitations of:
Claim 14: VAPOR DEPOSITION MASK (title, includes the claimed “A deposition mask comprising”):
The vapor deposition mask 100 includes a magnetic metal body 20 and a stacked body 10 arranged on the main surface 20s of the magnetic metal body 20 (P5, 2nd paragraph), A plurality of openings (hereinafter, “second openings”) 13 are formed in the first region 10a of the laminated body 10. The plurality of second openings 13 are formed in a size, shape and position corresponding to the vapor deposition pattern to be formed on the work (P5, last paragraph, includes the claimed “a substrate comprising a plurality of cell areas and a mask frame area excluding the plurality of cell areas; and a mask membrane disposed in each of the plurality of cell areas”).
‘208 does not teach the other limitations of:
Claim 14: wherein the mask membrane comprises a mixed layer in which at least one inorganic layer and at least one metal layer are mixed.
Claim 15: wherein the mixed layer includes a mixed material in which at least one inorganic material of silicon (Si), silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon oxide (SiOx), titanium oxide (TiOx), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and aluminum oxide, and at least one metal material of copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), and invar are mixed.
‘550 is analogous art in the field of depositing an etching mask layer onto a plurality of masking locations along the vacuum chamber side of the first glass pane (col. 1, lines 45-47), The anti-friction layer 142 may reduce or prevent damage to the first and/or second glass panes 110, 120 caused by the relative motion of the glass spacers 130 along the vacuum chamber side 122 of the second glass pane 120 due to thermal expansion and retraction (col. 6, lines 2-7). ‘550 teaches that the anti-friction mask layer comprises aluminum, polysilicon, amorphous silicon, silicon carbide, titanium nitride, or a combination thereof (claim 8 of ‘550).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted or added a mixture layer including aluminum, polysilicon, amorphous silicon in combination, as taught by ‘550, to the mask 100 of ‘208, for the purpose of prevent damage due to thermal expansion and retraction, as taught by ‘550 (col. 6, lines 2-7).
As for the limitation of claim 16, “wherein the substrate is a silicon substrate” is not part of the deposition mask.
Claims 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘208, in view of Koba et al. (US 20010046646, hereafter ‘646).
‘208 teaches some limitations of claim 14 and does not teach the other limitations of claim 14 as discussed above. Furthermore, in case Applicants argue that “wherein the substrate is a silicon substrate” of claim 16 is part of the final deposition mask structure.
‘646 is analogous art in the field of Stencil Mask And Method For Manufacturing Same (title). ‘646 teaches that A stencil mask has a mask layer having an aperture part with either one or a plurality of apertures, a support part supporting the mask part formed by parts other the aperture parts, and a silicon oxide film layer, disposed between the support part and the mask layer, this silicon oxide film layer including a metal (abstract), the silicon oxide film layer 12, which includes a metal and which is used in the stencil mask 10 of the present invention, includes at least one metal atom, selected from a group consisting of, for example, phosphorus, boron, tungsten (Fig. 1, [0038]), the stencil mask 10 according to the present invention has a configuration in which there is a silicon oxide film 12 between the front surface-side silicon substrate 13 and the support-side silicon substrate 11 ([0041]), as shown in FIG. 2(f), a mask is formed with apertures only in a prescribed part on the reverse surface side of the support-side silicon substrate 21, and silicon wet etching is then performed (this being referred to as back etching) ([0061]), for the purpose of preventing deformation caused by thermal stress ([0025]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have adopted or added a mixture layer including silicon oxide and tungsten formed from a silicon substrate, as taught by ‘646, to the mask 100 of ‘208, for the purpose of preventing deformation caused by thermal stress, as taught by ‘646 ([0025]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20040063004 is cited for mask of titanium-doped silica glass ([0006]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEATH T CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1870. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00 pm.
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/KEATH T CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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