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 .
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 1 and 3-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claims 1 and 3-8 of prior U.S. Patent No. 12,237,179. This is a statutory double patenting rejection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9-20 are allowed.
Claim 2 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not disclose a method of making a wafer cleaning system, comprising: inserting a flanged pipe into a threaded hole of a base plate such that a flange of the flanged pipe rests on a stop surface of the base plate and so that a hollow tube of the flanged pipe passes through a channel of the base plate and out a lower surface of the base plate; inserting a threaded connector into the threaded hole to fix the flanged pipe in place; fastening the base plate to a support bar of an arm; attaching an upper brush to a rotatable shaft of the arm; and installing the arm in a scrubbing chamber of the wafer cleaning system (claim 9). The prior art does not disclose a method of using a brush to clean a wafer, comprising: inserting the wafer into a scrubbing chamber; holding the wafer in place using wafer retention arms; providing a washing fluid through a fitting comprising: a base plate comprising a threaded hole with a stop surface therein and a channel extending from the stop surface through a lower surface of the base plate; a flanged pipe comprising a hollow tube and a flange at an end of the hollow tube, inserted into the base plate such that the flange rests on the stop surface and the hollow tube passes through the channel of the base plate; and a threaded connector having a hole therethrough, the threaded connector engaging the threaded hole to fix the flanged pipe in place; wherein the flanged pipe is fixed in place and cannot contact a brush within the scrubbing chamber; and scrubbing the wafer with the brush (claim 17).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure because it illustrates the state of the art.
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/AARON M DUNWOODY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3679
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