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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 4/8/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/8/2026.
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 11/22/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 2A, Prong 1: (identify the abstract ideas) Claim 2 recites “calculating a first calculation temperature by multiplying the temperature of the processing fluid detected by the first temperature sensor by a first weight coefficient”. The calculating step can by done by the human mind and thus represents a mental step. Therefore, it is considered an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong 2: (has the abstract idea been integrated into a particular practical application?) The claim sets forth controllers and sensors at a high degree of generality and are generally linking the abstract idea to a field of use rather than a particular machine. The sensor appears to be merely gathering data. Regarding the limitation to output the result based on the calculation, is applying the abstract idea and/or insignificant post-solution activity. Thus, there is no integration.
Step 2B: (does the claim recite any elements which are significantly more than the abstract idea?) There is the processing chamber, heater, sensors, and controller which are still well-understood, routine, and conventional in the art. These limitations do not provide subject matter that is significantly more than the abstract idea, as they only apply the abstract idea. Thus, these limitations are considered insignificant post-solution activity.
Regarding dependent claims 3-8, they are also rejected under 101 because they do not contribute significantly more beyond the abstract idea and are simply reciting additional features of the abstract idea and do not integrate the abstract idea into a particular practical application.
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, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ihara et al. (PG Pub U.S 2021/0159095).
Regarding claim 1, Ihara teaches a substrate processing apparatus (4) (fig 4, abstract and para 0033) comprising: a processing chamber (301) configured to accommodate a substrate (W) (para 0034); a supply flow path (50/64) configured to supply a processing fluid into the processing chamber (para 0042-0043); a heating mechanism (H1-H4) configured to heat the processing fluid flowing through the supply flow path (para 0045); a first temperature sensor (54) configured to detect a temperature of the processing fluid downstream of the heating mechanism (para 0046); a pressure sensor (53) configured to detect a pressure of the processing fluid downstream of the heating mechanism (para 0046); and a controller (4); wherein the controller controls an output of the heating mechanism based on the pressure of the processing fluid detected by the pressure sensor and the temperature of the processing fluid detected by the first temperature sensor (para 0045-0047 and claims 2 and 8).
Regarding claim 9, Ihara teaches wherein the controller controls the output of the heating mechanism while causing the processing fluid to flow from the supply flow path into the processing chamber (para 0045-0047).
Regarding claim 11, Ihara teaches a fluid supply system (4) (fig 4, abstract and para 0033) comprising: a supply flow path (50/64) configured to supply a processing fluid into the processing chamber (para 0042-0043); a heating mechanism (H1-H4) configured to heat the processing fluid flowing through the supply flow path (para 0045); a first temperature sensor (54) configured to detect a temperature of the processing fluid downstream of the heating mechanism (para 0046); a pressure sensor (53) configured to detect a pressure of the processing fluid downstream of the heating mechanism (para 0046); and a controller (4); wherein the controller controls an output of the heating mechanism based on the pressure of the processing fluid detected by the pressure sensor and the temperature of the processing fluid detected by the first temperature sensor (para 0045-0047 and claims 2 and 8).
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ihara et al. (PG Pub U.S 2021/0159095) and further in view of Watanabe (PG Pub U.S 2021/0112628).
Regarding claim 10, Ihara fails to teach wherein the heating mechanism includes a lamp heater. However, Watanabe teaches a substrate processing apparatus wherein the heating mechanism includes a lamp heater (4) (para 0037 and 0039) in order to achieve the predictable result of heating the cleaning fluid entering the processing chamber to clean the substrate. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ihara such that the heating mechanism includes a lamp heater as taught by Watanabe in order to achieve the predictable result of heating the cleaning fluid entering the processing chamber to clean the substrate.
Conclusion
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/P.P/Examiner, Art Unit 1714
/KAJ K OLSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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