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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (KR 102641036 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a stage device of a side track buffer, which allows an inert gas to flow through the side track buffer, the stage device comprising: a supply part (111a) installed at one side of a first base (the base at one of 111) of a first module unit (the entire module unit on and including 111) to supply the inert gas; a first flow control part (121) installed at one side of the supply part to control a flow rate of the inert gas; a filter part (122) connected to the first flow control part to filter the inert gas; and a discharge part (111b) installed at the other side of the first base of the first module unit to discharge the inert gas.
Regarding claim 2, Kim further discloses the stage device of claim 1, further comprising a second module unit detachably installed at one side of the first module unit to control the discharge of the inert gas. (as shown in Fig. 1, see how 4 different units are installed in series)
Regarding claim 3, Kim further discloses the stage device of claim 2, wherein the second module unit comprises: a second base (the base of the second module unit defined above) coupled to one end of the first base of the first module unit (Fig. 1); a second flow control part (121 of the second module unit) installed at one side of the second base to control a discharge amount of inert gas; and a second discharge control part (134 of the second module unit) installed at the other side of the second base to control whether to discharge the inert gas.
Regarding claim 4, Kim further discloses the stage device of claim 2, further comprising a connection unit (as shown in Fig. 1, the portion of 110 that connected each module unit 111) installed between the first module unit and the second module unit to connect the first base to the second base so as to be attached to and detached from each other. (Fig. 1)
Regarding claim 7, Kim further discloses a semiconductor process device provided with the stage device of the side track buffer as set forth in claim 1. (Abstract; Fig. 1)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 6 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL J GRAY whose telephone number is (571)270-0544. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
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/PAUL J GRAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753
