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 .
Claims 1-4 are pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 01/23/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Itakura (JP 2019165207 A).
Regarding claim 1, Itakura teaches an electrostatic chuck comprising:
a dielectric substrate (i.e. ceramic dielectric substrate 11, fig.1) including a placement surface (i.e. a first main surface 11a, fig.1) on which an object to be attracted is placed (page 3, ceramic dielectric substrate 11 has a first main surface 11a on which the object W to be attracted is placed); and
a base plate (i.e. base plate 50,, fig.1) joined to the dielectric substrate (page 3, ceramic dielectric substrate 11 is fixed on the base plate 50),
wherein the base plate includes
a first part that is a part on a dielectric substrate side (e.g. part comprising aluminum upper portion 50a, fig.1), and
a second part which is a part adjacent to the first part from an opposite side of the dielectric substrate (e.g. part comprising lower portion 50b, fig.1) and which has an outer shape larger than an outer shape of the first part when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the placement surface (e.g. 50b is wider than 50a in the x-direction, fig.1),
the base plate is constituted by joining a plurality of members to each other (page 3, The base plate 50 is divided into, for example, an aluminum upper portion 50a and a lower portion 50b), and
a joint boundary closest to the dielectric substrate is located in the second part (e.g. joint boundary between 50a and 50b, fig.1).
Regarding claim 2, Itakura teaches The electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein when among the plurality of members constituting the base plate, a member located on the dielectric substrate side relative to the joint boundary is set as a first member (i.e. aluminum upper portion 50a, fig.1), and a member joined to the first member while the joint boundary is sandwiched is set as a second member (i.e. lower portion 50b, fig.1),
a supply flow path (i.e. gas introduction path 53, fig.1) for supplying a gas towards the placement surface is formed in the first member so as to extend in the direction perpendicular to the placement surface (page 3, is provided in the base plate 50), and a porous member is arranged inside the supply flow path (i.e. second porous portion 70, fig.1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Itakura (JP 2019165207 A), and further in view of Takayama (US 20210272834 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Itakura teaches the electrostatic chuck according to claim 2, wherein the supply flow path includes a plurality of supply flow paths (page 3, the gas introduction paths 53 may be provided at a plurality of locations).
Itakura does not teach, a distribution flow path for distributing the gas to the plurality of supply flow paths is further formed in the base plate.
Takayama teaches in a similar field of endeavor of electrostatic chucks, a distribution flow path (i.e. flow path 22a, figs.2-3) for distributing the gas to the plurality of supply flow paths is further formed in the base plate ([0026], The heat transfer gas is supplied between the placement surface 20a of the electrostatic chuck 20 and a rear surface of the substrate W through the gas supply line 24, the second hole 23a, the flow path 22a, and the first hole 21a).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optionally included a distribution flow path for distributing the gas to the plurality of supply flow paths is further formed in the base plate in Itakura, as taught by Takayama, as it provides the advantage of uniform heat transfer, as well as reducing the height of the supply flow paths.
Regarding claim 4, Itakura and Takayama teach the electrostatic chuck according to claim 3, wherein the distribution flow path is a groove formed so as to extend along the joint boundary in either the first member or the second member (Takayama, [0041], Between the first ceramic plate 21 and the second ceramic plate 23 laminated one above the other, the flow path 22a (flow paths 22a1 to 22a3) having a desired height is formed to connect the first holes 21a and the second hole 23a. The flow path 22a is formed at a desired height).
Conclusion
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/SREEYA SREEVATSA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838 09/25/2026
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