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.
Claims 1-3, 6-8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takiguchi et al. [US 2013/0118533].
For claims 1 and 6, Takiguchi teaches a developing apparatus and associated method (see Figs. 1-3 and 10-26) comprising:
a chuck (11) that holds a substrate (W);
a first nozzle (5) including a first discharge port for a developing solution extending in a lateral direction over a length covering a width of the substrate (see [0068]);
a lifter (53) that causes a first state in which the first nozzle is moved in a direction (X-direction or elevation direction, see [0064] and [0066]) intersecting with an extending direction (extension in Y direction of nozzle 5) of the first discharge port during discharge of the developing solution from the first discharge port to the substrate;
a first liquid contact surface that forms an opening edge part of the first discharge port and is in contact with a liquid film of the developing solution formed on the substrate in the first state (surface of nozzle 5 in contact with liquid during application of developing solution, see Fig. 15);
a second nozzle (41) including a second discharge port for the developing solution in which a length in the extending direction of the first discharge port is formed to be shorter than the first discharge port (see Fig. 3 and [0067]);
a rotation mechanism (12 and 13), including a rotating shaft (12, that rotates the chuck to cause a second state in which the substrate is rotated during discharge of the developing solution from the second discharge port to the substrate (see Fig. 25); and
a second liquid contact surface that forms an opening edge part of the second discharge port and is in contact with the liquid film of the developing solution formed on the substrate in the second state (surface of nozzle 41 in contact with liquid during application of developing solution, see Fig. 25).
For claims 2 and 7, Takiguchi teaches a plurality of the chucks are disposed separately in a left and right direction (liquid processing modules 1 and 2, see Figs. 1-3), a first standby part for causing the first nozzle to stand by in a first nozzle bus (57) is disposed between the chucks in the left and right direction (see Figs. 1 and 2), and a second standby part for causing the second nozzle to stand by in a second nozzle bus is disposed for each of the chucks on any one of the left and right of the chuck (47, see Fig. 1 and 2).
For claims 3 and 8, Takiguchi teaches a first nozzle bus that causes the first nozzle to stand by and a second nozzle bus that causes the second nozzle to stand by are disposed (47, 57, see Fig. 2 and [0072]), and a moving region in a lateral direction in a moving route between the first nozzle bus for the first nozzle and a discharge position of the developing solution on the substrate is positioned on an upper side of a moving region in the lateral direction in a moving route between the second nozzle bus for the second nozzle and the discharge position of the developing solution on the substrate (nozzle 5 is moved above nozzle 41, see Figs 4, and 10-26).
For claim 11, Takiguchi teaches a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored therein a computer program used for a developing apparatus that develops a substrate (see Fig. 9 and [0075]), wherein the computer program incorporates steps for executing the developing method described in claim 6 (see [0075]).
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.
Claims 4 and 9 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takiguchi in view of Fukuda et al. [US 2016/0026086].
For claims 4 and 9, Takiguchi teaches a second nozzle bus (47, see Fig. 2 and [0072]) that causes the second nozzle to stand by is disposed, and the second nozzle bus includes: a recessed part (bath) in which an upper end of a side wall is positioned on an upper side of a lower surface of the second nozzle on standby to surround a lower side of the second nozzle (see Fig. 2).
Takiguchi fails to explicitly teach a supply port that opens in the recessed part and supplies a cleaning liquid to clean the second liquid contact surface and a side surface of the second nozzle.
Fukuda teaches a supply port (534, see Fig. 31) that opens in the recessed part and supplies a cleaning liquid to clean the second liquid contact surface and a side surface of the second nozzle (32 and 321, see Fig. 31 and [0130]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the cleaning supply port as taught Fukuda to the nozzle cleaning bath as taught by Takiguchi in order to ensure that the cleaning solution is provided to the nozzle and all the remaining developing solution on the nozzle is removed.
Claims 5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takiguchi in view of Yamamoto et al. [US 2009/0035021].
For claims 5 and 10, Takiguchi teaches a controller (see Fig. 9) is disposed to output a control signal so that any one and the other one of the first state in which the first liquid contact surface is in contact with the liquid film of the developing solution and the second state in which the second liquid contact surface is in contact with the liquid film of the developing solution (nozzles controlled by control unit 7, see [0075]). Takiguchi fails to teach the first state and the second state are formed in order on the same substrate.
Yamamoto teaches the first state and the second state are formed in order on the same substrate (step 4 and step 5, see Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the same substrate in both states as taught by Yamamoto in the control method as taught by Takiguchi so that the amount of the developing solution to be supplied onto the substrate can be significantly saved (see [0018] and [0057] of Yamamoto).
Conclusion
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/Steven H Whitesell/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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