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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claims are indefinite and could not be properly understood because it is not clear from claim 1 what structure is required by the recitation that “the cleaning water raises higher than the opening”.
The claims are further indefinite because it is not clear from claim 1 whether or not the recited “cleaning water” is a part of the claimed apparatus.
Claim 4 is further indefinite because it is not clear what structure is required by the recitation of the intended functioning of the cleaning apparatus.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-5 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2021-034349.
JP 2021-034349 teaches an apparatus and a method as claimed.
The apparatus comprises:
A holding pad 50, 500;
A cleaning mechanism 7; and
A moving mechanism 51.
The cleaning mechanism is disclosed as comprising:
A cleaning tank 74;
A cleaning water supply 760, 761;
An ultrasonic oscillator (“ultrasonic diaphragm arranged in the tub 74”).
The moving mechanism is disclosed as moving the holding part holding the wafer whose underside is partially in contact with water raised higher than the opening of the tub 74 by a sponge 70 (at least Figure 4 and the related description).
See at least Figures 1-4 and the related description.
As to claim 2:
The moving mechanism 51 is disclosed as moving the holding pad horizontally in Y direction in a linear path (at least at Figures 2 and 4 and the related description).
The cleaning tank 74 extending as claimed is shown at least on Figure 1.
As to claim 4:
JP 2021-034349 also teachers that the apparatus comprises:
A chuck table 21 with chucks 20;
Processing units 30, 31, 32 to process wafers W.
The apparatus of JP 2021-034349 is disclosed as configured to clean wafers before/after processing in the processing units.
As to claim 5:
JP 2021-034349 teaches a method comprising:
Processing wafers held by chuck table 21 by processing units 30, 31, 32 and cleaning/pre-cleaning the wafer held by holding pad 50, 500 by the cleaning mechanism 7.
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(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2021-034349 in view of JP 2020-115496.
The discussion of JP 2021-034349 is incorporated here.
JP 2021-034349 as discussed above does not specifically state whether or not the moving mechanism is configured to rotate the pad along the axis passing through the center of the pad.
However, rotating pads during cleaning wafers was known in the art as evidenced by JP 2020-115496. See at least Figures 1, 5-7 and the related description, which states “At least one of the brush 83 of the cleaning mechanism 8 and the suction pad 141 of the holding means 14 is configured to be rotatable about the axis in the Z-axis direction by the rotation mechanism, so that the brush 83 and the plate-shaped work W can be moved. At least one of the suction pad 141 that holds by suction may be rotated to wash the lower surface Wa”.
It would have been obvious to an ordinary artisan at the time the invention was filed to provide rotating means into the device of JP 2021-034349 in order to use a known device for its known purpose and in order to further clean the wafer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bok US 5,339,842 is cited to show that the cleaning tanks utilizing the raised liquids together with ultrasonics were known in the art.
It is noted that the instant claims are indefinite and fail to disclose any specific way to raise the water in the tank.
Thereby the teaching of JP 2021-034349 has been applied to address the claims.
The teaching of Bok is cited to show that cleaning devices with tanks with raising liquids without brushes were known in the art.
The documents listed on the attached PTO 892 are cited to show the state of the art with respect to cleaning apparatuses and methods.
The referenced documents also evidence that cleaning devices utilizing fluid meniscuses were known in the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER MARKOFF whose telephone number is (571)272-1304. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Barr can be reached at 571-272-1414. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER MARKOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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