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
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, 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kenichi Umermori et al (Japanese Patent: 20168315, here after 315).
Claim 1 is rejected. 315 teaches a method of manufacturing a gas barrier film (SiN) [page 3 paragraph 4], the method comprising:
forming an inorganic layer (SiN) on an elongated support while transporting the support(Z) in a longitudinal direction [fig. 1], wherein a plasma is generated by supplying raw material gas between the support and a conductor electrode (20) having a porous structure that is disposed to face the support[fig. 1], and the inorganic layer is formed using a plasma chemical vapor deposition method[page 3 paragraph 6, 9, page 15 paragraph 5m Drawing Description], and before a main film forming step of forming the inorganic layer(SiN) on the support, a preliminary film forming step is provided, the preliminary film forming step being a step of forming an insulating inorganic layer(52) having a lower density than the inorganic layer on a surface of the conductor electrode[page 5 paragraph 9, page 9 paragraph 3](boron nitride has lower density than silicon nitride).315 also teaches setting a power in the main film forming step(SiN formation) while continuing the supply of the raw material gas and the application of the power until the main film forming step is at 10 KW[page 13 line 11]. 315 also teaches formation of the boron nitride by dispersion plating [page 9 paragraph 3] which in fact plasma power that is applied to the conductor electrode to be lower than plasma power in the main film (SiN) forming step as it is not form via plasma.
Claim 4 is rejected. A transportation speed of the support in the preliminary film forming step is slower (the support is not moving during coating the shower head) than a transportation speed of the support in the main film forming step, and
during transition from the preliminary film forming step to the main film forming
step, the transportation speed of the support is increased (this inherently happens as the shower head is coated with composition plating and the support is not moving during that step).
Claim 5 is rejected as 315 teaches a ratio of a density of the insulating inorganic layer (BN: 1.9 g/cm3) to a density of the inorganic layer (SiN: 3.17 g/cm3) is 0.599.
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenichi Umermori et al (Japanese Patent: 20168315, here after 315).
Claim 7 is rejected. 315 teaches a sprayed film (50) having a surface roughness Ra of 1 µm to 30 µm is provided on a discharge surface of the conductor electrode [page 6 paragraph 3, and 5]. Although it does not teach roughness of 1-20 um, however overlapping ranges are prima facie evidence of obviousness. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have selected the portion of [overlapping range] that corresponds to the claimed range. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 315 where the roughness of sprayed film is 1-20um, because one having ordinary skill in the art to have selected the portion of overlapping range that corresponds to the claimed range.
Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kenichi Umermori et al (Japanese Patent: 20168315, here after 315), further in view of Tatsuya Inaba et al (Japanese Patent: 2018048386, here after 386).
Claim 6 is rejected. 315 teaches discharge surface of the conductor electrode (shower head) has holes [fig. 2A], but does not teach a ratio of a total area of holes to an area of a discharge surface of the conductor electrode. 385 teaches Ah/As is equal to 0.013 (when Ah/(As-Ah) is equal to 0.014) [page 9 paragraph 2]so the temperature of the plasma in the film formation region and the temperature of the radiant heat of the shower electrode are reduced to prevent thermal damage to the substrate [page 8 paragraph 8]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a ratio of a total area of holes to an area of a discharge surface of the conductor electrode is 0.014, because the temperature of the plasma in the film formation region and the temperature of the radiant heat of the shower electrode are reduced to prevent thermal damage to the substrate.
Claim 12 is rejected. 315 does not teach adjusting the temperature of the conductor electrode. 385 teaches adjusting the ratio of opening to discharge surface of the conductor electrode, Ah/As is equal to 0.013 (when Ah/(As-Ah) is equal to 0.014), so the temperature of the plasma in the film formation region and the temperature of the radiant heat of the shower electrode are reduced to prevent thermal damage to the substrate [page 8 paragraph 8]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a ratio of a total area of holes to an area of a discharge surface of the conductor electrode is 0.014, because it adjusts the temperature of the radiant heat of the shower electrode to prevent thermal damage to the substrate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 8-11, and 13-20 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. The examiner did not find a reference that could be combined with 315 to teach limitation of dependent claims 2, 3, and 8.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1885. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718
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