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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMIVHSSIONER FOR PATENTS
`PO. Box 1450
`Alexandria1 Virginia 22313-1450
`www.uspto.gov
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`14/818,415
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`08/05/2015
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`Shogo OKITA
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`PIPMM—54878
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`8557
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`””6’2016 —PEARNE&GORDON LLP m
`7590
`52054
`1801 EAST 9TH STREET
`FORD, NATHAN K
`SUITE 1200
`CLEVELAND, OH 441 14-3 108
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`PAPER NUMBER
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`ART UNIT
`1716
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`NOTIFICATION DATE
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`12/16/2016
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`ELECTRONIC
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`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
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`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
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`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e—mail address(es):
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`patdocket @ pearne.c0m
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`PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
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`

`

`
`
`Applicant(s)
`Application No.
` 14/818,415 OKITA ET AL.
`
`
`AIA (First Inventorto File)
`Art Unit
`Examiner
`Office Action Summary
`
`
`NATHAN K. FORD $233 1716
`-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
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`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE g MONTHS FROM THE MAILING DATE OF
`THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR1. 136(a).
`after SIX () MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
`earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
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`In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
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`-
`-
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`Status
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`1)IXI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 8/5/15.
`[I A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2b)lX| This action is non-final.
`a)I:| This action is FINAL.
`3)I:I An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on
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`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
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`4)|:I Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under EX parte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
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`Disposition of Claims*
`5)|XI Claim(s) L6is/are pending in the application.
`5a) Of the above claim(s) fl is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`6)|:l Claim(s) _ is/are allowed.
`7)IZ| Claim(s)_4-6is/are rejected.
`8)I:I Claim(s)_ is/are objected to.
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`9)|:l Claim((s)
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
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`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`htt
`://www.usoto. ov/ atents/init events"
`
`
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`h/index.‘s , or send an inquiry to PRI-Ifeedback{<‘buspto.qov.
`
`Application Papers
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`10)I:I The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11)|Z| The drawing(s) filed on Wis/are: a)IXI accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
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`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
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`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12)IZI Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
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`b)I:I Some” c)I:I None of the:
`a)le All
`1.IZI Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.I:I Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`3.|:I Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
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`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
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`Attachment(s)
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`
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`3) D Interview Summary (PT0_413)
`1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date.
`.
`.
`—
`4) I:I Other'
`2) E InformatIon DIscIosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date 8/5/15.
`US. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
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`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20161128
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 14/818,415
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`Art Unit: 1716
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`Page 2
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`ElectioryRestriction
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`Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
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`1. Claims 1-3, drawn to a plasma processing apparatus, classified in H01] 37/ 32715.
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`11. Claims 4-6, drawn to plasma processing method, classified in H01] 37/ 32366.
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`Inventions II and I are related as process and apparatus for its practice. The inventions are distinct if it can be shown
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`that either: (1) the process as claimed can be practiced by another and materially different apparatus or by hand, or (2)
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`the apparatus as claimed can be used to practice another and materially different process (MPEP § 806.05(e)). In this case,
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`the apparatus can be used to execute another method, such as providing a cleaning gas to the processing section to
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`deterge its interior without a substrate present.
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`In a telephone conversation with Andrew Jenkins on December 5, 2016, a provisional election was made without
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`traverse to prosecute the invention of Group 11, claims 4-6. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in
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`replying to this Office action. Claims 1-3 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as
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`being drawn to a non-elected invention.
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`The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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`under this section made in this Office action:
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`A person shall be entitled to a patent unless —
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`(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.
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`Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iwai, US 2010/ 0216313.
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`Iwai discloses a method of applying processing to a substrate held on a transport carrier. The transport carrier
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`includes a frame (6) and a holding sheet (7), whereby the substrate (200) is affixed to the latter (Fig. 6A). Inherently, some
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`mechanism must exist to ensure at least a modicum of accuracy regarding the substrate’s attachment to the holding sheet
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`simply to render the system operable — this mechanism is being taken as the “position measuring section.” (As an
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`example, an operator could constitute the “position measuring section” given the limitation’s present breadth.)
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 14/818,415
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`Art Unit: 1716
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`Page 3
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`Continuing, lwai executes plasma processing by loading the carrier onto a processing stage (300) disposed in a
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`processing section (Fig. 3). A cover (40) shrouds the frame (6) and a portion of the holding sheet (7), while exposing the
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`substrate to a window section formed by said cover.
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`Lastly, lwai seeks to align the transport carrier’s center with that of the processing stage [0042]. Surely,
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`this
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`intentionality satisfies the claimed requirement of a “ predetermined positional relationship.”
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this
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`Office action:
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`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 of this title, 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.
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`Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over lwai in view of Campidell et al., US
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`2009/ 0189054.
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`lwai does not explicitly disclose a range determination step. In supplementation, Campidell elaborates a method for
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`aligning a substrate prior to its ingress to a processing section. A carrier (160), to which the substrate (170) is adhered, is
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`disposed atop the rotary driving unit of a measuring stage [0026]. The driving unit rotates the carrier, and a position
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`measuring section determines the position of the substrate relative to a central rotational axis (Fig. 1). (Given that the
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`carrier’s central axis is aligned with the rotational axis of the measuring stage, it could also be said that the position
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`measuring section determines substrate position relative to a center of the frame of the transport carrier, to put it in the
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`language of the claim.) After determining the substrate’s degree of deviation, the carrier is shifted so the substrate center
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`aligns with the rotational center of the measuring stage [0074]. It would have been obvious to integrate this technique
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`within lwai’s processing method to ensure the accurate alignment of the substrate.
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to
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`Nathan K. Ford whose telephone number is 571 270 1880. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 11230-8200 EDT.
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`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Parviz Hassanzadeh, can be
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`reached at 571 272 1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is
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`571 273 8300.
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 14/818,415
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`Page 4
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`Art Unit: 1716
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`/ N. K. F. /
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`Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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`/KARLA MOORE/
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`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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`