`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF CONINJERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 223 13-1450
`www.uspto.gov
`
`14/818,415
`
`08/05/2015
`
`Shogo OKITA
`
`PIPMM-54878
`
`8557
`
`“”2”“ —FEARNMGORDON m» m
`”9°
`52"“
`1801 EAST 9TH STREET
`FORE NATHAN K
`SUITE 1200
`
`CLEVELAND, OH 441 14-3108
`
`ART UNIT
`1716
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`1 1/29/2017
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e-mail address(es):
`
`patdocket@pearne.com
`
`PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`017709 A0110” Summary
`
`Application No.
`14/818,415
`
`Examiner
`NATHAN K FORD
`
`Applicant(s)
`OKITA et al.
`
`Art Unit
`1716
`
`AIA Status
`Yes
`
`- The MAILING DA TE ofthis communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address -
`Period for Reply
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE 2 MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`- Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
`after SIX (6) 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).
`
`Status
`
`1). Responsive to communication(s) filed on 9/29/17
`.
`D A declaration(s)laffidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
`2a)[:| This action is FINAL.
`2b)
`This action is non-final.
`
`3)|:| An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`
`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 Exparfe Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`Disposition of Claims"
`
`5). Claim(s) 1-7 and 9-16 is/are pending in the application.
`
`5a) Of the above Claim(s) fl is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`
`6)[:| Claim(s)
`
`is/are allowed.
`
`7). Claim(s) 4-7 and 9-16 is/are rejected.
`
`8)[:| Claim(s)
`
`is/are objected to.
`
`
`
`are subject to restriction andlor election requirement.
`9)I:| Claim(s)
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`
`http:llwww.usptogovlpatents/init events/pphlindexjsp or send an inquiry to PPeredback@uspto.gov.
`
`Application Papers
`10)|:| The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`
`11). The drawing(s) filed on 05 August 2015 is/are: a). accepted or b)I:| objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 185(3).
`
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.1 21 (d).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12)‘ Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or ( ).
`Certified copies:
`
`a)- All
`
`b)l:l Some“
`
`c)l:l None of the:
`
`1..
`
`2.|:|
`
`Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`
`Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`
`31:] Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
`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.
`
`Attachment(s)
`
`1)
`
`Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`2) D Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTOISBIOSa andfor PTOISBIOBb)
`Paper No(s)lMail Date
`US. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`3) |:| Interview Summary (PTO—413)
`Paper No(s)fMail Date
`4) D Other'
`
`PTOL—325 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper NoJMail Date 20171121
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 14/818,415
`Art Unit: 1716
`
`Page 2
`
`DETAILED ACTION
`
`Applicant’s Response
`
`A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1114, including the fee set forth in 37 CPR 1.17(e), was filed in this
`
`application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the
`
`fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant
`
`to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on September 29, 2017, has been entered.
`
`Claims 4, 6—7, and 9—10 are amended; claim 8 is canceled; claims 11—16 are new.
`
`Applicant's arguments have been considered, but the new grounds of rejection render them moot.
`
`The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
`
`(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.
`
`Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim
`
`the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor. This claim reads, "loading of the transport carrier. . .on the plasma
`
`processing stage to satisfy a predetermined position relationship." Formally, because the article a precedes the term
`
`predetermined position relationship, it is unclear if this limitation further clarifies the already-recited relationship of claim 4
`
`or enacts a new one. In order to advance prosecution, the examiner will interpret the contested limitation as further
`
`modifying the ”predetermined position relationship" of claim 4. (If this assumption is, in fact, correct, then the limitation
`
`newly appended to the end of claim 10 becomes redundant.)
`
`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 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.
`
`Claims 4-7 and 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iwai, US 2010/0216313, in View of
`
`Senda et al., IP 2006-269915, wherein machine translation is relied upon.
`
`Claims 4, 7, 9, 11-12, 15-16: Iwai discloses a method of applying processing to a substrate held on a transport carrier.
`
`The transport carrier includes a frame (6) and a holding sheet (7), whereby the substrate (200) is affixed to the latter (Fig.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 14/818,415
`Art Unit: 1716
`
`Page 3
`
`6A). Iwai initiates plasma processing subsequent the carrier’s loading onto a processing stage (300) disposed in a
`
`processing section (Fig. 3). A cover (40) disposed on the processing stage (300) shrouds the frame (6) and a portion of the
`
`holding sheet (7) while exposing the substrate to a window section formed by said cover. Regarding the carrier's holding
`
`status, the reference seeks to satisfy a predetermined positional relationship in which the substrate's center aligns with
`
`that of the window section [0042].
`
`Iwai, then, is merely silent with regard to the claimed step of ” measuring a position of the substrate with respect to the
`
`frame." In supplementation, Senda discloses a system which accommodates workpieces of the same type as Iwai —
`
`substrates affixed adhesively to a transport carrier. This citation, though, recognizes the contingency in which the substrate
`
`may adhere imperfectly to the carrier, i.e., the substrates center may not align with the carrier's center [0001]. In such
`
`instances, subsequent alignment operations premised upon the centering of the carrier will induce an eccentric alignment
`
`of the substrate [0007]. As a remedy, Senda prescribes a measuring step which assesses the position of the substrate with
`
`respect to the carrier, thereby enabling direct discovery of the substrate's position [0011]. Using this data, ensuing
`
`alignment operations will be able to accurately locate and position the substrate's central axis. Given that Iwai intends to
`
`align the central axes of the substrate and window section, it would have been obvious to integrate Senda's measuring
`
`technique within Iwai's processing method to promote this desideratum.
`
`Claims 5, 13: This limitation would be inherently satisfied in the case of a substrate whose deviation is so severe its
`
`transfer to the plasma processing stage is structurally foreclosed. Further, Senda identifies ranges of tolerance [0061].
`
`Claims 6, 14: Senda determines substrate deviation during a rotation of the carrier [0055].
`
`Claim 10'. As limned by the rejection of claim 4, above, position correction occurs within Iwai's processing section [0042].
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to
`
`NATHAN K FORD whose telephone number is (571)270-1880. The examiner can normally be reached on 11-7:30 PM. If
`
`attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Parviz Hassanzadeh, can be
`
`reached at 571 272 1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is
`
`571 273 8300.
`
`/ N. K. F./
`
`Examiner, Art Unit 1716
`
`/KARLA A MOORE/
`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
`
`