Ex Parte Hosek et alDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardJun 1, 201713744900 (P.T.A.B. Jun. 1, 2017) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 13/744,900 01/18/2013 Martin HOSEK 101A.0002.U2(US) 6308 29683 7590 06/01/2017 HARRINGTON & SMITH 4 RESEARCH DRIVE, Suite 202 SHELTON, CT 06484-6212 EXAMINER LEUNG, QUYEN PHAN ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2834 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 06/01/2017 PAPER 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. PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ________________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ________________ Ex parte MARTIN HOSEK, TUAN HA, and DENNIS POOLE ________________ Appeal 2016-005080 Application 13/744,900 Technology Center 2800 ________________ Before TERRY J. OWENS, BEVERLY A. FRANKLIN, and DEBRA L. DENNETT, Administrative Patent Judges. OWENS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s rejection of claims 1–4 and 6–19. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). The Invention The Appellants claim an apparatus which can be part of a robot drive (Spec. ¶ 2). Claim 1 is illustrative: 1. An apparatus comprising: a position sensor read head; a casing connected to the read head, where the casing is configured to be sealingly connected to a motor assembly housing to seal an aperture through the housing for keeping an Appeal 2016-005080 Application 13/744,900 2 environment inside the housing separate from an environment outside the housing at the aperture, where the casing is configured to isolate at least a portion of the read head from the environment inside the housing, and where the read head is configured to sense a reference member in the environment inside the housing; and an adjustable connector comprising the casing, where the adjustable connector is configured to adjustably connect the read head to the motor assembly housing and lock a location of the read head relative to the motor assembly housing at one of a number of different locations, where the adjustable connector is configured to seal the aperture through the housing for keeping the environment inside the housing separated from the environment outside the housing at the aperture, where the adjustable connector is configured to allow position of the read head on the housing to be adjusted from outside the housing, where the adjustable connector is configured to allow the read head to be radially adjusted on the housing to the number of different locations without breaking the seal with the housing at the aperture. The Reference Gilchrist US 2009/0243413 A1 Oct. 1, 2009 The Rejections The claims stand rejected over Gilchrist as follows: claims 1–4, 6–9, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 17–19 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) and claims 10, 13, and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Appeal 2016-005080 Application 13/744,900 3 OPINION We reverse the rejections. We need address only the independent claims (1 and 12).1 Those claims require an adjustable connector configured to allow a read head to be radially adjusted on (claim 1) or relative to (claim 12) a housing without breaking a seal with the housing. An examiner has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of anticipation by pointing out where all of the claim limitations appear in a single reference. See In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 708 (Fed. Cir. 1990); In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 1327 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Gilchrist discloses a robot drive apparatus comprising a carriage (205’) having a recess (530A) for radial insertion and removal of a read head (411’)-containing sensor module (550A) which may be adjustable within the recess (530A) so that the sensors are aligned with an encoder scale (430A) (¶ 84; Fig. 12A). The read head (411’) can form a seal (570A) between the module (550A) and the carriage (205’) to prevent any leakage of atmosphere or the passage of contaminants into or out of a substrate processing area (id.). The Examiner relies upon Gilchrist’s sensor module (550A) as corresponding to the Appellants’ adjustable connector, and finds that “the adjustable connector [500, 550A] is configured to allow position of the read head [411’] on the housing [205’] to be adjusted from outside the housing [205’], where the adjustable connector [550A] is configured to allow the read head [411’] to be radially adjusted [slid in and out of 1 In the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 the Examiner does not rely upon any obviousness rationale with respect to the limitations in the independent claims (Final Act. 16–20). Appeal 2016-005080 Application 13/744,900 4 recess 530A] on the housing [205’] to [a] number of locations [with 570A still covering view ports 560A] without breaking the seal with the housing [205’] at the aperture” (Final Act. 9). Gilchrist’s read head (411’) forms the seal (570A) between the module (550A) and the carriage (205’) (¶ 84; Fig. 12A). The Examiner does not establish that sliding the module (550A), which contains the read head (411’), out of the recess (530A) does not break that seal. Thus, the Examiner does not establish that Gilchrist discloses each of the Appellants’ claim limitations. Accordingly, we reverse the rejections. DECISION/ORDER The rejections over Gilchrist of claims 1–4, 6–9, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 17–19 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) and claims 10, 13, and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are reversed. It is ordered that the Examiner’s decision is reversed. REVERSED Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation