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.
(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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)&(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hayashi et al (JP 2021192922 A).
Hayashi et al disclose a laser processing machine (e.g. 10) for applying a laser beam (e.g. L2) to a workpiece (e.g. 12) that has a plurality of intersecting streets (e.g. C), along the streets to apply processing to the workpiece, the laser processing machine comprising: a holding table (e.g. 20) that holds the workpiece; a laser beam irradiation unit (e.g. 22, 24) that applies the laser beam to the workpiece held on the holding table; an X-axis direction moving unit (e.g. 28, 30) that carries out relative processing feed of the workpiece and an image-forming point of the laser beam in an X-axis direction; and a Y-axis direction moving unit (e.g. 28, 30) that carries out relative indexing feed of the workpiece and the image-forming point of the laser beam in a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction, wherein the laser beam irradiation unit includes a laser oscillator (e.g. 22), an image-forming element (e.g. 40A) that focuses, on the workpiece, the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator, and a phase modulation unit (e.g. 34) arranged between the laser oscillator and the image-forming element and configured to cause a phase difference in the laser beam such that the laser beam forms an intensity distribution along a Gaussian distribution in the X-axis direction (e.g. Fig. 26) parallel to each street set on the workpiece and forms an intensity distribution along a top-hat profile (e.g. Fig. 25) at the image-forming point in the Y-axis direction as a width direction of the each street set on the workpiece.
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayashi et al (JP 2021192922 A) in view of Moribe (JP 2003220488 A).
Hayashi et al disclose a laser processing machine as described above, but do not explicitly teach that the phase modulation unit is a phase plate, and the phase plate includes a recessed portion or a protruding portion formed such that the intensity distribution is formed along the top-hat profile in the Y-axis direction as the width direction of the each street set on the workpiece.
Moribe discloses a laser processing machine (e.g. Fig. 2) including a phase modulation unit being a phase plate (e.g. Fig. 2, 3; Fig. 1, 31), and the phase plate includes a recessed portion (e.g. Fig. 1, b) or a protruding portion formed such that the intensity distribution is formed along the top-hat profile in the X-axis direction as the width direction of the each street set on the workpiece.
Hayashi et al and Moribe all seek to provide a laser processing machine with phase modulation, thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the laser processing machine of Hayashi et al such that the phase modulation unit is a phase plate, and the phase plate includes a recessed portion or a protruding portion formed such that the intensity distribution is formed along the top-hat profile in the Y-axis direction as the width direction of the each street set on the workpiece, as taught by Moribe, for the purpose of forming the intensity distribution along the top-hat profile.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Additional references listed on form PTO-892 are cited for their relevance to the disclosed invention and demonstration of the state of the art.
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/MICHAEL LESLIE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745
September 18, 2026
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