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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 20 recite “pertaining to the tested structure”. However it is not clear what tested structure the claim is referring to and is therefore indefinite. The claim does not recite any structure that is tested, but recites a specimen being tested and is therefore not clear. Claims 1, 20 recite “and assumed by one or more structural parameters”. However it is not clear what the metes and bounds of “assumed by one or more structural parameter” entails. Assumed has been interpreted as “suppose to be the case, without proof:” However it is not clear what assumed would mean and is therefore indefinite. Claims 1, 20 recite “the one or more landing energies”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, recite variable with indexes or subscripts. Examiner notes that for the vector pn, Applicant specifies that this is “pertaining to an n-th simulated specimen”. However none of the other variables have a defined meaning to the index or subscripts and are therefore indefinite and is not consistent. Examiner notes that prior art could not be applied due to the 35 U.S.C.§ 112(b) Rejections above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shwartz (US 2023/0326713 A1) teaches a method for non-destructive hybrid acousto-optic and scanning electron microscopy-based metrology. The method includes: (i) obtaining acousto-optic and scanning electron microscopy measurement data of an inspected structure on a sample; (ii) processing the measurement data to extract values of key measurement parameters corresponding to the acousto-optic measurement data and the scanning electron microscopy measurement data, respectively; and (iii) obtaining estimated values of one or more structural parameters of the inspected structure by inputting the extracted values into an algorithm, which is configured to jointly process the extracted values to output estimated values of the one or more structural parameters..
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YOSHIHISA . ISHIZUKA
Examiner
Art Unit 2857
/YOSHIHISA ISHIZUKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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