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 .
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Objected drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the electron beam is applied to, of the upper portion, a surface opposite to the base in a direction perpendicular to the base with intensity such that the electron beam at least passes through the upper portion and reaches the lower portion as recited in claims 6, 12, 18 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-11 and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tomita (2024/0085355).
Tomita (2024/0085355) discloses, in figs. 1-17, a measuring device and/or method, which includes:
Regarding claims 1, 7, 13,
an irradiator 402 configured to apply an electron beam 404 to a partition 6 including a lower portion 61 provided on a base 10 and an upper portion 62 which protrudes from a side surface 61a, 61b of the lower portion 61 (see abstract, figs. 4, 9);
a detector 403 configured to detect a characteristic X-ray generated from the partition by applying the electron beam (see fig. 9, [0090], [0093], [0094], [0106], [0107], [0111]);
an acquisition unit 501 configured to acquire a first image generated based on the detected characteristic X-ray for each of elements constituting the partition (see using an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detector for detecting characteristic X-rays to generating images being the same as a secondary electron detector 403 for detecting secondary electrons to generate an image, [0090], [0093], [0094], [0103], [0105], [0107], [0109]-[0112]);
an analysis unit 502 configured to analyze the first image for each element (see fig. 12); and
a measuring unit 503 configured to measure a protrusion amount (S5) of an end portion of the upper portion from a side surface of the lower portion based on the analysis result (see abstract, figs. 12, 13, 14, 15, [0023], [0053], [0076], [0086], [0087], [0096], [0103], [0107], [0116], [0118], [0120], [0123], [0125], [0128], [0131], [0134], [0135], [0138]).
Regarding claims 2, 8, 14, wherein
the acquiring includes acquiring the first image of a first element constituting the lower portion and the first image of a second element constituting the upper portion (see figs. 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, abstract, [0023], [0103], [0107], [0112], [0114], [0115], [0116], [0118], [0121], [0128], [0131]),
the analyzing includes acquiring a number of pixels corresponding to the protrusion amount based on the first image of the first element and the first image of the second element (see figs. 1, 12, 13, [0116], [0117], [0123], [0125], [0126], [0131], [0132], [0133], [0135], [0138]), and
the measuring includes measuring the protrusion amount based on the number of pixels (see figs. 1, 12, 13, [0120], [0123], [0125], [0126], [0131], [0132], [0133], [0135], [0138]).
Regarding claims 3, 9, 15, wherein
the number of pixels corresponding to the protrusion amount is acquired based on a difference between the number of pixels indicating a width of the lower portion formed of the first element in a plan view and the number of pixels indicating a width of the upper portion formed of the second element in the plan view (see figs. 2, [0026], [0029], [0039], [0053], [0075], [0076], [0094], [0112], [0116], [0118], [0123], [0124], [0125], [0131], [0135]).
Regarding claims 4, 10, 16, wherein
the measuring includes converting the number of pixels into the protrusion amount based on conversion information indicating a length corresponding to a pixel (see [0076], [0087], [0094], [0103], [0121], [0122], [0123], [0124], [0125], [0126], [0128], [0131], [0132], [0133], [0135], [0138]), and
the conversion information is prepared in advance based on a second image of at least one of elements constituting a sample whose size has been known, the second image being generated by applying an electron beam to the sample (see [0121], [0122], [0132]).
Regarding claims 5, 11, 17, wherein
the measuring includes acquiring the protrusion amount output from a machine learning model by inputting the number of pixels to the machine learning model, the machine learning model being generated by learning a prepared data set (see [0125], [0132], [0133], [0134]) and
the data set includes a number of pixels acquired based on a second image of each of the elements constituting the partition whose protrusion amount has been known, and the known protrusion amount, the second image being generated by applying an electron beam to the partition, the number of pixels being corresponding to the known protrusion amount (see [0125], [0131], [0132], [0134], [0135]).
Claims 6, 12 and 18 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome objection(s), set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The Reasons for Allowable Subject Matter
The prior art fails to disclose a measuring device and/or method, which includes an electron beam applied to, of an upper portion, a surface opposite to a base in a direction perpendicular to the base with intensity such that the electron beam at least passes through the upper portion and reaches a lower portion as recited in claims 6, 12 and 18.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
1) Both, Lee et al. (2023/0092412) discloses a display device and Jin et al. (2024/0194700) discloses a light detection device and electronic device, comprising a partition including a lower portion provided on a base, and an upper portion which protrudes from a side surface of the lower portion. But, Lee et al. (2023/0092412) and Jin et al. (2024/0194700) do not disclose an electron beam used to image a device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIET TUAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2479. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8-6.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert H. Kim can be reached on 571-272-2293. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306.
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/KIET T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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