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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (Claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 01/08/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-10 are examined. Claims 11-12 are withdrawn.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancellation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8, line 3, change: “performing an optimization calculation…”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretations
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
Claim 1 - “moving speed calculation unit” read as a unit [means] for calculating the moving speed.
Claim 6 – “height detection unit” read as a unit [means] for detecting the height.
Claim 6 – “cut rate calculation unit” read as a unit [means] for calculating the cut rate.
has/have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use generic placeholders:
Claim 1 – “unit”
Claim 6 – “unit”
Claim 6 – “unit”
coupled with functional language:
“for calculating the moving speed”
“for height detection”
“for calculating the cut rate”
without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier.
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph limitation:
Corresponding structure is found in [0072].
Corresponding structure is found in [0040], [0060].
Corresponding structure is found in [0082]-[0084].
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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 1-10 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "a previous recipe" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear of the term “previous” with respect to “recipe” because a prior instance of recipe has not been recited within the claim and therein the term “previous” lacks context and antecedent basis with respect to the claim language.
Further, it is unclear of the use of the term “recipe” with respect to the claim. Applicant’s specification does not specifically define the term “recipe” and there it is unclear of the meaning or the structure that encompasses the term “recipe”. Due to the ambiguity and lack of clarity of the limitation of the terms “previous” and “recipe”, the metes and bounds of the claim cannot be determined, which renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 5 is indefinite because in line 3, the claim recites “a stay time in a reference recipe…” It is unclear whether “a stay time” is the same “stay time” recited in line 4 of claim 1 or if the stay time recited in claim 5 refers to a different stay time. Further, it is unclear whether the “reference recipe” is the same or different with respect to a “previous recipe” recited in claim 1. Due to the ambiguities and lack of clarity in the limitation found in claim 5, the metes and bounds of the claim cannot be determined, which renders the claim indefinite.
Dependent claims are also rejected due to their dependency of a rejected independent claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yagi et al. (US 2020/0198094 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yagi et al. discloses a substrate polishing apparatus (10, [0040]) comprising:
a dresser (23) that moves in a plurality of scan areas ([0058]) set on a polishing member (11, [0058]); and
a moving speed calculation unit (45, [0063]) that calculates a moving speed of the dresser (23) in each of the scan areas based on an evaluation index (J, [0081], [0081]) including a deviation from a stay time of the dresser (23) in each of the scan areas on a basis of a previous recipe (i.e., deviation from the staying time from the reference recipe, [0081]).
Regarding claim 2, Yagi et al. discloses wherein the stay time corresponds to the moving speed of the dresser ([0077], lines 6-7).
Regarding claim 3, Yagi et al. discloses wherein the evaluation index (J) includes a weighting coefficient for the deviation (i.e., the evaluation index J is based on the deviation of the staying time in a reference recipe and includes a weighting coefficient η, [0096]).
Regarding claim 4, Yagi et al. discloses wherein as the weighting coefficient increases, an update amount of the moving speed of the dresser decreases (Fig. 14 shows that when coefficient η increases (for example from 12µm to 15 µm), the speed range of the scanning decreases, as observed by the lower plot of the curve shown in Fig. 14, [0098]-[0101]).
Regarding claim 5, Yagi et al. discloses wherein the evaluation index further includes at least one of a deviation from a target cut amount, a deviation from a stay time in a reference recipe, or a speed difference between adjacent scan areas ([0081]).
Regarding claim 6, Yagi et al. discloses a height detection unit (48, [0063]) that measures a surface height of the polishing member in each of the scan areas ([0068]); and
a cut rate calculation unit (43) that calculates a cut rate of the polishing member in each of the scan areas on a basis of the surface height ([0103], [0061], [0069], [0072]).
Regarding claim 7, Yagi et al. discloses wherein a height profile of the polishing member is estimated on a basis of the cut rate (i.e., pad height of the polishing member can be estimated based on the cut rate, [0103], lines 4-6).
Regarding claim 8, Yagi et al. discloses wherein the moving speed calculation unit (45) calculates the moving speed of the dresser (23) by performing optimization calculation that minimizes the evaluation index (J, [0082], [0111]).
Regarding claim 9, Yagi et al. discloses wherein the optimization calculation is quadratic programming ([0082], [0111]).
Regarding claim 10, Yagi et al. discloses a substrate processing apparatus (i.e., computer, [0052]) comprising the substrate polishing apparatus according to claim 1 (see claim 1 rejection above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC J ZAMORA ALVAREZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30 am- 5:00 pm EST alternating Fridays off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, COURTNEY HEINLE can be reached at (571)270-3508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC J ZAMORA ALVAREZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3745 03/03/2026