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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/24/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim 7 is 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. Claim 7 recites “a third detection edge” and a “fourth detection edge;” however, no first or second detection edges are recited in claim 7 or its parent claim 4.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8-19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hatakeyama, et al (EP 2190002 A1; cited in IDS, copy in IFW).
Regarding claim 1, Hatakeyama discloses a method for imaging a sample comprising:
Directing a charged particle beam (82) toward the sample and forming an irradiation zone in a sample plane;
Scanning the irradiation zone substantially in a first direction in the sample plane (paragraph 0041) and detecting radiation from a detection zone with multiple detecting pixels (Pi, cf. Fig. 11) of a detector (76), wherein a first detector axis (in this case the vertical axis of Fig. 11) of the detector corresponds to a first detection axis of the detection zone, and a second detector axis (horizontal direction in Fig. 11) of the detector corresponds to a second detection axis of the detection zone, wherein a first number (500, paragraph 0041) of the multiple detecting pixels arranged along the first detector axis is lower than a second number (1000, paragraph 0041) of the multiple detecting pixels arranged along the second detector axis, and wherein the first detection axis is oriented at an angle of less than 45 degrees from the first direction (the axes are parallel); and reconstructing a sample image based on the radiation detected during the scan (paragraph 0001).
Regarding claim 2, Hatakeyama discloses wherein scanning the irradiation zone substantially in the first direction includes shifting the charged particle beam substantially in the first direction relative to the sample (paragraph 0035).
Regarding claim 3, Hatakeyama discloses wherein sizes, shapes, and relative positions of the irradiation zone and the detection zone remain the same while scanning the irradiation zone substantially in the first direction (paragraph 0035).
Regarding claim 4, Hatakeyama discloses wherein the detection zone is within the irradiation zone and offsets towards the first direction relative to the irradiation zone (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 8, Hatakeyama discloses, after scanning the sample for a first distance substantially along the first direction, shifting the irradiation zone in a second, different direction for a second distance, and scanning the shifted irradiation zone substantially in the first direction and detecting radiations from the detection zone (paragraph 0033 – raster scanning).
Regarding claim 9, Hatakeyama discloses adjusting a position of the detection zone relative to the irradiation zone before scanning the shifted irradiation zone substantially in the first direction (paragraphs 0033-0036).
Regarding claim 10, Hatakeyama discloses wherein scanning an irradiation zone in the first direction in the sample plane includes continuously moving the irradiation zone in the first direction, and wherein reconstructing a sample image based on the radiation detected during the scan includes reconstructing a location of the detected radiation along the first detection axis based on time information of the detected radiation and a speed of the irradiation zone scanning in the first direction (paragraph 0032).
Regarding claim 11, Hatakeyama discloses a method for imaging a sample comprising:
Directing a charged particle beam to the sample to form an irradiation zone in the sample plane, and detecting first radiations from a detection zone of the sample with multiple detecting pixels of a detector arranged along a first detector axis and a second detector axis, wherein a first number of the multiple detecting pixels arranged along the first detector axis is lower than a second number of pixels arranged along the second detector axis (paragraph 0041; Fig. 11);
Moving the irradiation zone and the detection zone in a first direction in the sample plane, and detecting second radiations from the detection zone with the multiple detecting pixels, wherein a first detection axis of the detection zone corresponds to the first detector axis, and a second detection axis of the detection zone corresponds to the second detector axis, and wherein an angle between the first direction and the first detection axis is less than 45 degrees (paragraph 0041; Fig. 11); and
Reconstructing a sample image based on the first radiations and the second radiations (paragraph 0001).
Regarding claim 12, Hatakeyama discloses wherein a position of the detection zone relative to the irradiation zone remains the same (paragraph 0035).
Regarding claim 13, Hatakeyama discloses, after detecting the second radiations, moving the irradiation zone and the detection zone in a second direction and detecting third radiations from the detection zone, and reconstructing the sample image further based on the third radiations (paragraph 0033).
Regarding claim 14, Hatakeyama discloses wherein an angle between the first and second directions is less than 45 degrees (paragraph 0041; Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 15, Hatakeyama discloses wherein reconstructing a sample image based on the first radiations and the second radiations includes reconstructing signals along the first detection axis based on a time at which the radiations are being detected and a location of the detection zone along the first detection axis at the time (paragraphs 0019-0021).
Claim 16 is drawn to the apparatus for performing the method of claim 1, and the same rejection applies mutatis mutandis.
Regarding claim 17, Hatakeyama discloses wherein the charged particle column directing a charged particle beam toward the sample plane via one or more beam deflection coils (75, 85) and a beam limiting aperture (paragraph 0011) within the charged particle column, and wherein the charged particle column scans the irradiation zone by adjusting the beam deflection coils and/or the beam limiting aperture (paragraph 0033).
Regarding claim 18, Hatakeyama discloses one or more image deflection coils (85) for directing radiations from the detection zone towards the detector, wherein a relative position of the detection zone within the irradiation zone is adjusted by the one or more image deflection coils (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 19, Hatakeyama discloses wherein the first direction is aligned with the first detection axis (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 21, Hatakeyama discloses wherein the detector includes a first number of pixels, and wherein detect radiations from the detection zone includes detecting the radiations from the detection zone using a second, lower number of the pixels of the detector (paragraph 0041).
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(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama in view of Hashiguchi, et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0072991 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Hatakeyama discloses the charged particle microscope of claim 16, but fails to teach wherein the charged particle microscope includes a transmission electron microscopy system.
Hashiguchi teaches a scanning electron microscope that integrates pixels of multiple images similarly to Hatakeyama, but also teaches configuring the microscope alternatively as a scanning transmission electron microscope (paragraph 0039; Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a transmission electron microscopy system in Hatakeyama’s apparatus, in order to obtain different types of microscopy images.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to teach wherein the detection zone is bounded by a first detection edge and a second detection edge parallel to the second detection axis, the irradiation zone is bounded by a first irradiation edge and a second irradiation edge normal to the first direction, the first detection edge and the first irradiation edge are arranged toward the first direction relative to the second detection edge and the second irradiation edge, and wherein a first distance between the first detection edge and the first irradiation edge is smaller than a second distance between the second detection edge and the second irradiation edge.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL P MASKELL whose telephone number is (571)270-3210. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10A-6P.
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/MICHAEL MASKELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878 03 April 2026