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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because these claims are directed towards an abstract grouping of mental processes, which is defined as concepts performed in the human mind, and examples of mental processes include observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions. A discussion of concepts performed in the human mind, as well as concepts that cannot practically be performed in the human mind and thus are not "mental processes", is provided below with respect to point A.
As recited in MPEP 2106,04(a)(2) (III), The courts consider a mental process (thinking) that "can be performed in the human mind, or by a human using a pen and paper" to be an abstract idea. CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 654 F.3d 1366, 1372, 99 USPQ2d 1690, 1695 (Fed. Cir. 2011). As the Federal Circuit explained, "methods which can be performed mentally, or which are the equivalent of human mental work, are unpatentable abstract ideas the ‘basic tools of scientific and technological work’ that are open to all.’" 654 F.3d at 1371, 99 USPQ2d at 1694 (citing Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 175 USPQ 673 (1972)). See also Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs. Inc., 566 U.S. 66, 71, 101 USPQ2d 1961, 1965 (2012) ("‘[M]ental processes[] and abstract intellectual concepts are not patentable, as they are the basic tools of scientific and technological work’" (quoting Benson, 409 U.S. at 67, 175 USPQ at 675)); Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 589, 198 USPQ 193, 197 (1978)
Accordingly, in this instance, claims 1-8 contains mental process when they contain limitations that can practically be performed in the human mind, including for example, observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions. Claim 1 recite limitations pertaining to an observation process (by a measuring step of measuring the physical properties of a surface of the underlying layer) and an evaluation process (by estimating step of estimating a degree of the development of spikes on the underlayer) performed after the observation processes. The limitations of claims 2-8 also contains limitations that pertain to this mental process and are therefore rejected as well.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-13 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 9, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed invention including “...teach a measuring step of measuring physical properties of a surface of the underlayer before the plating pre-treatment step and an estimating step of estimating a degree of development of spikes on the underlayer, the spikes resulting from plating, based on the measured physical properties...” in combination with the remaining limitations. Claims 10-13 are dependent upon claim 9 and are therefore allowable.
With regards to claim 9, Fujita (et al, US Patent 10,998,436) teaches a semiconductor device manufacturing method, comprising an underlayer forming step of forming an underlayer on a surface of a semiconductor wafer (aluminum layer, column 1, line 50); a plating pre-treatment step of carrying out a plating pre-treatment on the underlayer (column 1, lines 51-52); a plating step of plating the underlayer subjected to the pre-treatment (column 1, lines 49 and 52-53); and discloses the formation of spikes (as aluminum pitting corrosion, column 1, lines 54-56).
Fujita fails to teach a measuring step of measuring physical properties of a surface of the underlayer before the plating pre-treatment step; and an estimating step of estimating a degree of development of spikes on the underlayer, the spikes resulting from plating, based on the measured physical properties.
While Lin (et al, US Patent Application Publication 2024/0242946) teaches a measuring step of measuring physical properties of a surface of the underlayer before the plating pre-treatment step (figure 1, step 13), there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation in which to combine these teachings to arrive at the claimed limitation since Lim performs this process to measure sheet resistance for subsequent low plasma treating on additional structures within the semiconductor device. Further, no other prior art was found that would meet the limitations of this claims, either in anticipatory or in combination with other references. Therefore, claims 9-13 have been found to be allowable.
Conclusion
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/DALE E PAGE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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