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 .
DETAILED ACTION
General Remarks
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
When responding to this office action, applicants are advised to provide the examiner with line numbers and page numbers in the application and/or references cited to assist the examiner in locating appropriate paragraphs.
Per MPEP 2111 and 2111.01, the claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation and the words of the claims are given their plain meaning consistent with the specification without importing claim limitations from the specification.
Applicants seeking an interview with the examiner, including WebEx Video Conferencing, are encouraged to fill out the online Automated Interview Request (AIR) form (http://www.uspto.gov/patent/uspto-automated-interview-request-air-form.html). See MPEP §502.03, §713.01(II) and Interview Practice for additional details.
Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Status of claim to be treated in this office action:
Independent: 16, 19, 22, 24 and 25.
b. Claims 16-30 are pending on the application.
Preliminary Amendment
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s Preliminary Amendment, filed 02/13/2024. The changes and remarks disclosed therein were considered.
Claims 1-15 has been cancelled. Claims 16-30 are newly added. Therefore, claims 16-20 are pending in the application.
Drawings
3. The drawings were received on 02/13/2024. These drawings are review and accepted by examiner.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement
(IDS) Form PTO-1449; filed 02/13/2024. The information disclosed therein was considered.
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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
6. Claims 16-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Muraki et al (Pub. No.: 2014/0319367 A1).
Per MPEP 2111 and 2111.01, the claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation and the words of the claims are given their plain meaning consistent with the specification without importing claim limitations from the specification.
Regarding to independent claim 16, Muraki et al in Figures 1-5 are directly disclosures a circuit (an apparatus 1, Fig. 1) for transferring charge comprising:
a first storage element (a first storage unit 18),
a plurality of second storage elements (a second storage unit 20), and
a circuit element (a main control unit 21) configured to:
receive one or more first charged particle(s) (a first charge particle optical system 100A) from the first storage element (the first storage unit 18),
receive information identifying one or more of the second storage elements (the second storage unit 20) and
deliver one or more second charged particle(s) (a second charge particle optical system 100B) to each of the plurality of second storage elements (the second storage unit 20), the second charged particles delivered to the second storage element(s) identified by the information representing the same charge as the first charged particles (the main control unit 21 transfers the intermediate data to the processing unit 14 with the pattern to be drawn on the substrate 10 and generate controls the apparatus 1, column 2, paragraph 0021 to column 3, paragraph 0033 and the related disclosures).
Regarding dependent claim 17, Muraki et al in Figures 1-5 are directly disclosures a circuit (an apparatus 1, Fig. 1) for transferring charge, the method comprising:
the information identifying one of the plurality of second storage elements (the second storage unit 20), transferring the first charged particle(s) from the first storage element (the first storage unit 18) to the circuit element (the main control unit 21) and generating, in the identified second storage element, the second charged particle(s) (the main control unit 21 transfers the intermediate data to the processing unit 14 with the pattern to be drawn on the substrate 10 and generate controls the apparatus 1).
Regarding dependent claim 18, Muraki et al in Figures 1-5 are directly disclosures a circuit (an apparatus 1, Fig. 1) for transferring charge, the method comprising:
the information identifying one of the plurality of second storage elements (the second storage unit 20), transferring the first charged particle(s) from the first storage element (the first storage unit 18) to the circuit (the main control unit 21) element and transferring the first charged particle(s) from the circuit element to the identified second storage element (the main control unit 21 transfers the intermediate data to the processing unit 14 with the pattern to be drawn on the substrate 10 and generate controls the apparatus 1).
Regarding to independent claim 19, Muraki et al in Figures 1-5 are directly disclosures a circuit (an apparatus 1, Fig. 1) for transferring charge comprising:
a first storage element (a first storage unit 18),
one of a plurality of second storage elements (a second storage unit 20), and
a circuit element (a main control unit 21) configured to:
receive information identifying one of the second storage elements (the second storage unit 20),
receive one or more first charged particle(s) from any one of the plurality of second storage elements (the second storage unit 20) and
deliver one or more second charged particle(s) to the first storage element (the first storage unit 18), the first charged particles (a first charge particle optical system 100A) of the identified second storage element representing the same charge as the second charged particles (the main control unit 21 transfers the intermediate data to the processing unit 14 with the pattern to be drawn on the substrate 10 and generate controls the apparatus 1, column 2, paragraph 0021 to column 3, paragraph 0033 and the related disclosures).
Regarding dependent claim 20, Muraki et al in Figures 1-5 are directly disclosures a circuit (an apparatus 1, Fig. 1) for transferring charge, the method comprising:
the information identifying one of the plurality of second storage elements (the second storage unit 20), transferring the first charged particle(s) from the identified second storage element to the circuit element and generating in the first element, the second charged particle(s) (the main control unit 21 transfers the intermediate data to the processing unit 14 with the pattern to be drawn on the substrate 10 and generate controls the apparatus 1).
Regarding dependent claim 21, Muraki et al in Figures 1-5 are directly disclosures a circuit (an apparatus 1, Fig. 1) for transferring charge, the method comprising:
the information identifying one of the plurality of second storage elements (the second storage unit 20), transferring the first charged particle(s) from the identified second storage element (the second storage unit 20) to the circuit (the main control unit 21) element and transferring the first charged particle(s) from the circuit element to the first storage element (the main control unit 21 transfers the intermediate data to the processing unit 14 with the pattern to be drawn on the substrate 10 and generate controls the apparatus 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 22-30 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
There is no teaching or suggestion in the prior art to provide:
Per claim 22: there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to “a first controlling means configured to control the first source to: feed a first number of charged particles to the first operator storage element if the input storage element holds fewer charged particles than a first threshold number of charged particles, the first number of particles being at or above a second threshold number of charged particles and feed a second number of charged particles to the first operator storage element if the input storage element holds more charged particles than the first threshold number of charged particles, the second number of particles being below the second threshold number of charged particles” in a circuit as claimed in the independent claim 22. Claims 23, 26-27 and 30 are also allowed because of their dependency on claim 22; or
Per claim 24: there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to “a first controlling means configured to control the first source to: feed a first number of charged particles to the first operator storage element if: the first input storage element holds fewer charged particles than a first threshold number of charged particles and the second input storage element holds fewer charged particles than a second threshold number of charged particles, the first number of particles being at or above a third threshold number of charged particles and feed a second number of charged particles to the first operator storage element if: the first input storage element holds more charged particles than the first threshold number of charged particles, or the second input storage element holds more charged particles than the second threshold number of charged particles, the second number of particles being below the third threshold number of charged particles” in a circuit as claimed in the independent claim 24. Claim 28 is also allowed because of its dependency on claim 24; or
Per claim 25: there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to “a first controlling means configured to control the first source to: feed a second number of charged particles to the first operator storage element if the first input storage element holds more charged particles than a first threshold number of charged particles and the second input storage element holds more charged particles than a second threshold number of charged particles, the second number of particles being below a third threshold number of charged particles and feed a first number of charged particles to the first operator storage element if the first input storage element holds less charged particles than the first threshold number of charged particles and/or the second input storage element holds less charged particles than the second threshold number of charged particles, the first number of particles being at or above the third threshold number of charged particles” in a circuit as claimed in the independent claim 25. Claim 29 is also allowed because of its dependency on claim 25.
Conclusion
Examiner's note: Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Teguri et al (US. 2020/0118791 A1) discloses multi charged particle beam writing apparatus and multi charged particles beam writing method.
Yoon et al (US. 2024/0205347 A1) discloses system and method for distributed image recording and storage for charged particles system.
When responding to the office action, Applicant are advised to provide the examiner with line numbers and page numbers in the application and/or references cited to assist the examiner to located the appropriate paragraphs.
A shortened statutory period for response to this action is set to expire 3 (three) months and 0 (zero) day from the data of this letter. Failure to respond within the period for response will cause the application to become abandoned (see MPEP 710.02 (b)).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to PHO M LUU whose telephone number is
571.272.1876. The Examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM – 5:00PM.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, Richard Elms, can be reached on 571.272.1869. The official fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571.273.8300 for all official communications.
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http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/Pho M Luu/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824.
571-272-1876.
Miner.Luu@uspto.gov