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 Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 – “curving directions of grinding marks…is determined” should be “curving directions of grinding marks…[are] determined.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 4 and 11 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 4 and 11, the claimed “different grinders” is indefinite. The claim requires a grinding apparatus including multiple grinders and it’s unclear if “different grinders” is referring to the already claimed grinders. Applicant should either make these terms consistent, or introduce clear and distinct terms that differentiate these grinders. For the purpose of examination, the examiner will consider “different grinders” to be grinders different from each other, either the already claimed grinders or other grinders.
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 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Watanabe (US-2019/0206673), as evidenced by Yamamoto (DE102021213524A1).
Regarding claim 1, Watanabe (US-2019/0206673) discloses a substrate processing method of processing a substrate, comprising:
grinding a first surface (front surface Wa) of the substrate (W) (“After the workpiece W is sucked and held on the holding surface 8a of the chuck table 8 by a suction effect of the suction source not illustrated, the chuck table 8 is rotated in the direction of the arrow A, for example, and moved below the grinding unit 40. The grinding unit 40 rotates the grinding wheel 45 in the direction of the arrow A, for example, and lowers the grinding wheel 45 at a predetermined grinding feed speed, thereby pressing the resin 100a with the rotating grinding stones 46 to grind the resin 100a to be flattened.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0043]; and
grinding, after grinding the first surface, a second surface (Wb) of the substrate opposite to the first surface (“In the workpiece grinding step, the same grinding stones 46 as those in the resin grinding step are used to grind the back surface Wb of the workpiece W.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0049], but fails to disclose:
wherein a first grinding mark extending from a center of the first surface toward an outer periphery thereof in a gently curved manner is formed when the first surface is ground,
a second grinding mark extending from a center of the second surface toward an outer periphery thereof in a gently curved manner is formed when the second surface is ground, and
a curving direction of the first grinding mark and a curving direction of the second grinding mark are opposite when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface.
However, Yamamoto (DE102021213524A1) teaches a grinding mark (11d) extending from a center of a surface toward an outer periphery thereof (Fig. 7) in a gently curved manner when the surface is ground (“The grinding marks 11d are formed in a curved line shape along the trajectory of the grinding stones 48 rotating.”) [Yamamoto; page 8, 2nd paragraph]. As Yamamoto teaches, grinding marks are formed in a curve along the circular trajectory of the grinding stones, such as the grinding stones of Watanabe, to form a “curved line.”).
Watanabe teaches rotating the grinding stones in the same direction for both the grinding of the first and second surface (top and bottom). Therefore, Watanabe, as evidenced by Yamamoto, would result in the grinding marks as claimed through the course of the grinding disclosed by Watanabe, wherein the curving direction of the first grinding mark and the curving direction of the second grinding mark would be the same if looked at from each respective side, but would curve in opposite directions if viewing “through from one of the first surface or the second surface” to the opposite surface.
Regarding claim 8 (Currently Amended), Watanabe (US-2019/0206673) discloses a substrate processing system configured to process a substrate, comprising: a grinding apparatus configured to grind one surface of the substrate;
a transfer device (transfer unit 30) configured to transfer the substrate (workpiece W) to the grinding apparatus (grinding unit 40) (Fig. 1); and
a control device (“control means controlling the grinding unit 40”) and a program storage including a program [Watanabe; paragraph 0036],
wherein the grinding apparatus (grinding unit 40) grinds a first surface (surface Wb) of the substrate, the grinding apparatus grinds a second surface of the substrate opposite to the first surface (surface Wa) (“The transfer unit 30 loads/unloads the workpiece W to/from the chuck table 8 and inverts the front surface and the back surface of the workpiece W which is unloaded from the chuck table 8. The grinding unit 40 includes grinding stones 46 grinding the back surface Wb of the workpiece W having the front surface Wa coated with a resin, and the resin coated on the front surface Wa.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0025], and
the program storage and the program are configured, with the control device, to control the grinding apparatus and the transfer device (While the “control means” only directly mentions controlling grinding, it would have been obvious to use the same “control means” to control all automated components of the device, such as the control arm, for the same reason it would be obvious to use it to control grinding, which is to automate the process.) [Watanabe; paragraph 0036].
Watanabe fails to disclose:
a first grinding mark extending from a center of the first surface toward an outer periphery thereof in a gently curved manner is formed when the first surface is ground,
a second grinding mark extending from a center of the second surface toward an outer periphery thereof in a gently curved manner is formed when the second surface is ground;
such that a curving direction of the first grinding mark and a curving direction of the second grinding mark are opposite when viewed through from one surface.
However, Yamamoto (DE102021213524A1) teaches a grinding mark (11d) extending from a center of a surface toward an outer periphery thereof (Fig. 7) in a gently curved manner when the surface is ground (“The grinding marks 11d are formed in a curved line shape along the trajectory of the grinding stones 48 rotating.”) [Yamamoto; page 8, 2nd paragraph]. As Yamamoto teaches, grinding marks are formed in a curve along the circular trajectory of the grinding stones, such as the grinding stones of Watanabe, to form a “curved line.”).
Watanabe teaches rotating the grinding stones in the same direction for both the grinding of the first and second surface (top and bottom). The curving direction of the first grinding mark and the curving direction of the second grinding mark would be the same if looked at from each respective side, but would curve in opposite directions if viewing “through from one of the first surface or the second surface” to the opposite surface. Therefore, Watanabe, as evidenced by Yamamoto, would create such marks during normal grinding that would result in such that a curving direction of the first grinding mark and a curving direction of the second grinding mark are opposite when viewed through from one surface.
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) 2-4 and 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US-2019/0206673), as evidenced by Yamamoto (DE102021213524A1), and further in view of Kajiyama (US-2009/0186562).
Regarding claim 2 (Currently Amended), Watanabe discloses the substrate processing method of claim 1, wherein the grinding of the first surface and the grinding of the second surface are performed by a grinding apparatus, the grinding apparatus includes:
a first grinder (grinding unit 40) configured to grind one surface of the substrate such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a first direction (is capable of both, from the perspective of “when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface,” as claimed in claim 1, where rotational direction A when applied to one surface would be the opposite if that surface was flipped over and viewed “through from one of the second surface to the first surface.);
a transfer mechanism (transfer unit 30) configured to dispose the substrate in the first grinder and the second grinder (“The transfer unit 30 loads/unloads the workpiece W to/from the chuck table 8 and inverts the front surface and the back surface of the workpiece W which is unloaded from the chuck table 8.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0025].
Watanabe fails to disclose:
a second grinder (finish grinding unit 4) configured to grind one surface of the substrate such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a second direction opposite to the first direction (is capable of both, from the perspective of “when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface,” as claimed in claim 1, where it is viewed in one direction when a surface is facing upwards, and the opposite direction when that surface is facing downwards and when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface.).
However, Kajiyama (US-2009/0186562) teaches a first grinder (rough grinding unit 3) configured to grind one surface of the substrate such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a first direction (is capable of both, from the perspective of “when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface,” as claimed in claim 1, where it is viewed in one direction when a surface is facing upwards, and the opposite direction when that surface is facing downwards and when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface.); and
a second grinder (finish grinding unit 4) configured to grind one surface of the substrate such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a second direction opposite to the first direction (is capable of both, from the perspective of “when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface,” as claimed in claim 1, where it is viewed in one direction when a surface is facing upwards, and the opposite direction when that surface is facing downwards and when viewed through from one of the first surface or the second surface.). Since Kajiyama and Watanabe are in the same field of endeavor, it therefore would’ve been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Watanabe with a second grinder, as taught by Kajiyama, in order to rough grind and finish grind the wafer, thus lending to obtaining a predetermined thickness having a smoother surface (“In grinding a wafer by use of the just-mentioned grinding apparatus having a rough grinding means and a finish grinding means, the wafer held on the chuck table is subjected to rough grinding by the rough grinding means so as to leave a finishing margin, and the wafer having thus undergone the rough grinding is subjected to finish grinding by the finish grinding means so as to obtain a predetermined thickness.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0005]
As to “wherein the grinding of the first surface of the substrate and the grinding of the second surface of the substrate are performed by disposing the substrate in a preset one of the first grinder or the second grinder with the transfer mechanism,” Watanabe teaches a transfer unit (30) that “loads/unloads the workpiece W to/from the chuck table 8 and inverts the front surface and the back surface of the workpiece W which is unloaded from the chuck table 8.” [Watanabe; paragraph 0025] (“The transfer unit 30 illustrated in the present embodiment includes a first transfer unit 31, a second transfer unit 32, and a front/back surface inversion transfer unit 33. The first transfer unit 31 loads the workpiece W which is positioned at a predetermined position by the positioning means 6 to the chuck table 8 and the spinner table 11. The second transfer unit 32 unloads the workpiece W after grinding has been performed from the chuck table 8. The front/back surface inversion transfer unit 33 causes the front surface and the back surface of the workpiece W to be inverted.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0029]. Kajiyama teaches transport means 13, 14 for moving the wafer to and from the chuck table 6 in area ‘A’ (Fig. 1). The transport means 13 of Kajiyama is equivalent to the first transfer unit 31 of Watanabe, which loads the wafer to the chuck from a positioning means, and transport means 14 of Kajiyama is equivalent to the second transfer unit 32 of Watanabe as they both transfer the wafer off of the chuck. This means that it would be obvious to simply modify the positioning of these transport means from what is disclosed by Watanabe to what is taught by Kajiyama, which includes a turntable. Kajiyama teaches “wherein the grinding of the substrate (wafer 15) is performed by disposing the substrate (wafer 15) in a preset one of the first grinder or the second grinder with the transfer mechanism (transfer mechanism 13 and turntable 5), which is used for successive positioning of the wafers in each grinding mechanism (“The turntable 5 is formed in a circular disk-like shape with a comparatively large diameter, and is rotated, as required, in the direction of arrow 5a by a rotation driving mechanism (not shown). In the case of the embodiment shown in the figure, the turntable 5 is provided with three chuck tables 6 which are arranged at phase angles of 120 degrees and which can be rotated in a horizontal plane.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0033].
Regarding claim 3 (Original), Watanabe discloses the substrate processing method of claim 2, wherein the substrate (workpiece W) includes multiple substrates (workpieces W), and the multiple substrates in a cassette (cassette 4a) are transferred one by one to the first grinder and the second grinder alternately (“The cassette 4a of the processing apparatus 1 houses a plurality of the workpieces W before processing. The loading/unloading means 5 takes out the workpiece W before processing from the cassette 4a and transfers the workpiece W to the positioning means 6 to position the workpiece W at a predetermined position.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0039].
Regarding claim 4 (Original), Watanabe discloses the substrate processing method of claim 1, wherein the grinding of the first surface and the grinding of the second surface are performed by a grinding apparatus (grinding unit 40) configured to grind one surface of the substrate (workpiece W) such that curving directions of grinding marks are in one direction (the direction ‘A’ as one looks at them) (Fig. 6). Watanabe fails to disclose the grinding apparatus including multiple grinders, and the grinding of the first surface of the substrate and the grinding of the second surface of the substrate are performed by transferring the substrate to different grinders .
However, Kajiyama (US-2009/0186562) teaches a grinding apparatus (3, 4) including multiple grinders (3, 4), wherein the grinding of the first surface of the substrate and the grinding of the second surface of the substrate (as performed by Watanabe) would be performed by transferring the substrate to different grinders (the wafer is transferred to both grinders 3, 4, different from each other, when grinding the upward facing surface). Since Kajiyama and Watanabe are in the same field of endeavor, it therefore would’ve been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Watanabe with a second grinder, as taught by Kajiyama, in order to rough grind and finish grind the wafer, thus lending to obtaining a predetermined thickness having a smoother surface (“In grinding a wafer by use of the just-mentioned grinding apparatus having a rough grinding means and a finish grinding means, the wafer held on the chuck table is subjected to rough grinding by the rough grinding means so as to leave a finishing margin, and the wafer having thus undergone the rough grinding is subjected to finish grinding by the finish grinding means so as to obtain a predetermined thickness.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0005].
Regarding claim 9, Watanabe discloses the substrate processing system of claim 8,The wherein the grinding apparatus comprises:
a holder configured to hold the substrate;
a first grinder (grinding unit 40) configured to grind one surface of the substrate (workpiece W) held by the holder such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a first direction (as shown above in regards to claim 8);
a transfer mechanism (transfer unit 30) configured to transfer the substrate (workpiece W) (“The transfer unit 30 illustrated in the present embodiment includes a first transfer unit 31, a second transfer unit 32, and a front/back surface inversion transfer unit 33. The first transfer unit 31 loads the workpiece W which is positioned at a predetermined position by the positioning means 6 to the chuck table 8 and the spinner table 11. The second transfer unit 32 unloads the workpiece W after grinding has been performed from the chuck table 8. The front/back surface inversion transfer unit 33 causes the front surface and the back surface of the workpiece W to be inverted.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0029], but fails to disclose:
a second grinder configured to grind one surface of the substrate held by the holder such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a second direction opposite to the first direction; and
the control device performs a control of transferring the substrate to a preset one of the first grinder or the second grinder when grinding the first surface of the substrate and grinding the second surface of the substrate.
However, Kajiyama (US-2009/0186562) teaches a first grinder configured to grind one surface of the substrate held by the holder such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a first direction;
a first grinder (rough grinding unit 3) configured to grind one surface of the substrate (wafer 15) held by the holder (chuck table 6) such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a first direction (direction of rotation of the grinding unit) (“A rough grinding unit 3 as a rough grinding unit is vertically movably mounted to the guide rails 22, 22 on one side, and a finish grinding unit 4 as a finish grinding means is vertically movably mounted to the guide rails 23, 23 on the other side.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0026];
a second grinder (finish grinding unit 4) configured to grind one surface of the substrate held by the holder such that a curving direction of a grinding mark is in a second direction (direction of rotation of the grinding unit) opposite to the first direction (opposite direction when viewed from one surface through to the other surface) (“A rough grinding unit 3 as a rough grinding unit is vertically movably mounted to the guide rails 22, 22 on one side, and a finish grinding unit 4 as a finish grinding means is vertically movably mounted to the guide rails 23, 23 on the other side.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0026];
a transfer mechanism (work feeding means 13, 14, and turntable 5) configured to transfer the substrate (wafer 15) held by the holder (chuck table 6) to the first grinder and the second grinder (“The chuck table 6 thus configured is rotated in the direction of arrow 6a by the rotation driving mechanism (not shown) as shown in FIG. 1. The three chuck tables 6 arranged on the turntable 5 are sequentially moved into a work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, a rough grinding region B, and a finish grinding region C and back to the work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, by rotating the turntable 5, as required.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0026]; and
a control device performs a control of transferring the substrate to a preset one of the first grinder or the second grinder (preset transfers first to the rough grinder) when grinding the first surface of the substrate and grinding the second surface of the substrate (“The chuck table 6 thus configured is rotated in the direction of arrow 6a by the rotation driving mechanism (not shown) as shown in FIG. 1. The three chuck tables 6 arranged on the turntable 5 are sequentially moved into a work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, a rough grinding region B, and a finish grinding region C and back to the work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, by rotating the turntable 5, as required.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0026]. Since Kajiyama and Watanabe are in the same field of endeavor, it therefore would’ve been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Watanabe with a second grinder (as well as modify the transfer mechanism of Watanabe with that of Kajiyama to enable transfer to both grinders as needed), as taught by Kajiyama, in order to rough grind and finish grind the wafer, thus lending to obtaining a predetermined thickness having a smoother surface (“In grinding a wafer by use of the just-mentioned grinding apparatus having a rough grinding means and a finish grinding means, the wafer held on the chuck table is subjected to rough grinding by the rough grinding means so as to leave a finishing margin, and the wafer having thus undergone the rough grinding is subjected to finish grinding by the finish grinding means so as to obtain a predetermined thickness.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0005]
Regarding claim 10 (Original), Watanabe, as modified by Kajiyama, discloses the substrate processing system of claim 9, wherein the substrate (workpiece W) includes multiple substrates (workpieces W) (Fig. 1), and the control device controls the transfer device and the transfer mechanism to transfer the multiple substrates in a cassette (4b) (“In the vicinity of the cassettes 4a and 4b, disposed is loading/unloading means 5 unloading the workpiece W before grinding from the cassette 4a and loading the workpiece W after grinding into the cassette 4b.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0024] one by one to the first grinder and the second grinder alternately (“a first cassette 7 which is arranged on one side of the work feeding-in/feeding-out region A and in which semiconductor wafers as works yet to be ground are stocked”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0036] (As a result, the back-side surface 15b of the semiconductor wafer 15 on the chuck table 6 undergoes rough grinding (rough grinding step). Incidentally, during this step, a semiconductor wafer 15 yet to be ground is mounted onto the next chuck table 6 positioned in the work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, as above-mentioned. Then, the semiconductor wafer 15 is suction held onto the chuck table 6 by operating the suction means (not shown).”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0038].
Regarding claim 11 (Original), Watanabe discloses the substrate processing system of claim 8, wherein the grinding apparatus comprises:
a holder (chuck table 8) configured to hold the substrate (“The chuck table 8 holds the workpiece W.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0025];
a grinder (grinding unit 40) configured to grind one surface of the substrate held by the holder such that curving directions of grinding marks are in one direction (“The grinding unit 40 includes grinding stones 46 grinding the back surface Wb of the workpiece W having the front surface Wa coated with a resin, and the resin coated on the front surface Wa.”) [Watanabe; paragraph 0025]; and
a transfer mechanism (transfer unit 30), but fails to disclose:
the grinder comprises multiple grinders,
that the transfer mechanism is configured to transfer the substrate held by the holder to the multiple grinders, and
when grinding the first surface of the substrate and grinding the second surface of the substrate, the control device performs a control of transferring the substrate to different grinders.
However, Kajiyama teaches a holder (chuck table 6) configured to hold the substrate (Fig. 1);
multiple grinders (grinding units 3, 4) configured to grind one surface of the substrate held by the holder such that curving directions of grinding marks are in one direction (direction of rotation of the grinding units 3, 4) (Fig. 1);
a transfer mechanism (work feeding means 13, 14, and turntable 5) configured to transfer the substrate held by the holder (chuck table 6) to the multiple grinders (“The chuck table 6 thus configured is rotated in the direction of arrow 6a by the rotation driving mechanism (not shown) as shown in FIG. 1. The three chuck tables 6 arranged on the turntable 5 are sequentially moved into a work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, a rough grinding region B, and a finish grinding region C and back to the work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, by rotating the turntable 5, as required.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0026]; and
when grinding the first surface of the substrate and grinding the second surface of the substrate, the control device performs a control of transferring the substrate to different grinders (“The three chuck tables 6 arranged on the turntable 5 are sequentially moved into a work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, a rough grinding region B, and a finish grinding region C and back to the work feeding-in/feeding-out region A, by rotating the turntable 5, as required.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0026]. Since Kajiyama and Watanabe are in the same field of endeavor, it therefore would’ve been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the device of Watanabe with a second grinder (as well as modify the transfer mechanism of Watanabe with that of Kajiyama to enable transfer to both grinders as needed), as taught by Kajiyama, in order to rough grind and finish grind the wafer, thus lending to obtaining a predetermined thickness having a smoother surface (“In grinding a wafer by use of the just-mentioned grinding apparatus having a rough grinding means and a finish grinding means, the wafer held on the chuck table is subjected to rough grinding by the rough grinding means so as to leave a finishing margin, and the wafer having thus undergone the rough grinding is subjected to finish grinding by the finish grinding means so as to obtain a predetermined thickness.”) [Kajiyama; paragraph 0005].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5, and those claims depending therefrom including claims 6 and 7, 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:
Regarding claim 5, and those claims depending therefrom including claims 6 and 7, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious, in combination with all other claim limitations, “based on curving directions of grinding marks formed by a first stage of the double-surface grinding, curving directions of grinding marks formed by a second stage of the double-surface grinding is determined.”
While the prior art teaches grinding marks occur in the processing of wafers, the prior art does not make obvious modifying Watanabe to use curving direction of grinding marks to determine the curving direction of grinding marks formed by a second stage of the double-surface grinding as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US-2008/0070480, KR20180048374A, DE102020211312A1, and WO2019013037A1 are pertinent to claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOEL DILLON CRANDALL whose telephone number is (571)270-5947. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30 - 5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at 571-270-5947. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOEL D CRANDALL/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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