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 § 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) 8 and 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kikuchi et al (US 6,801,650).
Regarding claim 8, Kikuchi et al shows in Figs.4-5 the following elements of applicant’s claim: receiving a semiconductor workpiece (semiconductor wafer) on a stage of a semiconductor inspection tool (12); performing an inspection operation to inspect the semiconductor workpiece using the semiconductor inspection tool (Figs.4-5); and monitoring, using a monitoring system (41, 41A) mounted to the semiconductor inspection tool (Fig.5) a distance between the semiconductor workpiece and a bottom lens of the semiconductor inspection tool in association with the inspection operation (abstract).
Regarding claims 13-14, the limitations therein are shown in Figs.4-5 of Kikuchi et al (col.2, lines 19-41).
Regarding claim 15, Kikuchi et al shows in Figs.4-5 the following elements of applicant’s claim: an inspection device (12) comprising a bottom lens (40); and a lens monitoring system (41, 41A) comprising: a support member (41A) coupled with the inspection device; and a monitoring device (41) coupled with the support member.
Regarding claim 16, the limitations therein are shown in Fig.5 of Kikuchi et al (note: it is similar to the arrangement shown in Fig.1A of applicant’s drawings).
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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikuchi et al (US 6,801,650) in view of Imai (US 5,483,056).
Regarding claim 1, , Kikuchi et al shows in Figs.4-5 the following elements of applicant’s claim: inspecting a semiconductor workpiece (semiconductor wafer) using a semiconductor inspection tool (12), wherein a monitoring system (41, 41A), mounted to the semiconductor inspection tool (Fig.5), monitors a distance between the semiconductor inspection tool and the semiconductor workpiece (abstract). Although Kikuchi et al does not specifically mention the feature of performing a semiconductor processing operation, such feature is well known in the art as disclosed by Imai (Figs.1-3) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teachings of Imai in the device of Kikuchi et al in view of the desire to effectively achieve the manufacture of a semiconductor device.
Regarding claims 2-5, the limitations therein are shown in Figs.4-5 of Kikuchi et al (col.2, lines 19-41).
Regarding claims 6-7, the limitations therein are shown in the device of Kikuchi et al (Figs.4-5) of Imai (Figs.1-3).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kikuchi et al (US 6,801,650).
Regarding claim 12, the specific type of a sensor utilized would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of meeting different design requirements and achieving the particular desired performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11 and 17-20 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 claims 9-10 and 20, although the prior art (i.e. Kikuchi et al; US 6,801,650) discloses a semiconductor inspection tool (12, 40) and a monitoring system (41, 41A), it fails to disclose or make obvious the claimed method or device comprising, in addition to the other recited features of the claim, the feature of rotating a monitoring device around an inspection device in the manner recited in claim 9 or 20. Regarding claims 17-19, the prior art fails to disclose or make obvious a semiconductor inspection tool comprising, in addition to the recited features of claims 15-16, the details and functions of an annular ring and/or a lens monitoring system in the manner recited in claims 17-19.
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/KEVIN K PYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878