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 § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1-3, 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nawata (2020/0189175).
Regarding claim 1, Nawata discloses an imprint apparatus (Fig. 1) comprising: a stage (2, 4) having a face on which an object (1) is placed (Fig. 1, para 0022), the object having a first surface; a dropping device (18) configured to drop a droplet of a photocurable resin in a first direction (Z-direction, Fig. 1) intersecting with the face (para 0024); a irradiation device (30) configured to irradiate a first light in a second direction (X-direction, Fig. 1) intersecting with the first direction (Fig. 1, para 0029, 0030, the light from irradiation device 30 is reflected from the beamsplitter 29 and irradiated in X-direction, which intersects with Z-direction); a holder (24, para 0021) configured to hold a template (10, para 0020, 0027) having a second surface, the second surface having a pattern (para 0027); an exposure device (16) configured to irradiate a second light in a third direction (Z-direction) intersecting with the face (para 0029); and a control device (35, para 0032) configured to drive the dropping device (para 0033, “controls the relative driving mechanism 25 (the X-Y stage 4 of the substrate positioning mechanism 23) so that the pattern formation target shot region is positioned at a position where the supplier 18 starts processing of supplying the imprint material 60 onto the pattern formation target shot region”) and the irradiation device (para 0036, “controls the light irradiator 32 so that the first irradiation step (frame exposure) is performed”) and control selecting whether to irradiate the first light to the droplet according to a position where the droplet is to be dropped on the first surface (controls and selects the first light to the frame position or peripheral region in the shot region, para 0036, S107 in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 2, Nawata discloses wherein: the first surface has a shot region (Fig. 9); the control device (35) is configured to drive the dropping device and the irradiation device so as not to irradiate the first light to the dropping droplet when the position corresponds to a first position (middle of the shot region) on the shot region (para 0033); and the control device is configured to drive the dropping device and the irradiation device so as to irradiate the first light to the dropping droplet when the position corresponds to a second position (periphery or frame position, Fig. 9, para 0036) on the shot region, the second position being closer to an periphery of the shot region than the first position is (Fig. 9, para 0036, 0047, S107 in Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Nawata discloses wherein the irradiation device comprises: a light source configured to emit the first light; and an optical system (28, 29) configured to control the first light (para 0029, 0030).
Regarding claim 5, Nawata discloses wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction (Fig. 1, para 0029, 0030, the light from irradiation device 30 is reflected from the beamsplitter 29 and irradiated in X-direction, which is the second direction, which intersects with Z-direction, which is the first direction, perpendicular to the second direction).
Regarding claim 6, Nawata discloses wherein the second light has a wavelength different from a wavelength of the first light (para 0029, second light 16 has wavelength of 365 nm, para 0030, first light 30 has wavelength 405 nm).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nawata in view of Hatano et al. (Hatano) (2020/0073233).
Regarding claim 4, Nawata does not disclose wherein the irradiation device is provided in the dropping device. Hatano discloses in Fig. 12, an imprint apparatus comprising an irradiation device (71), which irradiates the droplets before the template contacts the droplets, located next to the dropping device (50). In Fig. 17, the irradiation device (71) is located next to the exposure device (41). Therefore, as taught by Hatano, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to locate the irradiation device (30) of Nawata near the dropping device (18) since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art, and further, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the dropping device and the irradiation device so that the irradiation device is provided in the dropping device since it has been held that forming in one piece an article which has formerly been formed in two pieces and put together involves only routine skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-20 are allowed.
Nawata discloses an imprint method of dropping a first droplet of resin and irradiating a first light (30) to the first droplet (frame region in Fig. 9, para 0036, S107, Fig. 4), dropping a second droplet of resin without irradiating the first light (middle of the shot region, see Fig. 9), pressing a pattern of a template (10) against a dropped resin (para 0035) and irradiating a second light (16) through the template to cure the layer (para 0040). However, Nawata does not disclose irradiating the first light while the first droplet is dropping. Nawata discloses irradiating the droplet to the first light while the pattern is pressed on the droplet. Nawata does not disclose irradiating the first light to the first droplet before pressing the pattern of the template against the dropped resin.
Hatano et al. (Hatano) discloses an imprint method (Fig. 12, 14A, 14B) of dropping a first droplet of resin and irradiating a first light (71) to the first droplet before pressing a pattern of a template against the droplet (Fig. 14B, para 0099, 0101), pressing a pattern of a template (200, para 0101) against a dropped resin and irradiating a second light (41) through the template to cure the layer (para 0044). However, Hatano does not disclose irradiating the first light while the first droplet is dropping, and Hatano does not disclose a second droplet of the resin which is not irradiated by the first light. Although Hatano discloses some of the droplets are irradiated at different intensity (para 0102, 0103), Hatano does not disclose any of the droplets not irradiated by the first light (71).
Senshu (2021/0302831) discloses an imprint apparatus (Fig. 1) wherein a preceding exposure is performed to improve alignment with the template before completing alignment and performing main exposure (see Fig. 2, S607, S609, S610, S611, S612, S613, Fig. 12). However, Senshu does not disclose a separate irradiation device to irradiate a first light in a second direction intersecting the first direction, the direction which the droplets of the resin drop. Senshu also does not disclose irradiating the first light while the droplet is dropping.
Conclusion
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/PETER B KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882 February 7, 2026