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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
1. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 07/05/2024 and is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. According, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Examiner Notes
2. Examiner cites particular paragraphs, columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in 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 that, in preparing responses, the applicant 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
(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.
4. Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kitaoka (US. Pub. 2004/0178805; hereinafter “Kitaoka”).
Regarding claim 1, Kitaoka discloses, in Figs. 1A-B, a distance measuring device (Figs. 1A-B shows a measuring apparatus which measures a distance between a probe and a target, see [0009]), comprising: a first member (supporting or holding members 108-109) disposed to face a measurement target (a target 105 such as a semiconductor wafer. The sensor probe 101 is held by a ground plate 108 such that the sensor probe 101 opposes the surface of the target 105, see [0043, 75] and Fig. 1A), which is a conductor or a semiconductor, in a non-contact manner (Figs. 1A-B, the holding members 108-109 faces the measurement target without contact); and an electrostatic capacitance sensor (an electrostatic capacitance sensor and sensor probe 101) provided at the first member (see Fig. 1A), and configured to measure a distance to the measurement target (a measuring apparatus using an electrostatic capacitance sensor or sensor probe 101, comprises a sensor amplifier 111 which is electrically connected to the sensor 101 via a connection cable 104, and a controller 114 which receives measurement values from the sensor amplifier 111. Weak AC currents from a terminal 111a of the sensor amplifier 111 are supplied from the sensor probe 101 to a target 105 such as a semiconductor wafer. A voltage drop by the impedance is measured to measure a distance d between the sensor probe and the target at measurement points on the target 105, see [0039]. Or “A measuring apparatus which measures a distance between a probe and a target, said apparatus comprising: a ground member which opposes the target in a non-contact manner and substantially grounds the target; and an output unit which is connected to said probe and said ground member and outputs a signal based on an AC current corresponding to a capacitance between said probe and the target”, see claim 1 ), wherein the first member (108-109) is formed of a conductive member, and the electrostatic capacitance sensor is grounded via the first member (a ground member 108 which opposes the target 105 in a non-contact manner and substantially grounds the target 105, and an output unit which is connected to said probe 101 and said ground member 108 and outputs a signal based on an AC current corresponding to a capacitance between said probe and the target, see claim 1. Or the sensor probe 101 and the opposing ground plate 108 are insulated from each other, and the sensor probe 101 is short-circuited to the opposing ground plate 108 via a holding member 109 whose surface is conductive, see at least in [0070] and
Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 2, Kitaoka discloses the distance measuring device of claim 1, wherein the electrostatic capacitance sensor includes multiple electrostatic capacitance sensors (301, 302, 303 in Fig. 12A).
Regarding claim 3, Kitaoka discloses the distance measuring device of claim 1, wherein an area of a facing surface of the first member (108 in Fig. 1A or 7 in Fig. 1B) that faces the measurement target is equal to or larger than an area of a facing surface of the measurement target (105 in Fig. 1A or 2 in Fig. 1B) that faces the first member (see Figs. 1A-B).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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 of this title, 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.
6. Claims 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Otsuka et al. (US. Pub. 2018/0158796; hereinafter “Otsuka”) in view of Kitaoka (US. Pub. 2004/0217765; hereinafter “Kitaoka65”).
Regarding claim 4, Otsuka discloses, in Figs. 5-18, a bonding apparatus (a bonding apparatus for bonding substrates together, see Fig. 6 and abstract), comprising: a first holder (an upper chuck 140 as a first holding part for adsorptively holding an upper wafer WU on the lower surface thereof, see [0053] and Fig. 6) configured to attract and hold a first substrate (an upper wafer WU) from above; a second holder (a lower chuck 141 as a second holding part for adsorptively holding the lower wafer WL mounted on the upper surface thereof, see [0053] and Fig. 6) disposed below the first holder (see Fig. 6), and configured to attract and hold a second substrate (a lower wafer WL) from below; and a pressing member (a pressing member 190) provided at the first holder (140), and configured to press a central portion of the first substrate (the pressing member 190 for pressing the central portion of the upper wafer WU, see [0088-89]), wherein the first holder comprises: a first member (a main body part 170) disposed to face the first substrate (WU) in a non-contact manner (see Fig. 6); and an electrostatic capacitance sensor (sensors 175 may be electrostatic capacitance sensors or distance measurement sensors, see [0074] and Fig. 6) provided at the first member, and configured to detect a distance to the first substrate (“In the case of using the electrostatic capacitance sensors, the distance between the upper chuck 140 and the upper wafer WU can be measured by measuring the electrostatic capacitance with the upper wafer WU. By measuring the distance between the upper chuck 140 and the upper wafer WU in this manner, it is possible to detect the contact state between the upper wafer WU and the lower wafer WL in the sensors 175. This makes it possible to grasp the bonding wave. See [0074]). Otsuka does not disclose the first member is formed of a conductive member, and the electrostatic capacitance sensor is grounded via the first member.
Kitaoka65 discloses, in Figs. 1-13, a distance measurement apparatus (a measurement apparatus which measures a distance between a sensor probe and a target to be measured by using an electrostatic capacitance sensor, see abstract), comprises a first member (a metal member 35 in Fig. 4) is formed of a conductive member, and a electrostatic capacitance sensor (electrostatic capacitance sensor probes 33-34) is grounded via the first member (The metal member 35 which holds the wafer measurement electrostatic capacitance sensor probes 33 and 34 also functions as a facing ground plate, see [0080]. Both the metal members 35 and 37 are connected to the ground terminals of corresponding sensor amplifiers in FIG. 5 by using conductors. The metal members 35 and 37 are set near corresponding targets with an area as large as possible in design so as to obtain capacitive coupling enough for facing ground plates, see [0082]. Also see [0085, 87]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the distance measurement apparatus of Otsuka by having the first member is formed of a conductive member, and the electrostatic capacitance sensor is grounded via the first member, as taught by Kitaoka65 for purpose of suppressing interference and error between sensors caused by electrical characteristics of targe (see the summary).
Regarding claim 5, Otsuka and Kitaoka65 discloses the bonding apparatus of claim 4, Otsuka further teaches wherein an area of a facing surface of the first member (140) that faces the first substrate (WU) is equal to or larger than an area of a facing surface of the first substrate that faces the first member (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 6, Otsuka and Kitaoka65 discloses the bonding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second holder is formed of an insulating member (the second holder 131 in Fig. 6 of Otsuka is an insulating member, or a vacuum chuck 5 in Figs. 1A-B of Kitaoka65 is an insulating member).
Regarding claim 7, Otsuka and Kitaoka65 discloses the bonding apparatus of claim 4, Otsuka further teaches wherein the electrostatic capacitance sensor includes multiple electrostatic capacitance sensors (a plurality of electrostatic capacitance sensors 175 in Fig. 7), and the multiple electrostatic capacitance sensors (175) are arranged along a diametrical direction of the first member (see Fig. 7), and wherein the bonding apparatus further comprises a controller (such as 70 in Fig. 1) configured to observe a boundary position between a bonding region in which the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded and a non-bonding region located outside the bonding region by detecting the distance to the first substrate with the multiple electrostatic capacitance sensors (see [0071-84 and 120-124]).
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANG LE whose telephone number is (571)272-9349. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday 7:30AM-5:00PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached on (571) 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THANG X LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
5/22/2026
Prosecution Insights