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 § 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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Horikoshi (U.S. Patent No. 8,454,771) in view of Loomis (U.S. Patent No. 7,682,933).
Regarding to claim 1, Horikoshi teaches a bonding device comprising:
a first holder with a holding surface (Fig. 11A, element H2), wherein the holding surface holds a first surface of a first substrate (Fig. 11A, element W2, the holding surface holds first surface, which is bottom surface, of first substrate W2); and
an observing device that observes the first substrate from a side of a second surface of the first substrate, the second surface being opposite to the first surface (Fig. 11A, element M1, observing device M1 that observes the first substrate W2 from a side of a second surface, which is the top surface, of the first substrate W2),
wherein the first holder, or the second holder together with the observing device moves to a first position where the observing device observes the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface (Fig. 11A), and a second position where the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded, the first position being different from the second position (Fig. 12).
Horikoshi does not disclose the first holder with a holding surface from which a protrusion protrudes.
Loomis discloses a first holder with a holding surface from which a protrusion protrudes (Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Horikoshi in view of Loomis to configure a protrusion protrudes from the holding surface, in order to create bonding wave from the center, thus to prevent voids formed on bonding surfaces.
Regarding to claim 2, Horikoshi as modified discloses a second holder that holds a second substrate (Fig. 11A, element H1), wherein the first holder or the second holder moves in a first direction so that the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface from which the protrusion protrudes and the second substrate are bonded (Horikoshi Fig. 12, Loomis Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 3, Horikoshi as modified discloses the observing device or the first holder moves in a second direction intersecting with the first direction so that the observing device observes a plurality of alignment marks on the first substrate (Fig. 11A, column 16, lines 22-30).
Regarding to claim 4, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first substrate held by the first holder with the protrusion comprises a protruding region overlapping with the protrusion and a flat or bent region other than the protruding region (Loomis, Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 5, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first substrate held by the first holder with the protrusion comprises a protruding region overlapping with the protrusion, the protruding region having a curvature larger than a curvature of a region other than the protruding region (Loomis, Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 6, Horikoshi teaches a bonding device comprising:
a first holder with a holding surface (Fig. 11A, element H2), wherein the holding surface holds a first surface of a first substrate (Fig. 11A, element W2, the holding surface holds first surface, which is bottom surface, of first substrate W2);
a second holder that holds a second substrate (Fig. 11A, second holder H1 that holds second substrate W1); and
an observing device that observes the first substrate from a side of a second surface of the first substrate, the second surface being opposite to the first surface (Fig. 11A, element M1, observing device M1 that observes the first substrate W2 from a side of a second surface, which is the top surface, of the first substrate W2),
wherein the first holder or the observing device moves to a first position where the observing device overlaps with the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface (Fig. 11A), and a second position where the observing device does not overlap with the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface, the first position being different from the second position (Fig. 12).
Horikoshi does not disclose the first holder with a holding surface from which a protrusion protrudes.
Loomis discloses a first holder with a holding surface from which a protrusion protrudes (Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Horikoshi in view of Loomis to configure a protrusion protrudes from the holding surface in order to create bonding wave from the center, thus to prevent voids formed on bonding surfaces.
Regarding to claim 7, Horikoshi as modified discloses wherein the first holder or the second holder moves in a first direction so that the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface from which the protrusion protrudes and the second substrate are bonded (Fig. 14).
Regarding to claim 8, Horikoshi as modified discloses the observing device or the first holder moves in a second direction intersecting with the first direction so that the observing device observes a plurality of alignment marks on the first substrate (Fig. 13A, column 17, lines 38-45).
Regarding to claim 9, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first substrate held by the first holder with the protrusion comprises a protruding region overlapping with the protrusion and a flat or bent region other than the protruding region (Loomis, Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 10, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first substrate held by the first holder with the protrusion comprises a protruding region overlapping with the protrusion, the protruding region having a curvature larger than a curvature of a region other than the protruding region (Loomis, Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 11, Horikoshi teaches a bonding device comprising:
a first holder with a holding surface (Fig. 10, element H1), wherein the holding surface holds a first surface of a first substrate (Fig. 10, element W1, the holding surface holds first surface, which is top surface, of first substrate W1);
a second holder that holds a second substrate (Fig. 10, second holder H2 that holds second substrate W2); and
an observing device that observes the first substrate from a side of a second surface of the first substrate, the second surface being opposite to the first surface (Fig. 10, element M2, observing device M2 that observes the first substrate W1 from a side of a second surface, which is the bottom surface, of the first substrate W1),
wherein the first holder, or the second holder together with the observing device moves to a first position where the observing device observes the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface (Fig. 13A), and a second position where the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded, the first position being different from the second position (Fig. 14).
Horikoshi does not disclose the first holder with a holding surface from which a protrusion protrudes.
Loomis discloses a first holder with a holding surface from which a protrusion protrudes (Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Horikoshi in view of Loomis to configure a protrusion protrudes from the holding surface in order to create bonding wave from the center, thus to prevent voids formed on bonding surfaces.
Regarding to claim 12, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first holder or the second holder moves in a first direction so that the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface from which the protrusion protrudes and the second substrate are bonded (Horikoshi, Figs. 13-14, Loomis, Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 13, Horikoshi as modified discloses the observing device or the first holder moves in a second direction intersecting with the first direction so that the observing device observes a plurality of alignment marks on the first substrate (Fig. 13A, column 17, lines 38-45).
Regarding to claim 14, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first substrate held by the first holder with the protrusion comprises a protruding region overlapping with the protrusion and a flat or bent region other than the protruding region (Loomis, Fig. 4).
Regarding to claim 15, Horikoshi as modified discloses the first substrate held by the first holder with the protrusion comprises a protruding region overlapping with the protrusion, the protruding region having a curvature larger than a curvature of a region other than the protruding region (Loomis, Fig. 4).
Pertinent Art
For the benefits of the Applicant, US-9576827-B2, US-9741595-B2, US-9851645-B2, US-20180158796-A1, and US-9646860-B2, are cited on the record as being pertinent to significant disclosure through some but not all claimed features of the defined invention. The references do not disclose a first position where the observing device overlaps with the first substrate whose first surface is held by the holding surface from which the protrusion protrudes, and a second position where the observing device does not overlap with the first substrate.
Conclusion
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/VU A VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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