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
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 6, “the priming” should say “the priming processing” for claim language consistency.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-5 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a curable composition containing the mold release agent” in lines 6-7. It is unclear if the curable composition in this limitation is referring to “a curable composition” in line 2 or if this is a new limitation. Furthermore, it is unclear if the limitations of “this curable composition” and “the curable composition” in lines 8-11 are referring to “a curable composition” from line 2 or “a curable composition containing the mold release agent”. Clarification is required. For the purposes of examination, it will be assumed that these limitations are referring to the same curable composition. This interpretation is supported by paragraph [0048] of the specification.
Claim 4 recites the limitations “the curable composition”, “the substrate” and “the molded curable composition” in lines 2 and 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “a curable composition containing the mold release agent” in line 9. It is unclear if the curable composition in this limitation is referring to “a curable composition” in lines 3-4 or if this is a new limitation. Furthermore, it is unclear if the limitations of “this curable composition” and “the curable composition” in the following lines are referring to “a curable composition” from lines 3-4 or “a curable composition containing the mold release agent”. Clarification is required. For the purposes of examination, it will be assumed that these limitations are referring to the same curable composition. This interpretation is supported by paragraph [0048] of the specification.
Claim 5 recites the limitation “the substrate” in lines 2 and 4. It is unclear if this limitation is referring to “a processing target substrate” in claim 1, line 2, “a priming substrate” in claim 1, line 7, or if this is a new limitation. Clarification is required. For the purposes of examination, it will be assumed this limitation is referring to the processing target substrate. This interpretation is supported by Figures 9A-9F and paragraph [0019] of the specification.
The dependent claims necessarily inherit the indefiniteness of the claims on which they depend.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US 20040256764 A1; hereafter Choi), in view of Yonekawa (US 20200176275 A1; hereafter Yonekawa).
Regarding claim 1, Choi discloses a molding method for molding a cured object by bringing a mold (Fig. 2, 9; [0008, 0042]; mold 28) into contact with a curable composition ([0020]; conformable material 36a is polymerizable) on a processing target substrate ([0042]; process substrate) and curing the curable composition with the mold in contact therewith ([0042]; polymerizing the conformable composition in contact with mold and process substrate), the molding method comprising:
carrying out priming processing (Fig. 9) for applying a mold release agent ([0032]; additive that reduces surface tension to improve release of mold 28, such as surfactant) onto a surface of the mold that contacts the curable composition (Fig. 9; [0032, 0042]; mold 28 contacts conformable material 36a comprising surfactant),
the priming processing including applying the mold release agent onto the mold by placing the curable composition containing the mold release agent on a priming substrate (Fig. 9; [0034, 0042]; applying conformable material 36a comprising surfactant to priming substrate), bringing this curable composition and the mold into contact with each other (Fig. 9, step 302; [0042]), curing the curable composition in this contact state ([0042]; polymerizing the conformable material), and separating the mold and the cured object ([0008]).
Choi does not disclose recovering a state of a surface of the priming substrate on which the curable composition is placed.
However, in the analogous art Yonekawa teaches recovering a state of a surface of a dummy substrate used in priming ([0059]; first plate used in dummy imprint process) by removing particles ([0059-0061]; particles on first plate from cleaning process are removed).
Choi and Yonekawa are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the field of dummy imprinting for imprint lithography. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Choi with the teachings of Yonekawa to provide recovering a state of a surface of the priming substrate on which the curable composition is placed. Doing so would remove dust particles from the imprinting apparatus (Yonekawa [0059-0061]) and allow the priming substrate to be re-used in a future priming process.
Regarding claim 5, modified Choi discloses a method for manufacturing a product comprising molding the curable composition on the priming substrate using the molding method according to claim 1, wherein Choi further discloses the method comprising:
processing the processing target substrate including the molded curable composition (Fig. 9; [0042]; contacting primed mold in contact with conformable material on process (second) substrate);
and acquiring the product from the processed substrate (Fig. 9; [0042]; completed pattern on process substrate).
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US 20040256764 A1; hereafter Choi), in view of Yonekawa (US 20200176275 A1; hereafter Yonekawa) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Wang et al. (US 20080145773 A1; hereafter Wang).
Regarding claim 2, modified Choi discloses the molding method according to claim 1.
Modified Choi does not explicitly disclose the recovering includes heating the priming substrate.
However, in the analogous art Wang teaches that solidified material and curable liquid residue may be removed from an imprinted substrate by a heating/scraping apparatus ([0045]).
Choi and Wang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the field of imprint lithography. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify modified Choi with the teachings of Wang to provide the recovering includes heating the priming substrate. Doing so would allow the priming substrate to be re-used in future priming/imprinting processes (Wang [0045]).
Regarding claim 4, Choi discloses a method for manufacturing a product (Fig. 9; [0042]; forming completed pattern), the method comprising:
molding a curable composition ([0020]; conformable material 36a is polymerizable) on a substrate (Fig. 9; [0042]; first or second substrate) using a molding apparatus (Fig. 1-2) configured to mold a cured object by bringing a mold (Fig. 2, 9; [0008, 0042]; mold 28) into contact with the curable composition on a processing target substrate ([0042]; process substrate) and curing the curable composition with the mold in contact therewith ([0042]; polymerizing the conformable composition in contact with mold and process substrate), the molding apparatus including:
a priming unit (Fig. 9; [0042]) configured to perform processing for applying a mold release agent ([0032]; additive that reduces surface tension to improve release of mold 28, such as surfactant) onto a surface of the mold that contacts the curable composition (Fig. 9; [0032, 0042]; mold 28 contacts conformable material 36a comprising surfactant),
the priming unit being configured to apply the mold release agent onto the mold by placing the curable composition containing the mold release agent on a priming substrate (Fig. 9; [0034, 0042]; applying conformable material 36a comprising surfactant to priming substrate), curing the curable composition while the curable composition and the mold are in contact with each other (Fig. 9, step 302; [0042]; polymerizing the conformable material), and separating the mold and the cured curable composition ([0008]);
processing the substrate including a molded curable composition (Fig. 9; [0042]; contacting primed mold in contact with conformable material on process (second) substrate);
and acquiring the product from the processed substrate (Fig. 9; [0042]; completed pattern on process substrate).
Choi does not disclose a recovery unit including a temperature adjustment unit to heat the priming substrate and configured to perform a recovery processing to recover a state of a surface of the priming substrate on which the curable composition is placed.
However, in the analogous art Yonekawa teaches recovering a state of a surface of a dummy substrate used in priming ([0059]; first plate used in dummy imprint process) by removing particles ([0059-0061]; particles on first plate from cleaning process are removed).
Choi and Yonekawa are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the field of dummy imprinting for imprint lithography. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Choi with the teachings of Yonekawa to provide recovering a state of a surface of the priming substrate on which the curable composition is placed. Doing so would remove dust particles from the imprinting apparatus (Yonekawa [0059-0061]) and allow the priming substrate to be re-used in a future priming process.
Choi, in view of Yonekawa, does not explicitly disclose the recovery unit includes a temperature adjustment unit to heat the priming substrate.
However, in the analogous art Wang teaches that solidified material and curable liquid residue may be removed from an imprinted substrate by a heating/scraping apparatus ([0045]).
Choi and Wang are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the field of imprint lithography. Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Choi, in view of Yonekawa, with the teachings of Wang to provide the recovery unit includes a temperature adjustment unit to heat the priming substrate. Doing so would allow the priming substrate to be re-used in future priming/imprinting processes (Wang [0045]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
None of the references of the record nor any other prior art, taken alone or in combination, teach or fairly suggest the cumulative limitations of claim 3.
Regarding claim 3, Choi discloses a molding method for molding a cured object by bringing a mold (Fig. 2, 9; [0008, 0042]; mold 28) into contact with a curable composition ([0020]; conformable material 36a is polymerizable) on a processing target substrate ([0042]; process substrate) and curing the curable composition with the mold in contact therewith ([0042]; polymerizing the conformable composition in contact with mold and process substrate), the molding method comprising:
carrying out priming processing (Fig. 9) for applying a mold release agent ([0032]; additive that reduces surface tension to improve release of mold 28, such as surfactant) onto a surface of the mold that contacts the curable composition (Fig. 9; [0032, 0042]; mold 28 contacts conformable material 36a comprising surfactant),
the priming processing including applying the mold release agent onto the mold by placing the curable composition containing the mold release agent on a priming substrate (Fig. 9; [0034, 0042]; applying conformable material 36a comprising surfactant to priming substrate), bringing this curable composition and the mold into contact with each other (Fig. 9, step 302; [0042]), curing the curable composition in this contact state ([0042]; polymerizing the conformable material), and separating the mold and the cured object ([0008]);
processing the processing target substrate including the molded curable composition (Fig. 9; [0042]; contacting primed mold in contact with conformable material on process (second) substrate);
and acquiring the product from the processed substrate (Fig. 9; [0042]; completed pattern on process substrate).
Yonekawa teaches recovering a state of a surface of a dummy substrate used in priming ([0059]; first plate used in dummy imprint process) by removing particles ([0059-0061]; particles on first plate from cleaning process are removed).
Wang teaches that solidified material and curable liquid residue may be removed from an imprinted substrate by a heating/scraping apparatus in order to allow the substrate to be re-used ([0045]).
Hultermans et al. (US 20090033891 A1) teaches a substrate used in imprint lithography may be cleaned by vacuum suction ([0010]).
Robinson et al. (EP 3251760 A1) teaches it is known in imprint lithography that substrates can be cleaned using cryogenic cleaning and/or “sandblasting” using carbon dioxide particles.
However, none of the references of the record nor any other prior art either alone or in combination, Inter Alia, teach or fairly suggest recovering a state of a surface of the priming substrate includes heating the priming substrate using heated gas. Figures 3, 4 and specification paragraphs [0075, 0077] disclose heating devices 30 can eject heated gas to heat priming substrate 26. Heating the priming substrate in such a manner volatilizes contaminants on the surface of the priming substrate, thereby recovering the surface state of the priming substrate ([0075]). Doing so allows the priming substrate to be stored and used in another priming process ([0061]). Therefore, claim 3 is deemed allowable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Vipul Malik whose telephone number is (571)272-0976. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/V.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1754
/SUSAN D LEONG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1754