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 Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “uniformizing optical system” “a diffusion unit configured to diffuse the light” “a film thickness derivation unit configured to derive a film thickness” in claims 1, 2, 6, & 10.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
Applicant recites the uniformizing optical system may be a light pipe or fly eye lens (claims 2 & 6).
Applicant recites the diffusion unit is a diffusion plate (claim 7).
Applicant teaches the thickness derivation unit is a computer and physically includes a memory such as a RAM and a ROM, a processor (arithmetic circuit) such as a CPU, a communication interface, and a storage unit such as a hard disk. The analysis unit 60 functions by executing a program stored in 15 the memory by the CPU of the computer system. The analysis unit 60 may include a microcomputer or an FPGA (0074) (pg. 32, line 3).
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1 & 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MIZUMURA WO 2011136056.
With respect to claim 1, Mizumura teaches a light irradiation apparatus comprising:
a light source (fig 1, 2) configured to emit light;
a first uniformizing optical system “fly eye lens” (fig 1, 3) (pg. 2, ¶ 7, line 1) configured to receive, as an input, the light emitted from the light source, and uniformize and output an illuminance distribution of the light “distribution made uniform by the first fly-eye lens 3” (pg. 4, ¶ 6);
a diffusion unit “diffusion plate” (fig 1, 4) (pg. 2, ¶ 3, lines 6-7) configured to diffuse the light output laser “light L is diffused” (pg. 4, ¶ 8) from the first uniformizing optical system; and
a second uniformizing optical system “fly eye lens” (abstract, line 3) (fig 1, 6) configured to receive, as an input, the light diffused by the diffusion unit, and uniformize and output an illuminance distribution of the light “uniformize the distribution of the intensity” (abstract, lines 4-5).
With respect to claim 6 according to claim 1, Mizumura teaches the light irradiation apparatus wherein the first uniformizing optical system is a first fly-eye lens “fly eye lens” (abstract, line 3) (fig 1, 3) (pg. 2, ¶ 7, line 1), and the second uniformizing optical system is a second fly-eye lens “fly eye lens” (fig 1, 6).
With respect to claim 7 according to claim 1, Mizumura teaches the light irradiation apparatus wherein the diffusion unit is a diffusion plate “diffusion plate” (fig 1, 4).
With respect to claim 8, Mizumura teaches a measuring apparatus comprising:
the light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1 and imager “camera” (pg. 3, ¶ 7) configured to image measurement light generated by light with which a measurement target (fig 1, 20) “marks 20” (pg. 3, ¶ 7) is irradiated from the light irradiation apparatus.
With respect to claim 9, Mizumura teaches an observation apparatus comprising:
the light irradiation apparatus according to any one of claims (fig 1); and an imager “camera” (pg. 3, ¶ 7) configured to image observation light that is light with which a measurement target “marks 20” (pg. 3, ¶ 7) is irradiated from the light irradiation apparatus
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MIZUMURA WO 2011136056 in view of Li WO 2022199549.
With respect to claim 2 according to claim 1, Mizumura does not teach the first uniformizing optical system is a first light pipe, and the second uniformizing optical system is a second light pipe.
Li, in the same field of optical mechanical systems as Mizumura, teaches a light pipe 121 or a fly-eye lens may be used when performing homogenization processing on the illumination beam (pg. 5, ¶ 2 ,lines 5-7). At the time prior to the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the first/second fly-eye lens for a first/second light pipe as a functional equivalent for uniformizing light.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, & 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims or to include the limitation(s) and any intervening claims into the base claim. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 3, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “a
diameter of a light input surf ace of the second light pipe is the same as a diameter of a light output surf ace of the first light pipe”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 3.
As to claim 4, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “a
diameter of a light input surf ace of the second light pipe is smaller than a diameter of a light output surface of the first light pipe”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 4.
As to claim 5, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “wherein a
diameter of a light output surf ace of the second light pipe is larger than a diameter of a light input surf ace of the second light pipe”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 5.
As to claim 10, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious “a film thickness derivation unit configured to derive a film thickness of the measurement target based on the imaging data”, in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 10.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAURICE C SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-2526. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kara Geisel can be reached at (571) 272-2416. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MAURICE C SMITH/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
Prosecution Insights