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
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 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nomaru (US-2021/0129264).
Regarding claim 1, Nomaru (US-2021/0129264) discloses a method of processing a workpiece using a chuck table for holding the workpiece, a grinding unit including a grinding wheel for grinding a surface of the workpiece, a polishing unit including a polishing pad for polishing the surface of the workpiece held on the chuck table, and a measuring unit for measuring a thickness of the workpiece, comprising:
a grinding step of grinding the workpiece from the surface thereof with the grinding unit (“In the workpiece processing method according to the present embodiment, first, the back surface 11b side of the workpiece 11 is processed by the grinding unit 34 on the rough grinding position side (first grinding step). Next, the back surface 11b side of the workpiece 11 is processed by the grinding unit 34 on the finish grinding position side (second grinding step). Then, the workpiece 11 is processed by the polishing unit 66 (polishing step).”) [Nomaru; paragraphs 0086-0087]
after the grinding step, a measuring step of measuring thicknesses of the workpiece at a plurality of measurement sites thereon with the measuring unit and acquiring information with respect to a thickness distribution of the workpiece with the measuring unit (“In addition, a non-contact-type measuring unit (thickness measuring instrument) 78 configured to be able to measure the distribution of thickness of the workpiece 11 in a state in which the polishing pad 74 is in contact with a part of the workpiece 11 is disposed on a downstream side of the polishing unit 66 (polishing pad 74) along the direction in which the chuck table 18 is rotated.”) [Nomaru; paragraph 0059]; and
a polishing step of polishing the workpiece from the surface thereof with the polishing unit (“In the workpiece processing method according to the present embodiment, first, the back surface 11b side of the workpiece 11 is processed by the grinding unit 34 on the rough grinding position side (first grinding step). Next, the back surface 11b side of the workpiece 11 is processed by the grinding unit 34 on the finish grinding position side (second grinding step). Then, the workpiece 11 is processed by the polishing unit 66 (polishing step).”) [Nomaru; paragraphs 0086-0087], wherein the polishing step includes determining polishing conditions on a basis of the information with respect to the thickness distribution of the workpiece acquired in the measuring step and polishing the workpiece under the determined polishing conditions (“In other words, the control unit 84 adjusts the power of the laser beam A applied to an arbitrary region of the workpiece 11, whereby the removal amount by which the region is removed by the contact with the polishing pad 74 can be controlled based on the distribution of the thickness of the workpiece 11. Therefore, high-accuracy processing according to the distribution of the thickness of the workpiece 11 can be performed.”) [Nomaru; paragraph 0085].
Regarding claim 2, Nomaru discloses the method of processing a workpiece according to claim 1,
the method further using a controller (control unit 84) for controlling the polishing unit (polishing unit 66),
the controller having a storage section in which a plurality of kinds of polishing conditions are registered (“The control unit 84, typically, includes a computer including a processing apparatus such as a central processing unit (CPU) and a storage apparatus such as a flash memory. By operating the processing apparatus and the like according to a software stored in the storage apparatus, various functions of the control unit 84 are realized.”) [Nomaru; paragraph 0063],
wherein, in the polishing step, the controller reads polishing conditions favorable for uniformizing the thickness of the workpiece from among the kinds of polishing conditions (desired thickness) registered in the storage section, on the basis of the information with respect to the thickness distribution of the workpiece acquired in the measuring step [Nomaru; paragraph 0085], and controls the polishing unit to keep polishing the workpiece under the polishing conditions thus read (“In other words, the control unit 84 adjusts the power of the laser beam A applied to an arbitrary region of the workpiece 11, whereby the removal amount by which the region is removed by the contact with the polishing pad 74 can be controlled based on the distribution of the thickness of the workpiece 11. Therefore, high-accuracy processing according to the distribution of the thickness of the workpiece 11 can be performed.”) [Nomaru; paragraph 0085].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3, and those claims depending therefrom including claim 4, are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including 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:
The prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious, in combination with all other claim limitations, “the workpiece is polished with the polishing pad while the chuck table that is holding the workpiece and the polishing pad are being oscillated relatively to each other along directions parallel to the surface of the workpiece, and, in the polishing step, a distance that the chuck table and the polishing pad are oscillated relatively to each other and a central position across which the chuck table and the polishing pad are oscillated relatively to each other are determined, on a basis of the polishing conditions read from the storage section” [emphasis added].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. WO2021166668A1 is pertinent to claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOEL DILLON CRANDALL whose telephone number is (571)270-5947. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30 - 5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Carter can be reached at 571-270-5947. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOEL D CRANDALL/Examiner, Art Unit 3723
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