DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to Applicant’s amendments filed on 05/21/2026.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for a 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.
Amendment Status
The present Office action is made with all previously suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1-12.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite.
The claim is indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint regard as the invention.
Claim 1 (and any dependent claims 2-12) recites the limitation "wherein the second mask layer is in contact with the top surface of the translucent layer and the top surface of the opaque layer, wherein the first mask layer has a pattern of a second mask opening”. It is clear that “the first mask layer” from this limitation should be replaced with “the second mask layer”. For the purposes of examination to apply prior art, this was treated as "wherein the second mask layer is in contact with the top surface of the translucent layer and the top surface of the opaque layer, wherein the second mask layer has a pattern of a second mask opening”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 are allowable.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious a method for fabricating a photomask comprising a method step of forming a second mask layer on the top surface of the translucent layer and the top surface of the opaque layer by the photolithography process, wherein the second mask layer is in contact with the top surface of the translucent layer and the top surface of the opaque layer, as it is recited in claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Miyoshi (c), Yen (US 2013/0178068), Terasaki (US 2007/0128850), and Lee (US 2006/0014381) show methods for fabricating a photomask similar to the one from the instant invention.
For example, the references of Miyoshi, Yen, Terasaki, and Lee as cited here and relied upon neither anticipate nor render obvious a method for fabricating a photomask comprising a method step of forming a second mask layer on the top surface of the translucent layer and the top surface of the opaque layer by the photolithography process, wherein the second mask layer is in contact with the top surface of the translucent layer and the top surface of the opaque layer, as it is recited in claim 1.
Conclusion
This action is made final. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire three months from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within two months of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the three-month shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than six months from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIBERIU DAN ONUTA whose telephone number is (571) 270-0074 and between the hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Friday or by e-mail via Tiberiu.Onuta@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone or email are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Wael Fahmy, can be reached on (571) 272-1705.
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/TIBERIU DAN ONUTA/Examiner, Art Unit 2814
/WAEL M FAHMY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2814
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