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)(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, 5-7, 10-12, 16, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by Choi et al. (US2022/0383493).
To claim 1, Choi teach a dimension measurement system which measures a dimension of a structure displayed as an image including a plurality of areas having different luminance (Fig. 3), comprising:
a computer system including a processor and a memory resource that stores data to be processed by the processor; and a display that displays a graphical user interface (GUI) where a user performs a manual operation (Figs. 1, 3-13), wherein the processor
obtains a reference line for specifying a portion of boundaries between the plurality of areas and position information of the reference line, and a reference point set within any one of the plurality of areas and position information of the reference point, based on the manual operation by the user performed on the GUI (paragraphs 0027-0030, 0036-0039, user may perform the motion of drawing a line as the reference line from a start point),
detects a contour or edge of the structure in the image, by using the reference line and the reference point (paragraphs 0027, 0036, edge detection), and
measures the dimension of the structure by using information on the detected contour or edge (paragraphs 0027, 0029-0030, 0036, 0038-0039, calculate the value of the length).
To claim 16, Choi teach a dimension measurement method for measuring a dimension of a structure displayed as an image including a plurality of areas having different luminance, by using a dimension measuring system including a processor, a memory resource that stores data to be processed by the processor, and a display that displays a graphical user interface (GUI) (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 19, Choi teach a non-volatile recording medium having stored thereon a program for causing a computer to execute the following steps to measure a dimension of a structure displayed as an image including a plurality of areas having different luminance by using the computer equipped with a display that displays a graphical user interface (GUI) (as explained in response to claim 1 above).
To claim 5, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach wherein the processor obtains the dimension of the structure by using the information on the detected contour or edge and definition information that defines a measurement target dimension (paragraphs 0026-0027, 0035-0036).
To claim 6, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach wherein the reference line is designated relative to a material interface within the image (Figs. 8-11).
To claim 7, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach wherein the computer system provides an adjustment function for adjusting the reference line set on the GUT to a most likely reference line position on the structure (paragraph 0036, user may also possibly adjust the reference line, or adjust the length of the reference line to appropriately correct the length of the reference line).
To claim 10, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach wherein the processor causes the designated reference line and reference point to be superimposed on the image displayed on the GUI (Figs. 10-13).
To claim 11, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach wherein the processor causes the detected contour or edge to be superimposed on the image displayed on the GUI (Figs. 10-13).
To claim 12, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach wherein the processor causes the measured dimension to be superimposed on the image displayed on the GUI (Figs. 11, 13).
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) 2-4, 9, 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US2022/0383493) in view of Ogawa (US2014/0205150).
To claim 2, Choi teach claim 1.
But, Choi do not expressly disclose wherein the processor sets a plurality of line profiles extending in a direction parallel to the reference line, on a perpendicular line set between the reference point and the reference line, extracts candidates for the contour or edge on the line profiles, based on a luminance change of pixels configuring each line profile, and detects the contour or edge based on the extracted candidates.
Ogawa teach sets a plurality of line profiles extending in a direction parallel to the reference line, on a perpendicular line set between the reference point and the reference line, extracts candidates for the contour or edge on the line profiles (Figs. 10-17; paragraphs 0076-0136), based on a luminance change of pixels configuring each line profile, and detects the contour or edge based on the extracted candidates (paragraphs 0103, 0139), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the system of Choi, in order implement measurement process by design preference.
To claims 3 and 17, Choi teach claims 1 and 16.
Choi and Ogawa teach wherein the processor sets a plurality of line profiles on positions extending in a radial direction from the reference point, extracts candidates for the contour or edge on the line profiles, based on a luminance change of pixels configuring the line profile, and detects the contour or edge based on the extracted candidates (as explained in response to claim 2 above).
To claims 4 and 18, Choi teach claims 1 and 16.
Choi and Ogawa teach wherein the processor sets a plurality of first line profiles extending in a direction parallel to the reference line, on a perpendicular line set between the reference point and the reference line, sets a plurality of second line profiles on positions extending in a radial direction from the reference point, extracts candidates for the contour or edge on the first and second line profiles, based on a luminance change of pixels configuring the first and second line profiles, and detects the contour or edge based on the extracted candidates (as explained in response to claim 2 above).
To claim 9, Choi and Ogawa teach claim 2.
Choi and Ogawa teach wherein the processor creates a combination of the candidates for the contour or edge in the plurality of the line profiles, and detects the contour or edge by selecting the contour or edge based on an evaluation value based on a distance between the candidates or an amount of change in luminance (Ogawa, paragraphs 0103-0125).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US2022/038493)
To claim 8, Choi teach claim 1.
Though Choi do not expressly disclose wherein the image is a cross-sectional image of a semiconductor device of which at least one of a mask, a pillar, or a trench is formed, such image measurement feature is well-known in the art, which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate by design preference, hence Official Notice is taken.
Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. (US2022/038493) in view of Guraschi et al. (US2022/0265242).
To claim 13, Choi teach claim 1.
Choi teach edge detection algorithm, but Choi do not expressly disclose wherein the computer system includes a storage in which learning data including the image, the reference line, and the reference point is stored, a learning model is mounted in the memory resource, the learning model receiving the image as input and outputting the reference line and the reference point for the image, and the processor detects a contour or an edge of the structure included in a new input image by using information on the reference line and the reference point for the new input image, estimated by the learning model, and measures the dimension of the structure by using information on the detected contour or edge.
Guraschi teach dimensional measurements of objects in acquired image (abstract), wherein the computer system includes a storage in which learning data including the image, the reference line, and the reference point is stored, a learning model is mounted in the memory resource, the learning model receiving the image as input and outputting the reference line and the reference point for the image, and the processor detects a contour or an edge of the structure included in a new input image by using information on the reference line and the reference point for the new input image, estimated by the learning model, and measures the dimension of the structure by using information on the detected contour or edge (abstract; paragraphs 0063-0100), which would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate into the system of Choi, in order to implement machine learning.
To claim 14, Choi and Guraschi teach claim 13.
Choi and Guraschi teach wherein the processor trains the learning model by using the learning data stored in the storage (Guraschi, paragraphs 0006, 0012, 0024, 0028).
To claim 15, Choi and Guraschi teach claim 13.
Choi and Guraschi teach wherein the processor accumulates, in the storage, the image, and position information of the reference line and the position information of the reference point obtained for the image based on a manual operation by the user, as the learning data (Guraschi, paragraphs 0207-0208, 0241).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHIYU LU whose telephone number is (571)272-2837. The examiner can normally be reached Weekdays: 8:30AM - 5:00PM.
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ZHIYU . LU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2669
/ZHIYU LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2665 August 22, 2026
