Patent ID: 8616874

Claim:
An imprint apparatus for pressing a mold that has a pattern area with a pattern onto an uncured object on a substrate and curing the pressed uncured object to form a pattern of the cured object on the substrate, the apparatus comprising: a substrate stage configured to hold the substrate; a mold stage configured to hold the mold and including an actuator, the actuator being configured to apply a force to the mold in contact with the cured object so that an area of the mold adjacent to the pattern area warps relative to the pattern area, as a starting point where a release of the mold from the cured object is started; a driving mechanism configured to cause relative movement between the substrate stage and the mold stage in a direction in which the mold is pressed onto the uncured object or the mold is released from the cured object; and a controller configured to control the actuator and the driving mechanism so that (i) if the curing is completed, the actuator applies the force to the mold so that the release of the mold is started at the starting point, and (ii) if the curing is completed and the actuator applies the force, the driving mechanism causes the relative movement in the direction in which the mold is released so that a subsequent release of the mold is performed from the starting point to the pattern area.