Patent ID: 7366343

Claim:
A pattern inspection method comprising: capturing images, by scanning an object to be inspected on which a plurality of identical patterns are arranged, of the plurality of the identical patterns; detecting positional information of the images of neighboring identical patterns; determining a quantity of correction, by which a positional relation of the images of the neighboring identical patterns is corrected, based on the detected positional information; and comparing the images the positional relation of which has been corrected based on the quantity of correction, wherein the quantity of correction is determined based on the positional information of the images at multiple separate places in the pattern, wherein the detection of the positional information of the images, the determination of the quantity of correction and the comparison of the images are carried out in parallel with the scan for capturing the images to be used for a subsequent comparison, and wherein the determination of the quantity of correction and the comparison of the images are started after the capture of the images of two of the neighboring patterns is completed.