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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 26, 2026 has been entered.
Status of the Claims
Group I, Species 1, was elected.
Amendment filed January 26, 2026 is acknowledged. New claim 54 has been added. Claims 27 and 40 have been amended. Non-elected Invention and/or Species, Claims 34-35 and 40-48 have been withdrawn from consideration. Claims 27-30, 34-38, 40-48, 50 and 53-54 are pending.
Action on merits of Group I, Species 1, claims 27-30, 36-38, 50 and 53-54 follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 27-30, 36-38, 50 and 53-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
There does not appear to be a written description of the claim limitation “due to the mechanical coupling of the intermediate carrier to the diaphragm via the plurality of connectors, the intermediate carrier is not rigidly coextensive with the diaphragm, the intermediate carrier thereby undergoing, during the pressure-induced deflection of the diaphragm, a deformation that is not kinematically identical to a deformation of the diaphragm itself, such that the deformations of the diaphragm and of the intermediate carrier each differently influence a change of a shape of the cavity above the first electrode during the pressure-induced deflection of the diaphragm” (amended claim 27) (emphasis added) in the application as filed.
Applicant must cancel the un-support new matters in response to the Office Action.
There is no support for the “intermediate carrier” (5, ZT1) being deformed “during the pressure-induced deflection of the diaphragm” (7). See FIG. 6.
Therefore, the application does not have possession of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 27-30, 36-38, 50 and 53-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 27 recites the limitation "a plurality of connectors that, in the inner region, (I) are mechanically attached to …" in line 14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
The “inner region” has no antecedent support.
Therefore, claims 27-30, 36-38, 50 and 53-54 are indefinite.
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.
Claims 27-29, 36-38, 50 and 53-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HUANG et al. (US. Pub. No. 2020/0013574) of record.
With respect to claim 27, HUANG teaches a pressure sensor substantially as claimed including:
a substrate (201);
a diaphragm (220) that is arranged above the substrate (201) and defines a movable region; and
an anchor structure (230) that:
(I) in an edge region of the sensor device, is connected to the diaphragm (220) and to the substrate (201), extending from a layer of the diaphragm to the substrate, thereby anchoring the diaphragm to the substrate in the edge region; and
(II) laterally delimits the movable region of the diaphragm;
a cavity (202) that is beneath the movable region of the diaphragm (220) and is between the diaphragm (220) and the substrate (201);
an intermediate carrier (240) that is at least partially arranged beneath the movable region of the diaphragm and through which at least one trench extends;
a plurality of connectors (250) that, in the inner region, (I) are mechanically attached to an underside of the movable region of the diaphragm, (II) extend from the movable region of the diaphragm in a direction towards the substrate, and (III) are connected to, and extend upwards from, a top of the intermediate carrier (240), the plurality of connectors (250) thereby mechanically coupling the intermediate carrier (240) to the diaphragm (220); and
a first electrode (212) that is supported by and is arranged over the substrate (201) and that is arranged with respect to the movable region of the diaphragm to form together with the movable region of the diaphragm a capacitive sensing arrangement such that deflection of the diaphragm (220) relative to the first electrode (212) in response to pressure applied to the diaphragm (220) causes a change in capacitance that is commensurate with, and therefore indicative of, the applied pressure,
wherein: the intermediate carrier (240) is arranged to move together with the diaphragm (220) during the pressure-induced deflection of the diaphragm (220), while the first electrode (212) remains fixed relative to the substrate;
in a cross-section of the sensor device:
the plurality of connectors (250) are spaced apart from one another in a particular direction; and
the intermediate carrier (240) extends continuously in the particular direction in a region that spans all of the plurality of connectors (250), thereby bridging the plurality of connectors (250) to one another;
due to the mechanical coupling of the intermediate carrier (240) to the diaphragm (220) via the plurality of connectors (250), the intermediate carrier (240) is not rigidly coextensive with the diaphragm (220), the intermediate carrier (240) thereby undergoing, during the pressure-induced deflection of the diaphragm, a deformation that is not kinematically identical to a deformation of the diaphragm itself, such that the deformations of the diaphragm (220) and of the intermediate carrier (240) each differently influence a change of a shape of the cavity (202) above the first electrode (212) during the pressure-induced deflection of the diaphragm (220), and
the pressure sensor outputs a value of the applied pressure determined based on the change in capacitance that occurs with the change of the shape of the cavity (202). (See FIG. 2).
With respect to claim 28, the pressure sensor of HUANG further comprises a media access (not shown) having a closure (sealed, ¶ [0191], [0192]), the media access being connected to the cavity and the closure being disposed at an exterior of the movable region of the diaphragm and enclosing a defined pressure in the cavity and in the media access.
With respect to claim 29, the edge region (230) encompasses at least one etching access conduit (vias, not shown) that is connected to the cavity (202).
With respect to claim 36, the diaphragm (220) of HUANG is electrically contacted via the edge region (230).
With respect to claim 37, at least one of the at least one trench of HUANG has a width which is less than a height of the intermediate carrier (240).
With respect to claim 38, a spacing from the edge region (230) to a nearest one of the connectors (250) of HUANG is at least 10% of a planar region of extent of the diaphragm (240), the region of extent corresponding to a diameter when the diaphragm is circular or corresponding to a length of a shorter side edge in when the diaphragm is rectangular.
With respect to claim 50, in the cross-section, the diaphragm (220) of HUANG extends continuously in the particular direction in the region that spans all of the plurality of connectors (250), the diaphragm (220) thereby also bridging the plurality of connectors (250) to one another.
With respect to claim 53, laterally between different ones of the plurality of connectors (250) of HUANG there is a void whose upper side is delimited by between the diaphragm (220) and whose lower side is delimited by the at least one first intermediate carrier (240).
With respect to claim 54, in a plan view of the sensor device: the intermediate carrier of HUANG comprises a plurality of intermediate-carrier elements arranged next to one another in a first in-plane direction; each intermediate-carrier element extends continuously in a second in-plane direction transverse to the first in-plane direction; and elongated trenches are disposed between adjacent ones of the intermediate-carrier elements so as to separate the intermediate-carrier elements from one another in the first in-plane direction. (See FIGS. 15, 16).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HUANG ‘574 as applied to claim 27 above, and further in view of KAELBERER et al. (DE 102014200500) of record.
HUANG teaches the pressure sensor as described in claim 27 above including: the first electrode (212) is formed by at least one electrically conductive layer that is disposed on the substrate (201) and may be a separate layer if the substrate (201) being conductive.
Thus, HUANG is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly disclosing the first electrode being electrically insulated from the substrate.
However, KAELBERER teaches pressure sensor including:
a first electrode (L0) is formed by at least one electrically conductive layer that is disposed on substrate (1a) and is electrically insulated from the substrate. (See FIG. 9)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to form the first electrode of HUANG being separate from the substrate by the insulation layer as taught by KAELBERER for the same intended purpose of electrically insulated from the substrate.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 26, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues:
While it is true that acoustic waves involve pressure fluctuations, Huang does not disclose or suggest sensing applied pressure as required by claim 27. Instead, Huang senses acoustic changes over time associated with ultrasonic oscillations, apparently producing electrical signals representative of vibration or resonance characteristics, not a pressure value.
However, the Applicant’s argument is contradictory. On one hand, Applicant admitted that “While it is true that acoustic waves involve pressure fluctuations” and on another hand asserts: “apparently producing electrical signals representative of vibration or resonance characteristics, not a pressure value”.
Note that, even the Applicant’s claimed “pressure sensor” cannot produce “pressure value”.
The output of the claimed pressure sensor is the “capacitance” or “electrical signals” when the diaphragm moves. The device, outside of the claimed “pressure sensor” will translate the electrical signals form the sensor to “pressure value”.
Since the sensor device of HUANG is fully capable of producing the “electrical signals” by the “pressure fluctuations” upon the diaphragm 220, an outside device, thus, would have easily translate the “electrical signals” to “pressure value”.
The cMUT device (micromachined ultrasonic transducer) of HUANG is operated under a same principle of a pressure sensor. The pressure of sound wave input on the diaphragm or spring layer 220, would alter the capacitance between two electrodes, hence generates “electrical signals”.
Thus, the cMUT of HUANG is a pressure sensor.
Note that, the claimed “pressure sensor” is not a barometer. The claimed device produce a variation distance between two electrodes, thus produce electrical signals represents capacitance. The cMUT of HUANG produces exactly the same electrical signals by the movement of the diaphragm 220 upon receiving the pressure from the sound wave.
Conclusion
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/ANH D MAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893