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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/2/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
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.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-6, 8-14, 16-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, 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.
The specification as filed fails to provided support for the limitations at the last 5 lines of claim 1 due to the newly amended portions of the claim. Claim 1 recites “a via electrode electrically connected to the light emitter and a plurality of electrodes at least partially covered by the first passivation layer and electrically connected to the light emitter” at lines 7—9. These limitations specifies that the “via electrodes” are elements 170, 172, 174, and 176, and that the “plurality of electrodes” are elements 160, 162, 164, 166. Lines 13-15 of the claim states that electrodes 160, 162, 164, 166 protrudes outwardly away from a surface of the passivation layer PVT1 in a thickness direction and that the electrodes extends along the same surface in a direction of the central axis; these limitations are not supported in the specification as filed. Further, lines 16-17 recites that electrodes 160, 162, 164, 166 does not overlap the well and barrier layer of the light emitter in the thickness direction; these limitations are also not supported in the specification as filed since electrodes 160, 162, 164, 166 clearly overlaps all the active and barrier layers of the light emitting structure.
Therefore, Examiner takes the position that the newly introduced claim limitations created new matter issues with the limitations recited at the last 5 lines of claim 1.
Dependent claims inherit the same 112a issues of claim 1.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSE Y MIYOSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-1629. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/JESSE Y MIYOSHI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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