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 .
Status of the Claims
The Amendment filed December 2nd, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 16-17, and 19-20 have been amended. Claims 21-24 have been added. Claim 18 has been canceled. Claims 1-17 and 19-24 are currently examined herein.
Status of the Rejection
All U.S.C. § 103 rejections from the previous office action are withdrawn in view of the amendments.
New grounds of rejection under 35 § U.S.C 112(a) and 35 § U.S.C 103 are necessitated by the Applicant’s amendments.
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.
Claim 22 is 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. Claim 22 recites “wherein the gate oxide layer has a uniform thickness”, which is not supported in the specification/figures. The specification does not explicitly disclose that the gate oxide layer has “a uniform thickness”. In addition, although the Figure embodiments do show a gate oxide layer, such as gate oxide 150 in Fig. 1 and gate oxide 250 in Fig. 2, these are only schematics that illustrate that the gate oxide layer is present, not that the gate oxide has a uniform thickness. Therefore, claim 22 is a new matter.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 11-17, and 19-23 are rejected 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US 2020/0196925 A1) in view of Darwish (Adsorption of sugars on Al- and Ga-doped boron nitride surfaces: A computational study. Applied Surface Science, 2016; 377, 9-16) and Javey (Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors with Integrated Ohmic Contacts and High-k Gate Dielectrics Nano Letters 2004; 4(3), 447-450). Wang (Graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and their heterostructures: properties and applications, RSC Adv. 2017; 7, 16801-16822) is used as an evidence reference for claims 1, 17, and 20. Wei (Extended Gate Ion-Sensitive Field-Effect Transistors Using Al2O3/Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanolayers for pH Sensing, ACS Applied Nano Materials. 2019; 3, 403-408) is used as an evidence reference for claim 15.
Regarding Claim 1, Lin teaches a sensing assembly (microdevice 100 in Fig. 1 and 2A-B [para. 0232]) comprising;
a field effect transistor (FET) (nanosensor 102 [para. 0232]); the limitation that reads “configured to output a first signal indicative of a property of a sample” is a functional recitation. Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does [MPEP 2114(II)]. A functional recitation of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. See MPEP 2114. In the instant case, Lin teaches the nanosensor’s surface charge changes due to the presence of a target analyte, leading to a detectable signal [para. 0269]. Thus, the disclosed nanosensor 102 is configured to perform the claimed functions above, with the FET comprising:
a first layer providing a sensing surface (a monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 serves as a sensing module in Fig. 2B [para. 0232]);
a channel (graphene strip 105 [para. 0232]) provided below the first layer (the monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 is on top of graphene strip 105 [para. 0232; illustrated in Figure 2B);
a drain (drain electrode 109 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) and a source (source electrode 108 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) in electrical communication with the channel (the graphene strip 105 makes contact with source electrode 108 and drain electrode 109 ([para. 0232], illustrated in Fig. 2B); and
a gate (transparent gate electrode 107 in Fig 2B [para. 0232] which may be passivated by a dielectric layer 106 [para. 0232]) provided below the first layer (transparent gate electrode 107 and dielectric 106 are provided below the monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 as illustrated in Fig. 2B), with the gate comprising a gate electrode (transparent gate electrode 107 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) and a gate oxide layer (dielectric 106 in Fig. 2B [para. 0232]; which may be composed of SiO2 [para. 0238]) that overlays the gate electrode (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, dielectric nanolayer 106 overlays the transparent gate electrode 107),
wherein the first layer abuts the channel (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, graphene strip 105 abuts the glucose-binding polymer layer 111), with the first layer comprising a two-dimensional material (glucose-binding polymer 111 [para. 0232]) that extends parallel to the channel (monolayer of glucose-binding polymer is grafted onto the graphene channel [para. 0232]). The Examiner notes that the instant application defines two-dimensional materials as materials that have two dimensions greater than nanoscale (i.e., greater than or equal to 1000 nm or greater than or equal to 100 nm), with a third dimension in nanoscale (e.g. a monolayer or multilayer graphene or hexagonal-boron nitride). In this case, as the glucose-binding polymer 111 is a monolayer [para. 0232] with a length and width in microns (glucose-binding polymer 111 is grafted onto graphene channel 105, which has a length and width in microns in Fig. 2A and [para. 0234]), the glucose-binding polymer 111 serves as a two-dimensional material.
Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode, and wherein the first layer abuts the drain and the source, with the two-dimensional material having a crystalline lattice.
However, in some embodiments Lin teaches wherein the first layer abuts the drain and the source (as illustrated in Figure 18, source 608 and drain 609 abut the monolayer of the synthetic glucose responsive polymer 611 [paras. 0209 and 0211]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the source and drain of Lin so that the first layer abuts the drain and the source, as taught by Lin, as this orientation allows for proper function of a solution-gated graphene-based FET (Lin, [paras. 0209-0211]).
Modified Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode, and wherein the two-dimensional material having a crystalline lattice.
Darwish teaches doped hexagonal boron nitride sheets for absorbing and sensing template for glucose and glucosamine (abstract, page 1). By doping Al at the boron site of hexagonal-boron nitride, glucose and glucosamine can more strongly adsorb onto these stable doped boron nitride structures compared to pristine hexagonal-boron nitride (conclusion, page 15). In addition, as evidenced by Wang, hexagonal-boron nitride is a crystalline structure material (entire section 1.2 on pages 16802-16803 and Figure 2 on 16803).
Modified Lin and Darwish are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of glucose biosensors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the two-dimensional material of modified Lin by adding Al-doped hexagonal-boron nitride, as taught by Darwish, as Al-doped hexagonal-boron nitride would enhance the adsorption of target analytes, such as glucose and glucosamine, for applications including biosensors (Darwish, conclusion, page 15).
Modified Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode.
Javey teaches a field effect transistor (abstract), and teaches the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode (as illustrated in Figure 1a as well as Figure 1c, a uniform layer dielectric layer of SiO2 overlays the back gate electrode on a different plane, without contacting the sides of the gate [Figure 1, page 448]).
Modified Lin and Javey are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of FET biosensors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the dielectric layer of the FET of modified Lin to be on a different plane than the gate electrode, as taught by Javey, as a FET with this configuration of dielectric provides an alternative FET structure with sufficient electrical properties (Javey, [Figure 2]).
Regarding Claim 2, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1, wherein the two-dimensional material is selected from graphene, hexagonal boron-nitride, carbon nano-tubes, or a combination thereof (modified Lin teaches hexagonal-boron nitride as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 2, wherein the first layer comprises the hexagonal boron nitride (modified Lin teaches hexagonal-boron nitride as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 3, wherein the first layer comprises hexagonal-boron nitride doped with Al (modified Lin teaches hexagonal-boron nitride doped with Al as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above).
Regarding Claim 6, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin teaches wherein the first layer is a monolayer (glucose-binding polymer 111 is a monolayer [para. 0232]).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin teaches wherein the first layer is entirely formed of the two-dimensional material (the first layer of microdevice 100 is composed entirely of glucose-binding polymer 111 [para. 0232]).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin teaches wherein the channel is a graphene channel (slender graphene strip 105 is the conducting channel [para. 0232]).
Regarding Claim 12, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin teaches wherein the gate is provided beneath the channel (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, transparent gate electrode 107 is provided beneath slender graphene strip 105).
Regarding Claim 13, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin teaches wherein the sensing surface is functionalised (thin polymer layer 110 can be functionalized with a target specific receptor, such as a glucose-binding polymer [para. 0237]).
Regarding Claim 14, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 13.
Lin teaches wherein a captured species (boronic acid groups [para. 0248, 0250, and 0255]) is provided on the first layer so as to provide the functionalized sensing surface (boronic acid groups are provided on the first layer via the thin polymer layer 110 to provide the functionalized sensing surface to detect glucose [para. 0255]).
Regarding Claim 15, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1; the limitation “is a pH sensing assembly” is a functional recitation. Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does [MPEP 2114(II)]. A functional recitation of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. See MPEP 2114. In the instant case, the sensing assembly of modified Lin uses hexagonal boron nitride as the sensing surface (see claim 1 rejection above), and, as evidenced by Wei, FETs with hexagonal boron nitride can be used for pH sensing (Wei, abstract). Thus, the sensing assembly of modified Lin of claim 1 is capable of performing the function of pH sensing above.
Regarding Claim 16, modified Lin teaches a system (a microdevice coupled with a wireless interface [para. 0189 in Lin]) comprising:
the sensing assembly according to claim 1 (modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly [the modified microdevice], as outlined in the rejection of claim 1 above).
a signal processing unit (microcontroller [para. 0189] in Lin) configured to process sensor signals received from the sensing assembly (the microcontroller is coupled with a capacitance digital converter and the microdevice and adapted to produce a digital signal representing a measurement of the target analyte in the bodily fluid of the subject [para. 0189] in Lin. Thus, the disclosed microcontroller is configured to perform the claimed functions above); and
a property determination unit (a capacitance digital converter [para. 0189] in Lin) configured to, based at least in part on the sensor signals processed from the sensing assembly, determine the property of a sample (the capacitance digital converter is coupled with the microdevice and adapted to produce a digital signal representing a measurement of a target analyte in the bodily fluid of a subject [para. 0189] in Lin).
Regarding Claim 17, Lin teaches a sensing assembly (microdevice 100 in Fig. 1 and 2A-B [para. 0232]) comprising:
a field effect transistor (FET) (nanosensor 102 [para. 0232]); the limitation that reads “configured to output a first signal indicative of a property of a sample comprising” is a functional recitation. Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does [MPEP 2114(II)]. A functional recitation of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. See MPEP 2114. In the instant case, Lin teaches the nanosensors surface charge changes due to the presence of a target analyte, leading to a detectable signal [para. 0269]. Thus, the disclosed nanosensor 102 is configured to perform the claimed functions above, with the FET comprising:
a first layer providing a sensing surface (a monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 serves as a sensing module in Fig. 2B [para. 0232]);
a channel (graphene strip 105 [para. 0232]) provided below the first layer (the monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 is on top of graphene strip 105 [para. 0232; illustrated in Figure 2B);
a drain (drain electrode 109 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) and a source (source electrode 108 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) in electrical communication with the channel (the graphene strip 105 makes contact with source electrode 108 and drain electrode 109 ([para. 0232], illustrated in Fig. 2B); and
a gate (transparent gate electrode 107 in Fig 2B [para. 0232] which may be passivated by a dielectric layer 106 [para. 0232]) provided below the first layer (transparent gate electrode 107 and dielectric 106 are provided below the monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 as illustrated in Fig. 2B), with the gate comprising a gate electrode (transparent gate electrode 107 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) and a gate oxide layer (dielectric 106 in Fig. 2B [para. 0232]; which may be composed of SiO2 [para. 0238]) that overlays the gate electrode (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, dielectric nanolayer 106 overlays the transparent gate electrode 107),
wherein the first layer abuts the channel (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, glucose-binding polymer 111 abuts graphene strip 105) comprising a two-dimensional material (glucose-binding polymer 111 [para. 0232]) that extends parallel to the channel (monolayer of glucose-binding polymer is grafted onto the graphene channel [para. 0232]). The Examiner notes that the instant application defines two-dimensional materials as materials that have two dimensions greater than nanoscale (i.e., greater than or equal to 1000 nm or greater than or equal to 100 nm), with a third dimension in nanoscale (e.g. a monolayer or multilayer graphene or hexagonal-boron nitride). In this case, as the glucose-binding polymer 111 is a monolayer [para. 0232] with a length and width in microns (glucose-binding polymer 111 is grafted onto graphene channel 105, which has a length and width in microns in Fig. 2A and [para. 0234]), the glucose-binding polymer 111 serves as a two-dimensional material.
Lin is silent on the drain and source are “located beneath the first layer”; the first layer “caps the FET”; and wherein the two-dimensional material having a crystalline lattice and further comprises N-polar hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).
However, in some embodiments of Lin the drain and source are located beneath the first layer (as illustrated in Fig. 8, drain electrode 509 and source electrode 508 are located beneath graphene layer 505 [para. 0299]) and caps the FET (as illustrated in Fig 8, graphene layer 505 serves as the top layer of the FET). Note that in the nanosensor design of Fig. 8, the graphene sheet 505 serves as the first layer to provide a sensing surface to measure the ion concentration [para. 0299].
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the source and drain of Lin to be located beneath the first layer so that the first layer caps the FET, as taught by Lin, as placing the sensing layer on top is a FET configuration to monitor the electrical potential of a sample for measurements, such as pH (Lin, [para. 0299]).
Modified Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode and wherein the two-dimensional material having a crystalline lattice and further comprises N-polar hexagonal boron nitride (hBN).
Darwish teaches doped hexagonal boron nitride sheets for absorbing and sensing template for glucose and glucosamine (abstract, page 1). By doping Al at the boron site of hexagonal-boron nitride, glucose and glucosamine can more strongly adsorb onto these stable doped boron nitride structures compared to pristine hexagonal-boron nitride (conclusion, page 15). As evidenced by Wang, hexagonal-boron nitride is a crystalline structure (entire section 1.2 on pages 16802-16803 and Figure 2 on 16803).
Modified Lin and Darwish are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of glucose biosensors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the two-dimensional material of modified Lin by adding Al-doped hexagonal-boron nitride, as taught by Darwish, as Al-doped hexagonal-boron nitride would enhance the adsorption of target analytes, such as glucose and glucosamine, for applications including biosensors (Darwish, conclusion, page 15).
Although Darwish does not explicitly mention the hexagonal boron nitride is N-polar, because hBN is layered with alternating boron and nitrogen atoms, the face of the first layer can only be selected from N-polar hBN or B-polar hBN. Thus, there are two identified, predictable solutions with a reasonable expectation of success. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try by choosing from the above two identified solutions, which would lead to choosing the first layer comprises N-polar hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation for success, is likely to be obvious to a person if ordinary skill in the art. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, USPQ2d 1385, 1395 – 97 (2007) (see MPEP § 2143 (I)(E)).
Modified Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode.
Javey teaches a field effect transistor (abstract), and teaches the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode (as illustrated in Figure 1a as well as Figure 1c, a uniform layer dielectric layer of SiO2 overlays the back gate electrode on a different plane, without contacting the sides of the gate [Figure 1, page 448]).
Modified Lin and Javey are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of FET biosensors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the dielectric layer of the FET of modified Lin to be on a different plane than the gate electrode, as taught by Javey, as a FET with this configuration of dielectric provides an alternative FET structure with sufficient electrical properties (Javey, [Figure 2]).
Regarding Claim 19, modified Lin teaches a system (a microdevice coupled with a wireless interface [para. 0189 in Lin]) comprising:
the sensing assembly according to claim 17 (the sensing assembly as outlined in the rejection of claim 17 above);
a signal processing unit (microcontroller [0189] in Lin) configured to process sensor signals received from the sensing assembly (the microcontroller is coupled with a capacitance digital converter coupled with the microdevice and adapted to produce a digital signal representing a measurement of the target analyte in the bodily fluid of the subject; [para. 0189] in Lin. Thus, the disclosed microcontroller is configured to perform the claimed functions above); and
a property determination unit (a capacitance digital converter [para. 0189] in Lin) configured to, based at least in part on the sensor signals processed from the sensing assembly, determine the property of a sample (the capacitance digital converter is coupled with the microdevice and adapted to produce a digital signal representing a measurement of a target analyte in the bodily fluid of a subject [para. 0189] in Lin).
Regarding Claim 20, Lin teaches a method (method for detecting small biomolecules using a microfluidic nanosensor [para. 0045]) comprising:
providing a sensing assembly (microdevice 100 in Fig. 1 and 2A-B [para. 0232]), the sensing assembly comprising a field effect transistor (FET) (nanosensor 102 [para. 0232]) configured to output a first signal indicative of a property of a sample (the surface charge changes due to the presence of a target analyte, leading to a detectable signal [para. 0269]), the FET comprising:
a first layer providing a sensing surface (a monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 serves as a sensing module in Fig. 2B [para. 0232]);
a channel (graphene strip 105 [para. 0232]) provided below the first layer (the monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 is on top of graphene strip 105 [para. 0232; illustrated in Figure 2B);
a drain (drain electrode 109 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) and a source (source electrode 108 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) in electrical communication with the channel (graphene strip 105 makes contact with source electrode 108 and drain electrode 109 ([para. 0232], illustrated in Fig. 2B); and
a gate (transparent gate electrode 107 in Fig 2B [para. 0232] which may be passivated by a dielectric layer 106 [para. 0232]) provided below the first layer (transparent gate electrode 107 and dielectric 106 are provided below the monolayer of a glucose-binding polymer 111 as illustrated in Fig. 2B), with the gate comprising a gate electrode (transparent gate electrode 107 in Fig 2B [para. 0232]) and a gate oxide layer (dielectric 106 in Fig. 2B [para. 0232]; which may be composed of SiO2 [para. 0238]) that overlays the gate electrode (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, dielectric nanolayer 106 overlays the transparent gate electrode 107),
wherein the first layer abuts channel (as illustrated in Fig. 2B, graphene strip 105 abuts the glucose-binding polymer 111), with the first layer comprising a two-dimensional material (glucose-binding polymer 111 [para. 0232]) that extends parallel to the channel (monolayer of glucose-binding polymer is grafted onto the graphene channel [para. 0232]). The Examiner notes that the instant application defines two-dimensional materials as materials that have two dimensions greater than nanoscale (i.e., greater than or equal to 1000 nm or greater than or equal to 100 nm), with a third dimension in nanoscale (e.g. a monolayer or multilayer graphene or hexagonal-boron nitride). In this case, as the glucose-binding polymer 111 is a monolayer [para. 0232] with a length and width in microns (glucose-binding polymer 111 is grafted onto graphene channel 105, which has a length and width in microns in Fig. 2A and [para. 0234]), the glucose-binding polymer 111 serves as a two-dimensional material,
providing a fluid sample to the sensing assembly (sample can be a bodily fluid, a non-bodily fluid, or a laboratory sample [para. 0264]); and
determining a property of the fluid sample based at least in part on a sensor signal received from the sensing assembly (a microdevice coupled with a wireless interface can produce a digital signal representing a measurement of a target analyte [para. 0189]).
Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode, and wherein the first layer abuts the drain and the source, with the two-dimensional material having a crystalline lattice.
However, in some embodiments Lin teaches wherein the first layer abuts the drain and the source (as illustrated in Figure 18, source 608 and drain 609 abut the monolayer of the synthetic glucose responsive polymer 611 [paras. 0209 and 0211]).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the source and drain of Lin so that the first layer abuts the drain and the source, as taught by Lin, as this orientation allows for proper function of a solution-gated graphene-based FET (Lin, [paras. 0209-0211]).
Modified Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode, wherein the two-dimensional material having a crystalline lattice.
Darwish teaches doped hexagonal boron nitride sheets for absorbing and sensing template for glucose and glucosamine (abstract, page 1). By doping Al at the boron site of hexagonal-boron nitride, glucose and glucosamine can more strongly adsorb onto these stable doped boron nitride structures compared to pristine hexagonal-boron nitride (conclusion, page 15). As evidenced by Wang, hexagonal-boron nitride is a crystalline structure (entire section 1.2 on pages 16802-16803 and Figure 2 on 16803).
Modified Lin and Darwish are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of glucose biosensors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the two-dimensional material of modified Lin by adding Al-doped hexagonal-boron nitride, as taught by Darwish, as Al-doped hexagonal-boron nitride would enhance the adsorption of target analytes, such as glucose and glucosamine, for applications including biosensors (Darwish, conclusion, page 15).
Modified Lin is silent on the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode.
Javey teaches a field effect transistor (abstract), and teaches the gate oxide layer is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode (as illustrated in Figure 1a as well as Figure 1c, a uniform layer dielectric layer of SiO2 overlays the back gate electrode on a different plane, without contacting the sides of the gate [Figure 1, page 448]).
Modified Lin and Javey are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of FET biosensors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to rearrange the dielectric layer of the FET of modified Lin to be on a different plane than the gate electrode, as taught by Javey, as a FET with this configuration of dielectric provides an alternative FET structure with sufficient electrical properties (Javey, [Figure 2]).
Regarding Claim 21, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1, and teaches wherein the gate oxide layer is arranged to overlay the gate electrode without contacting the sides of the gate electrode (as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above, Javey teaches the SiO2 dielectric does not contact the sides of the back gate electrode, as illustrated in Figures 1a and 1c on page 448).
Regarding Claim 22, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1, and teaches wherein the gate oxide layer has a uniform thickness (as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above, Javey teaches the SiO2 dielectric has a uniform thickness, as seen in Figure 1c on page 448).
Regarding Claim 23, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1, and teaches wherein the gate oxide layer has a fully continuous bottom surface that overlays a top surface of the gate electrode (as outlined in the claim 1 rejection above, Javey teaches the SiO2 dielectric has a continuous bottom surface that overlays the back gate electrode, as seen in Figures 1a and 1c on page 448).
.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin, Darwish and Javey, as applied to claim 3, and in further view of Nayak (Inversion of the Electrical and Optical Properties of Partially Oxidized Hexagonal Boron Nitride. NANO: Brief Reports and Reviews, 2014; 9(1), 1-12).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 3.
Lin is silent on wherein the first layer comprises hBNxO1-x.
Nayak teaches the study of the material properties of partially oxidized hexagonal boron nitride (abstract). While the bandgap energy for pristine hBN is 5.46 eV and is typically used as an insulator, oxidized hBN has a bandgap energy of 3.97 eV and shows high conductance to allow oxidized hBN to serve as a semiconductor (first and second para. of Results and Discussion, page 3).
Nayak and modified Lin are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of 2D materials, such as hexagonal boron nitride, for sensing. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute hBN of the first layer of modified Lin with oxidized hexagonal boron nitride (hBNxO1-x), as taught by Nayak, as the decreased optical bandgap energy and increased conductance for oxidized hBN compared to pristine hBN (Nayak, last para. of Results and Discussion, page 2) would be useful for enhanced passive chemical sensing (Nayak, last para. of Introduction, page 2).
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin, Darwish and Javey, as applied to claim 1, and in further view of Meric (Graphene Field-Effect Transistors Based on Boron-Nitride Dielectrics. Proceeding of the IEEE, 2013; 101 (7), 1601-1619).
Regarding Claim 8, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin is silent on wherein the FET further comprises a second layer provided below the channel, the second layer comprising a two-dimensional material.
Meric teaches a FET fabrication using both graphene and hexagon boron nitride (hBN), and teaches wherein the FET further comprises a second layer provided below the channel (a hBN layer is added below the graphene channel [second para. col. 2 page 1612; illustrated in Fig. 5, page 1613]), the second layer comprising a two-dimensional material (a hBN layer is added below the graphene channel [second para. col. 2 page 1612]).
Modified Lin and Meric are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of graphene FETs for sensing. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the sensing assembly of modified Lin by adding a hBN layer to serve as a second layer provided below the channel, the second layer comprising a two-dimensional material, as taught by Meric, as hBN provides numerous benefits for FETs including improvements in device mobility, reduced carrier inhomogeneity, and improved high-bias performance (Meric, [third para. col. 1, page 1610]).
Regarding Claim 9, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 8, and teaches wherein the two-dimensional material of the second layer is hexagonal boron-nitride (as taught by Meric in the claim 8 rejection above, the second layer can be hBN [second para. col. 2 page 1612; illustrated in Fig. 5, page 1613]).
Regarding Claim 10, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 9, and teaches wherein the two-dimensional material of the second layer is hexagonal boron-nitride (as taught by Meric in the claim 8 rejection above, the second layer can be hBN [second para. col. 2 page 1612; illustrated in Fig. 5, page 1613]).
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin, Darwish, and Javey as applied to claim 1, and in further view of Ono (Glycan-functionalized graphene-FETs toward selective detection of human-infectuous avian influenze virus. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 2017; 56, 1-4).
Regarding Claim 24, modified Lin teaches the sensing assembly of claim 1.
Lin is silent on wherein the first layer, the source and the drain are in a single plane that is overlayed on the channel.
Ono teaches a graphene-FET for detection of virus (title), and teaches wherein the first layer, the source and the drain are in a single plane that is overlayed on the channel (as illustrated in Figure 1a on page 2, source, drain, and the first layer of functionalization are located in the same layer, as well as on the graphene channel [page 2]; source and drain electrode where formed on graphene [third para. col. 2, page 1]).
Modified Lin and Ono are considered analogous art to the claimed inventions because they are in the same field of graphene FETs for sensing. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the source, drain, and first layer of modified Lin to be in a single plane that is overlayed on the channel, as taught by Ono, as this configuration of functionalized graphene-FET can be highly sensitive and highly specific to an analyte, such as a virus (Ono, [second para. col. 2, page 3]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see Remarks pgs. 6-8, filed 12/02/2025, with respect to the 35 U.S.C 103 rejections and amended claims have been fully considered.
Applicant’s Argument #1:
Applicant traverses on pages 6-7 as no combination of the cited references discloses or suggests “a gate provided below the first layer, with the gate comprising a gate electrode and a gate oxide layer that overlays and is arranged on a different plane than the gate electrode”. Primary reference Lin discloses dielectric nanolayer 106 on a sample plane as gate electrodes 107, which directly conflicts with different plane recited in independent claims 1, 17, and 20. In addition, Applicant argues that if a new reference is found, any proposed modification would change the principal of operation of Lin and render Lin unsuitable for its intended purpose, as removing the dielectric layer between electrodes 107 of Figure 2B of Lin would short the two electrodes 107.
Examiner’s Response #1:
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection above. In addition, rearranging the dielectric layer 106 above the electrodes 107 will not short out the two electrodes 107 since the two electrodes 107 are still separated by a gap, as shown in Fig. 2B of Lin.
Applicant’s Argument #2:
Applicant traverses on page 8 that new claims 21-24 have been added and are patentably distinct from the cited references.
Examiner’s Response #2:
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection above.
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.
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/R.L.G./Examiner, Art Unit 1795
/LUAN V VAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1795