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 Amendments
2. The Amendments filed September 30th, 2025 are noted. Applicant’s amendments to the Specification to overcome the objections set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 07/08/2025 are noted. Applicant’s amendment(s) to the Specification have overcome the objection(s) to the Title previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 07/08/2025, so the objection(s) to the Title has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims are noted.
3. Claims 1-15 remain pending in the application.
4. Claims 1-15 have been fully considered in examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 5-9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5, line 4: being in contact with lower pillars (41, 50) extending from the readout substrate should read --- being in contact with lower pillars extending from the readout substrate ---
Claims 6-9 are also objected to by virtue of their dependency on claim 5.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yon (U.S. PG Pub No US2017/0317137A1) (of record).
Regarding claim 15, Yon teaches a device (10 comprising 11) fig. 2H [0079, 0006] for detecting electromagnetic radiation [0038], comprising:
a readout substrate (2 comprising 20) fig. 2H [0049];
a matrix-array of thermal detectors (10’s comprising 11’s) fig. 2H [0002, 0049, 0072] (able to detect the electromagnetic radiation [0038, 0070]), resting on the readout substrate (2);
an encapsulating structure (comprising 31) fig. 2E [0071], delimiting a cavity (cavity 3 laterally enclosed by 31) see modified fig. 2H below [0073, 0028] in which the matrix-array of thermal detectors (10 comprising 11) is located, and comprising:
a peripheral wall (comprising outer sidewalls of 31 and walls of 4) fig. 2H [0073, 0050], made of a mineral material (alumina / Al2O3) [0050] laterally deliming the cavity (Cavity 3) [see modified fig. 2H below];
an encapsulating thin layer (34 material) fig. 2H [0079], comprising an upper portion (uppermost portion of 34) extending above the matrix array [0002, 0049] of thermal detectors (10 comprising 11) and resting on (supported by) the peripheral wall (comprising walls of 4),
the peripheral wall has a lateral recess (gap in 4 caused by pillar 12) [0050, 0075] resulting in a vertical enlargement of the cavity (expanded open space in 3 caused by horizontal gap in 4), in a (horizontal) plane parallel to the readout substrate (2), this lateral recess (gap in 4 filled by 12) defining (including) an intermediate area (IA) [see modified fig. 2H below] of a (bordering a top) surface of the readout substrate (2) surrounding the matrix-array of thermal detectors (11 comprising 10); and
the encapsulating thin layer (34) comprising reinforcing pillars (comprising RP1, RP2 and 12) see modified fig. 2H below [0075, 0079] arranged in the intermediate area (IA) (vertically) around the matrix-array of thermal detectors (10 comprising 11), separate from one another and extending (downward) from the upper portion (uppermost surface of 34) until resting on (supported by) the readout substrate (2).
[AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Lateral recess in 4 )][AltContent: rect][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Cavity 3)][AltContent: rect][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (IA)][AltContent: textbox (RP1)][AltContent: textbox (RP2)][AltContent: rect][AltContent: rect]
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Modified fig. 2E, 2F, and 2H of Yon
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 09/30/2025 with respect to claim 15 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to Applicant’s argument(s) that “Additionally, Claims 1 and 15 similarly recite reinforcing pillars constituting part of the encapsulating thin layer, arranged in the intermediate area around the matrix-array of thermal detectors, separate from one another and extending from the upper portion until resting on the readout substrate… Applicant submits that the parts of the sealing layer 34 that seal the vents of the encapsulating layer ([0087] of Yon) do not rest on the substrate, as claimed.” --- attention is directed to the Merriam-Webster definition of the term rest:
Rest: to sit or lie fixed or supported
It is noted that this definition of “rest” merely requires for the readout substrate to support the reinforcing pillars, as is reflected in the 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection of record mailed 07/08/2025; the term rest does not require direct, physical contact between the two objects, as is reflected in the language of the Remarks filed 09/30/2025. Because the substrate 23 of Yon structurally supports all components placed thereon, including the reinforcing pillars (comprising RP1, RP2 and 12) – all components are considered to “rest on” the substrate 23 of Yon. In order to definitively overcome this reasonable interpretation of the term “rest on”, Applicant would need to explicitly claim ‘direct/physical contact’ between the reinforcing pillars and the substate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4 and 10-14 are allowed.
Claims 5-9 contain allowable subject matter and would be allowable but for the objection in claim 5 noted above.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 is allowed because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the claimed limitation(s) “partially removing the first mineral sacrificial layer and the second mineral sacrificial layer, by wet chemical etching in an acid medium, through the vents, so as to free the matrix-array of thermal detectors and to obtain the peripheral wall formed of a non-etched portion of the first and second mineral sacrificial layers” in the context of claim 1. Claims 2-14 are also allowed by virtue of their dependency on claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Remaining references made available on the PTO-892 form (of record) are considered relevant to the present disclosure because they all feature packages with thermal detectors.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/SEAN AYERS WINTERS/Examiner, Art Unit 2892 01/12/2026
/NORMAN D RICHARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2892