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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, 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. Regarding claim 2, line 2, “the transfer transistor” is not clear and confusing which transfer transistor is referring to since there are at least two transfer transistors. Clarification 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 10 and 20-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tomonaga (Patent Pub. No. JP 2016184868 A).
Regarding claims 1 and 20-21, Tomonaga shows in Figs. 1-5 a distance measuring device comprising: a predetermined light source (112); and a light receiving device that receives reflected light returned after irradiation light emitted from the predetermined light source is reflected by an object, wherein the light receiving device includes a pixel (200) that transfers a charge generated in a photoelectric conversion unit (301A, 302B) to a predetermined FD (303A, 303B) in a case where a voltage of a predetermined value or more is simultaneously applied to gates of at least two transfer transistors (302A - 302D) ([0019] – [0020]).
Regarding claim 2, Tomonaga shows in Fig. 7 the light receiving device according to claim 1, wherein an ON period of the transfer transistor, which is a period during which a voltage of a predetermined value or more is applied to the gate, is shifted by half between the two transfer transistors ([0027] – [0032]).
Regarding claim 3, Tomonaga shows in Fig. 7 the light receiving device according to claim 2, wherein an ON period of the transfer transistor is twice an irradiation time of reflected light received by the photoelectric conversion unit ([0027] –[0032]).
Regarding claim 10, Tomonaga shows in Fig. 7 the light receiving device according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving device is configured such that the charge is transferred to the predetermined FD in a period in which a total value of voltages (PTXA, PTXB) applied to gates of the two transfer transistors becomes a predetermined value or more.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomonaga (Patent Pub. No. JP 2016184868 A) in view of Sano (Patent Pub. No. US 2018/0213174 A1).
Regarding claim 19, Tomonaga discloses the light receiving device according to claim 1, but does not disclose the transfer transistor includes a vertical transistor. Sano discloses the transfer transistor (Fig. 5, 32) has a vertical transistor ([0067]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a vertical transistor of Sano on the device of Tomonaga et al. for the purpose of higher density, better performance and lower power consumption.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 and 11-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hoshino (Patent Pub. No. US 2010/0315540 A1) discloses the voltage of the floating diffusion is increased owing to capacitance coupling of the transfer gate (the gate of the transfer transistor) and the floating diffusion, and the voltage of the pixel signal is increased simultaneously during a dark period.
Kido et al. (Patent Pub. No. US 2019/0096933 A1) discloses a solid-state imaging device and an electronic device that can expand a dynamic range in a pixel including a high-sensitivity pixel and a low-sensitivity pixel.
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/SEUNG C SOHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878