DETAILED ACTION
This correspondence is in response to the communications received January 30, 2026. Claims 1-6 and 10 are pending. Claims 7-9 have been withdrawn from examination, see details in restriction section below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered. However, as independent claim 1 has been amended in a manner, which is new to the examination process, an updated search was conducted and the prior art of Igarashi et al. (US 2022/0302246) and particularly Fig. 6B, was identified to read on claim 1. Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-9 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II method claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on October 16, 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Applicant’s amendments to claim 1 have overcome the previous 112 rejection, which are hereby withdrawn.
Applicant’s Claim to Figure Comparison
It is noted that this comparison is merely for the benefit of reviewers of this office action during prosecution, to allow for an understanding of the examiner’s interpretation of the Applicant’s independent claims as compared to disclosed embodiments in Applicant’s Figures. No response or comments are necessary from Applicant.
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Regarding claim 1, the Applicant discloses in Fig. 1, a capacitor comprising:
a substrate (10);
a first electrode (14) provided on the substrate (on 10);
a dielectric film (16, ¶ 0047) provided on the first electrode (on 14);
a second electrode (18, ¶ 0047) provided on the dielectric film (on 16) and having an outer periphery positioned inside the outer periphery of the first electrode in a plan view viewed from above in a direction normal to an upper surface of the substrate (18 is less wide than 14);
a third electrode (20, ¶ 0050) that is in contact with the second electrode (portions of 20 in contact with 18),
wherein in the plan view, a lower surface of the third electrode contacts the second electrode in an inner region of the second electrode (lower surface of 20 contacts upper surface of 18 within a lateral boundary of 18), and an upper surface of the third electrode (upper surface of 20) has an outer periphery located outside an outer periphery of the second electrode (upper surface of 20 has an outer lateral periphery that is outside of the “footprint” of the outer lateral boundary of upper surface of 18) and located inside the outer periphery of the first electrode and the outer periphery of the dielectric film (the upper surface of 20 has outer lateral boundary that is inside of the “footprint” of the outer lateral boundaries of both 16 and 14), and
wherein in a cross-sectional view, the upper surface of the third electrode (upper surface of 20) is spaced upward from the outer surface of the second electrode (upper surface of 20 is located upwardly from the outer surface of 18).
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.
(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.
Claims 1, 2 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Igarashi et al. (US 2022/0302246).
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Regarding claim 1, the prior art of Igarashi discloses in Fig. 6B, a capacitor (see title, “Capacitor”) comprising:
a substrate (10, ¶ 0061, where paragraph 0061 describes several embodiments, including the embodiment pictured in Fig. 6B);
a first electrode (“lower electrode 14”, ¶ 0061) provided on the substrate (on 10);
a dielectric film (“dielectric film 16”, ¶ 0061) provided on the first electrode (on 14);
a second electrode (“upper electrode 18”, ¶ 0061) provided on the dielectric film (on 16) and having an outer periphery positioned inside the outer periphery of the first electrode (outer periphery of 18 is positioned inside of the outer periphery of 14) in a plan view viewed from above in a direction normal to an upper surface of the substrate (in a vertical direction);
a third electrode (“additional electrode 22”, ¶ 0066) that is in contact with the second electrode (22 in contact with 18),
wherein in the plan view (vertical direction), a lower surface of the third electrode (lower surface of 22) contacts the second electrode in an inner region of the second electrode (the lateral peripheral boundary of lower surface of 22, is within the lateral peripheral boundary of the upper surface of 18), and an upper surface of the third electrode (the lateral peripheral boundary of the upper surface of 22) has an outer periphery located outside an outer periphery of the second electrode (the lateral peripheral boundary of 22 is outside of the lateral peripheral boundary of the upper surface of 18) and located inside the outer periphery of the first electrode and the outer periphery of the dielectric film (the lateral peripheral boundary of the upper surface of 22 is inside of the lateral peripheral boundary of both 14 and 16), and
wherein in a cross-sectional view, the upper surface of the third electrode (22) is spaced upward from the outer surface of the second electrode (upper surface of 22 is spaced upwardly from the outer surface of 18).
Regarding claim 2, the prior art of Igarashi et al. disclose the capacitor according to claim 1, and Igarashi further discloses in Fig. 6, wherein a distance between the outer periphery of the third electrode and the outer periphery of the second electrode in the plan view is 0.5 times or more a thickness of the dielectric film (22 extends past the periphery of 18 to an extent that is at least half or more than half of the thickness of 16).
Regarding claim 10, the prior art of Igarashi et al. disclose the capacitor according to claim 1, and Igarashi further discloses in Fig. 6, wherein in the cross-sectional view, a length of the lower surface of the third electrode being smaller than a length of the upper surface of the third electrode (top surface of 22 is wider than the lower surface of 22).
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Igarashi et al. (US 2022/0302246) in view of Matsubara et al. (US 2022/0376036).
Regarding claim 6, the prior art of Igarashi disclose the capacitor according to claim 1, however Igarashi fails to disclose, “wherein the third electrode includes a seed layer provided on the second electrode and a plating layer provided on the seed layer.”
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Matsubara discloses in Fig. 2, wherein the third electrode (28) includes a seed layer (29a, ¶ 0220) provided on the second electrode (on 24) and a plating layer (29b, ¶ 0221) provided on the seed layer (on 29a).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the limitation of, “wherein the third electrode includes a seed layer provided on the second electrode and a plating layer provided on the seed layer”, as disclosed by Matsubara in the system of Igarashi, for the purpose of providing a electrodes which can be patterned accurately and uniformly for consistent electrical access to the capacitor device. (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 have been 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.
3. The capacitor according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the outer periphery of the third electrode and the outer periphery of the second electrode in the plan view is 0.3 times or more a height between the outer periphery of a lower surface of the third electrode parallel to the upper surface of the substrate and an upper surface of the second electrode as viewed from a plane direction of the upper surface of the substrate.
4. The capacitor according to claim 1, wherein a height of the outer periphery of a lower surface of the third electrode parallel to the upper surface of the substrate and an upper surface of the second electrode as viewed from a plane direction of the upper surface of the substrate is 0.5 times or more a distance between the outer periphery of the third electrode and an outer periphery of the region in the plan view.
5. The capacitor according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the protective film on the third electrode is the same as that of the protective film on the second electrode.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eduardo A Rodela whose telephone number is (571)272-8797. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30-5:00pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yara B Green can be reached on (571) 270-3035. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDUARDO A RODELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893