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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention III in the reply filed on 10/01/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Inventions I and III are not distinct based on passages in the MPEP regarding the restriction of product and the apparatus of making the product, and concurrent examination of alleged Invention I and III does not impose serious burden based on that claims 14 and 21 are similar. This is not found persuasive because, firstly, Inventions I and III belong to “combination and subcombination” because a buffer layer is one component of an optoelectronic device, which is unrelated to apparatus. Secondly, the office requires that if groups of claims belong to different classification, then serious burden exists. Thirdly, because new claim 21 which belongs to Invention III contains all the limitations of claim 1 of Invention I, claim 1 will also be included in the consideration.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 2-13 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 10/01/2025.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “perimeter face” of claim 14 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 14-21 are 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.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “a perimeter face thereof” in the 5th line of the claim. It is unclear what the structural relationship is indicated by the term “thereof.”
Claims 15-21 are rejected because they depend on the rejected claim 15.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)/(2) as being anticipated by Liang et al. (CN 110137320 A, please see the machine translation attached in this office action).
Regarding claim 1, Liang et al. teach a buffer layer (200; Figs. 2 and 1, [0052]) in an optoelectronic device (heterojunction light-emitting diode array structure; Fig. 1, [0109]), comprising at least: silicon ranging from 0% to 30% (GeSn-C samples with silicon 0%; [0065, 0158]); carbon ranging from 0% to 10% (GeSn-C samples with carbon 0%; [0158]); and germanium ranging from 60-99% (80.7% as Sn is 19.3%; [0158]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-21 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Leem et al. (US 20230335676 A1) teach a LED having a buffer layer 20 under the pillars 71 and 72.
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/HSIN YI HSIEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899