DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Elections/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group II (Claims 16-20) without traversed in the reply filed on 01/22/2026 is acknowledged.
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, an opening exposing the first bond pad and a portion adjacent the opening having a thickness between 3 to 5µm thick as claimed in claim 1 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 § 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 16-20 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over by Lee (US 20060263727 A1).
Regarding Claim 16:
Lee teaches that a device comprising:
a first patterned conductive layer (200, Fig. 12; para 0091-0105) on a substrate (110, Figs. 12-13), the first patterned conductive layer including a first bond pad (159), 212;
a dielectric layer (122) on the first patterned conductive layer, wherein the dielectric layer an opening (121) exposing the first bond pad and a portion adjacent the opening having a thickness (thickness of 132 in Fig. 3), and
a second patterned conductive layer (300) on the dielectric layer.
Lee does not explicitly teach that a portion adjacent the opening having a thickness between 3 to 5 µm thick. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have a portion adjacent the opening having a thickness between 3 to 5 µm thick, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art to facilitate good magnetic shielding effect. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. MPEP 2144.05 (II-A).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have a portion adjacent the opening having a thickness between 3 to 5 µm thick as claimed to meet design requirements for certain application for successful device operation.
Regarding Claim 17:
As applied to claim 16, Lee teaches that the dielectric layer includes:
a first dielectric layer (122);
an etch assist layer (132) on the first dielectric layer; and
a second dielectric layer (122) on the etch assist layer.
Regarding Claim 18:
As applied to claim 17, Lee teaches that the first dielectric layer and the second dielectric layer are silicon dioxide, and the etch assist layer includes silicon oxynitride (see para 0046).
Regarding Claim 19:
As applied to claim 17, Lee teaches that the first patterned conductive layer includes a
first coil (200), the second patterned conductive layer includes a second coil (300), and the first coil and the second coil are aligned with each other (construed from Fig. 13).
Regarding Claim 20:
As applied to claim 16, Lee teaches that a ball bond (143, Fig. 13) bonded to the first bond pad.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form 892.
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/KAZI HOSSAIN/
Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/SHAWKI S ISMAIL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837