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 , is assigned to STMicroelectronics (Crolles 2) SAS and claims foreign priority to 20220100227, filed 03/11/2022.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 4 and 5 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation " second layers." There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites, “the pads resting on the track.” It is not clear what the pads are doing on the track, and it is not clear if track has any meaning in the claim.
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 1, 2, 4, 5, 21 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1/a2 as being anticipated by Lilak et al. (U.S2020/0194435).
As for claim 1,
Lilak teaches in figure a 1a and 1c, a device, comprising at least one capacitor,
the capacitor including:
two metal pads (141/152) [0039];
at least two metal plates (151), each plate extending at least from one pad to the other;
a first insulating layer (156) conformally covering said assembly; and
a second conductive layer (142) conformally covering the first layer.
As for claim 2,
Lilak teaches the device according to claim 1, wherein two neighboring plates of a same capacitor are separated by two portions of the first insulating layer and one portion of the second conductive layer located between the two portions of the first insulating layer (shown in figure 1A at 120).
As for claim 4,
Lilak teaches the device according to claim 1, and teaches in figure 1a a plurality of capacitors (arranged horizontally), the second layers of the capacitors being coupled by portions of the second layer (142 couples the stacks at the end with dielectric 113).
As for claim 5,
Lilak teaches the device according to claim 1, and teaches that the capacitor includes a conductive track in a third insulating layer of the device, the pads resting on the track.(in figure 1c, 141 extends above the capacitors adjacent to the transistor, and is disposed on insulator 169).
As for claim 21
Lilak teaches in figures 1a-1c a device, comprising:
a capacitor (mim capacitor 121, [0034]), including:
a first metal pad (141) and a second metal pad; (142)
a first metal plate 151 and a second metal plate (151, there are 4 shown), the first metal plate and the second metal plate each plate extending at least from the first metal pad to the second metal pad,
a first insulating layer (156) covering the first and second metal pads and the first and second metal plates;
and a conductive layer (142 between the plates) on the insulating layer.
As for claim 27,
Lilak teaches the device according to claim 21, and teaches in figure 1c the first and second plates are separated by two portions of the first insulating layer and one portion of the conductive layer located between the two portions of the first insulating layer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6, 7 and 28 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.
As for claims 3 and 28,
Lilak teaches the device according to claim 1, but the prior art does not teach the pads include a metal core and a sheath made of the same material as the plates.
As for claim 6,
Lilak teaches the device according to claim 5, but the prior art does not teach that the capacitor includes a fourth insulating layer covering the conductive track, the pads crossing the third insulating layer, the fourth layer being located between the plates and the track.
Claim 7 depends from claim 6 and includes the same novel limitation.
Claims 18-20 and 22-27 are allowed.
As for claim 18 and 22,
The prior art does not teach or make obvious the capacitor structure claimed that includes a conductive track with pads disposed on it and a plurality of conductive plates extending laterally between the pair of conductive pads.
Claims 19-20 depend from claim 18 and include the same novel limitations.
Claims 23-27 depend from claim 22 and include the same novel features.
Conclusion
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/JOHN A BODNAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893