Attorney’s Docket Number: 22520.63
Filing Date: 06/13/2023
Claimed Priority Date: none
Inventors: Dixit et al.
Examiner: Shamita S. Hanumasagar
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 04/08/2026.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for a 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.
Amendment Status
The amendment filed on 04/08/2026 in reply to the previous Office action mailed on 04/08/2026 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1-22, with claims 1-10 and 19-20 remaining withdrawn from consideration.
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 following must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
“providing a passivation layer to cover the epitaxial structure”, as recited in claim 11
“providing a blanket p-GaN layer on the epitaxial structure… wherein the passivation layer covers the epitaxial structure”, as recited in claim 22
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.
Claims 11-18 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “providing an epitaxial layer structure comprising a semiconductor substrate, a buffer layer, a GaN semiconductor heterostructure comprising a GaN channel and an AlGaN barrier layer providing a 2DEG region” before reciting the limitation “providing a passivation layer to cover the epitaxial structure”. As established in the earlier limitation, the epitaxial layer structure comprises many presumed epitaxial structures. Accordingly, it is unclear whether the limitation “the epitaxial structure” is intended to encompass a specific epitaxial feature, such as a feature of the epitaxial layer structure, or a plurality of epitaxial features that may or may not be included in the epitaxial layer structure, such as the epitaxial layer structure in its entirety. Accordingly, this limitation in the claim is indefinite as it is unclear what specific feature is intended by the limitation “the epitaxial structure”.
Claim 17 recites the limitation “etching the gate contact opening through the first and second passivation layers to the p-GaN gate region”. No “p-GaN gate region” has been sufficiently previously recited in the claim or in any parental claim. Accordingly, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “providing an epitaxial layer structure comprising a semiconductor substrate, a buffer layer, a GaN semiconductor heterostructure comprising a GaN channel and an AlGaN barrier layer providing a 2DEG region”. Claim 21, dependent on claim 11, further recites the limitations “providing a blanket p-GaN layer on the epitaxial structure” and “wherein the passivation layer covers the epitaxial structure”. As established in the parental limitation of claim 11, the epitaxial layer structure comprises many presumed epitaxial structures. Accordingly, it is unclear whether the limitation “the epitaxial structure” is intended to encompass a specific epitaxial feature, such as a feature of the epitaxial layer structure, or a plurality of epitaxial features that may or may not be included in the epitaxial layer structure, such as the epitaxial layer structure in its entirety. Accordingly, these limitations in the claim are indefinite as it is unclear what specific feature is intended by the limitation “the epitaxial structure”.
Claims 12-18 and 21-22 depend from claim 11 and thus inherit the deficiencies identified supra.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-18 and 21-22 would be allowable if sufficiently rewritten or otherwise established to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112 rejections put forth in this Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to the specification as filed on 04/08/2026 have overcome the objections to the drawings put forth in the previous Office action mailed on 12/16/2025. Accordingly, the objections to the drawings put forth in the previous Office action are hereby withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new grounds 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.
Papers related to this application may be submitted directly to Art Unit 2814 by facsimile transmission. Papers should be faxed to Art Unit 2814 via the Art Unit 2814 Fax Center. The faxing of such papers must conform to the notice published in the Official Gazette, 1096 OG 30 (15 November 1989). The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center number is (571) 273-8300. The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center is to be used only for papers related to Art Unit 2814 applications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shamita Hanumasagar at (703) 756-1521 and between the hours of 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Thursday or by e-mail via Shamita.Hanumasagar@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Wael Fahmy, can be reached on (571) 272-1705.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (in USA or Canada) or 571-272-1000.
/Shamita S. Hanumasagar/Examiner, Art Unit 2814
/WAEL M FAHMY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2814
Prosecution Insights