DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Paragraph [0026] states “The Group III-VI semiconductor nanoparticles included in the n-type photoelectric conversion layer 203 include, for example, InAs, InSb, or InN.” However, InAs, InSb, or InN belong to group III-V. This may not be the only instance of this. It is recognized that this may be a translation error and updating the group number to match the listed elements is recommended.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1 -26 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.
The term “maximized” in claims 1 and 19 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “maximized” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term “maximized” does not adequately describe thickness of each depletion region.
Claims 2-18 and 20-26 are also subjected to this rejection based on their dependence to either claim 1 or 19.
Claims 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth 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. Evidence that claim 10 fail(s) to correspond in scope with that which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA applications the applicant regards as the invention can be found in in paragraph [0041] of the specification where it reads “The Group III-V semiconductor nanoparticles included in the n-type photoelectric conversion layer 303 include, for example, InAs, InSb, or InN.” This statement indicates that the invention is different from what is defined in the claim(s) because InAs, InSb, or InN belong to group III-V. It is recognized that this may be a translation error and updating the group number to match the listed elements is recommended.
If you intended for claim 10 to recite III-VI then when claim 11 narrows the first nanoparticles to InAs, InSb, or InN the application may be rejected again since the scope of the claim would become unclear if you are claiming materials of group III-VI or claiming the materials of group III-V and not of group III-VI.
Claims 11-17 are rejected due to their dependance on claim 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 19 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.
Claims 2-18 and 20-26 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the revised base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Claims 1 and 19 detail a solid-state imaging element where both the photoelectric conversion layer and buffer layer both include nanoparticles where a product of a carrier concentration and a film thickness of the buffer layer is larger than a product of a carrier concentration of the photoelectric conversion layer and a diffusion length of a minority carrier. These features are not taught or suggested by the prior art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Harigaya; Makoto (US-5095479-A), Oguri; Seiji (US-20130125982-A1), Yamaguchi; Tomona (US-20210313531-A1), SHIMIZU, ISAMU, YOKOHAMA, KANA (DE-3136141-C2), INADA HIROSHI (JP-2008047580-A), SUZUKI, HIDEYUKI (TW-201513330-A), ONOZAWA, YUICHI (CN-104969360-A), YANG, YING (CN-110176508-A), LIFKA, HERBERT (CN-110692141-A), CAI, YAN (CN-110687694-A), SHIMATANI, Masaaki (WO-2021002070-A1), ZHANG, Gang-hua (CN-112694263-A).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAIME LYNN SPRENGER whose telephone number is (571)272-8444. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 7:30a.m. - 5:00p.m. ET..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Purvis can be reached at 571-272-1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAIME LYNN SPRENGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2893 /J.L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/SUE A PURVIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893