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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on November 19, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to for the following informality:
In the original drawings Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the reference character “BM0[Symbol font/0x7E]Buttom” should be corrected to --BM0[Symbol font/0x7E]Bottom--. Support can be found at least in the paragraphs [0055] and [0056] of the original specification.
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 Objections
Claims 13, 18 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 13, line 6, “over the frontside” should read --over the frontside of the substrate--.
In claim 13, line 8, “carries a supply voltage” should read --carrying a supply voltage--.
In claim 18, line 6, “carries a supply voltage” should read --carrying a supply voltage--.
In claim 19, line 3, “over the frontside” should read --over the frontside of the substrate--.
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 18-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 18 recites the feature “a second via structure vertically extending through the substate, and laterally extending along an edge between one of the active components, or laterally extending along an edge between adjacent ones of the active components” in lines 9-11. It is unclear what the above feature specifically refers to, thus this renders the claim indefinite.
For example, the claimed term “between” is interpreted to as --at, into, or across the space separating two objects or regions. Thus, “between one of the active components” of the claimed feature does not make sense. For the examination purpose, the above feature is interpreted to as --a second via structure vertically extending through the substate and laterally extending along an edge between adjacent ones of the active components--.
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected due to their dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nishikawa et al. US 10,629,675.
Regarding claim 18, Nishikawa teaches an integrated circuit (e.g., Figs. 19-23 and the description thereof; also see Figs. 1-18 for additional details), comprising:
a plurality of active components (e.g., active components including 98, 88 and the like in 100, Fig. 23, col. 31, lines 29-39; also see the annotated Fig. 21B below; Fig. 21B depicts 58 in 100, but 98 are disposed on 88(58) according to Fig. 23, thus in Fig. 21B, 98 are considered to be disposed at the locations at which 58(88) are disposed) operatively coupled to one another (e.g., 98 are operatively coupled to one another through bit line circuitry; col, 7, lines 60-67) to form an integrated circuit (e.g., Fig. 23, col. 7, lines 8-26), wherein the plurality of active components are arranged over a frontside of a substrate (e.g., frontside of the substrate including the layers from 768 to 282 on which 98 are disposed, Fig. 23),
an interconnect structure (e.g., 700, Fig. 23, col. 11, lines 13-21) disposed on a backside of the substate (e.g., backside of the substrate (discussed above) on which 700 is disposed, Fig. 23) opposite to the frontside of the substate and carries a supply voltage (e.g., col. 29, lines 33-46);
a plurality of first via structures (e.g., 88 and/or 58, Fig. 23) each vertically extending through the substate and laterally disposed within a corresponding one of the active components (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 21B below); and
a second via structure (e.g., 76, Fig. 23) vertically extending through the substate, and laterally extending along an edge between one of the active components (see the 112 rejection above), or laterally extending along an edge between adjacent ones of the active components (e.g., see the see the annotated Fig. 21B below).
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Annotated Fig. 21B of Nishikawa
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 are allowed at this time, pending updated search before the Examiner's next response, because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitation of the base claim 1 that recites “forming, on a frontside of a substrate, a plurality of active components of an integrated circuit; forming, on the frontside of the substrate, a plurality of dummy components each laterally disposed next to one or more of the active components; forming a plurality of first via structures vertically extending through the substate from its backside to the frontside, wherein each of the first via structures is laterally disposed within a corresponding one of the active or dummy components; forming a second via structure vertically extending through the substate from the backside to the frontside, wherein the second via structure laterally extends within a corresponding one of the dummy components, laterally extends along an edge between one of the active components and one of the dummy components, or laterally extends along an edge between adjacent ones of the active components; and forming, on the backside of the substrate, a second interconnect structure, wherein the second interconnect structure, coupled to the active components through at least one of the first via structures or the second via structure, is configured to carry a supply voltage for the integrated circuit” in combination with other elements of the base claim 1.
Claims 13-17 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the claim objection, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The art made of record and not applied to the rejection is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. It is cited primarily to show inventions relevant to the examination of the instant invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bo Bin Jang whose telephone number is (571) 270-0271. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Eva Montalvo can be reached at (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BO B JANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818 February 27, 2026