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 .
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, 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.
Claim(s) 21-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsiao(USPGPUB DOCUMENT: 2023/0352396, hereinafter Hsiao) in view of Kunkel (USPATENT: 6282116, hereinafter Kunkel).
Re claim 21 Hsiao discloses in Fig 18 a semiconductor device comprising:a first via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3) that includes a metal insulator(164/168/172/175) metal (MIM) capacitor(160) surrounding the first via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3), wherein the MIM capacitor includes a first outer metal plate(174/162) and a second outer metal plate(174/162), and a first insulator(164/168/172/175) and a second insulator(164/168/172/175) are located between the first outer metal plate(174/162) and the second outer metal plate(174/162), a second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3) that includes an inner metal plate(170) surrounding the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3),
Hsiao does not discloses wherein the MIM capacitor has a plus shaped profile when viewed from a top down perspective;a second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3) that includes an inner metal plate(170) surrounding the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3), wherein the second plate has a plus shaped profile when viewed from the top down perspective,
Kunkel discloses wherein the capacitor has a plus shaped profile when viewed from a top down perspective(31/41/34A/34B/34C/34D of Kunkel);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to apply the teachings of Kunkel to the teachings of Hsiao in order to permit more efficient packing [col1, lines 25-40, Kunkel]. In doing so, wherein the MIM capacitor has a plus shaped profile when viewed from a top down perspective(31/41/34A/34B/34C/34D of Kunkel); wherein the second plate has a plus shaped profile(31/41/34A/34B/34C/34D of Kunkel) when viewed from the top down perspective,
Re claim 22 Hsiao and Kunkel disclose thesemiconductor device of claim 21, wherein the inner metal plate(170) is located between the first outer metal plate(174/162) and the second outer metal plate(174/162) in the location between the first via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3) and the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3), wherein the first insulator(164/168/172/175) is located between the first outer metal plate(174/162) and inner metal plate(170), and the second insulator(164/168/172/175) is located between inner metal plate(170) and the second outer metal plate(174/162).
Re claim 23 Hsiao and Kunkel disclose thesemiconductor device of claim 21, wherein the inner plate is located around the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3) is located on the same level as the first outer plate.
Re claim 24 Hsiao and Kunkel disclose thesemiconductor device of claim 21, wherein openings in corners of the first outer metal plate(174/162) and the second outer metal plate(174/162) form the plus shaped profile around the first via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3).
Re claim 25 Hsiao and Kunkel disclose thesemiconductor device of claim 21, wherein openings in corners of the inner metal plate(170) forms the plus shaped profile around the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3).Serial No. 18/449,941
Re claim 26 Hsiao and Kunkel disclose thesemiconductor device of claim 21, wherein the first insulator(164/168/172/175) is located beneath the inner metal plate(170) around the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3).
Re claim 27 Hsiao and Kunkel disclose thesemiconductor device of claim 26, wherein the second insulator(164/168/172/175) is located on top of the inner metal plate(170) around the second via(VIA1/VIA2/VIA3).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 21-27 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) 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.
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/PATRICIA D VALENZUELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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