Attorney’s Docket Number: S2329.70530US01
Filing Date: 8/16/2023
Claimed Priority Dates: 4/1/2020 (US 16/387,299)
8/8/2019 (KR 10-2019-0096506)
Inventors: Kwon et al.
Examiner: Marcos D. Pizarro
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 8/7/2026.
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 (or as subject to pre-AIA ) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis 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 8/7/2026 in reply to the Office action in paper no. 8, mailed on 5/7/2026, 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 1-20.
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 first and third surfaces recited in claim 17, must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. 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 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.
Claims 10, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimotsusa (US 2016/0005776).
Regarding claim 10, Shimotsusa (see, e.g., figs. 1-2B, 8A-8B) shows all aspects of the instant invention including an image sensor comprising:
a first substrate 308 including:
a pixel region 301
a plurality 312A of first-type upper bonding pads including a first upper bonding pad (UBP2) 314, and
a plurality of second-type upper bonding pads including a second upper bonding pad (UBP1) 110
a second substrate 309 including:
a plurality of first-type bottom bonding pads 312B including a first bottom bonding pad (LBP2) 132, and
a plurality of second-type bonding pads including a second bottom bonding pad (LBP1) 132
wherein:
the UBP2 314 has a first surface
the UBP1 110 has a second surface
the LBP2 132 has a third surface directly connected to the first surface
the LBP1 132 has a fourth surface directly connected to the second surface
the width of the UBP2 314 is greater than the width of the UBP1 110, and
the width of the LBP2 132 is greater than the width of the LBP1 132
a height of the UBP2 along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction is different than a height of the LBP2 along the second direction
Regarding claim 11, Shimotsusa (see, e.g., figs. 8A and ¶¶0067,0079) shows that the UBP2 311 includes a pad barrier layer 110b and a pad filling layer 110a, wherein the barrier layer includes Ta, and the filling layer includes Cu.
Regarding claim 13, Shimotsusa (see, e.g., figs. 1 and 2A) shows that the plurality 312A of first upper bonding pads are spaced apart from each other by a first pitch, and the plurality of second upper bonding pads 110 are spaced apart from each other by a second pitch, wherein the first pitch is greater than the first pitch.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 17-20 are allowed.
Claims 12-16 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.
Response to Arguments
The applicant argues:
Claim 10 recites that the bonding pads have different heights whereas the pads of Shimotsusa all have the same height.
The examiner responds:
Shimotsusa shows these features recited in claim 10. See, e.g., figs. 1 and 8A, where Shimotsusa shows that the height of the UBP2 314 is different from the height of the UBP1 311.
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 replying 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Marcos D. Pizarro at (571) 272-1716 and between the hours of 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Thursday or by e-mail via Marcos.Pizarro@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.
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/Marcos D. Pizarro/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
MDP/mdp
August 24, 2026
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