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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the Applicant Election filled on 01/20/2026. Currently, claims 1-15 are pending in the application. Claims 13-15 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, Species IA, claims 1-12, in the reply filed on 001/20/2026 is acknowledged.
The traversal is on the ground(s) that the examination of all of claims 1-15 would not present an undue burden on the Examiner, and respectfully request reconsideration and withdrawal of the Restriction Requirement.
This is not found persuasive and the Examiner has already established burden (as defined in M.P.E.P. 808.02) in the restriction requirement dated 11/26/2025. There is a search and/or examination burden for the patentably distinct species or device/method claims, wherein they require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources or non-patent language, or deploying different search queries); and/or the prior art applicable to one invention would not likely be applicable to another; and/or the inventions are likely to raise different non-prior art issues under 35 U.S.C 101 and/or 35 U.S.C 112, first paragraph. Therefore, the requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the 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.
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.
Claims 1-4, 7-8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by TAKAHASHI (JP 2020021763 A). An English machine translation is attached with this office action.
Regarding claim 1, Figures 1-4 of TAKAHASHI disclose a semiconductor device, including:
an active region that includes a drift layer (DRI, Figure 3) of a first conductivity type and a body layer (HBR1/HBR2 and WR1/WR2) of a second conductivity type formed on the drift layer (please see page 3 of English translation of TAKAHASHI); and
an outer peripheral region (please see Figure 2) that surrounds the active region, wherein the active region includes:
a main cell region (of UC1) that includes a main cell (UC1) and through which a main current flows;
a first insulating film (ILD under EE1) that covers the main cell;
a first electrode portion (EE1) that is stacked on the first insulating film;
a sense cell region (of UC2) that is disposed so as to be separated from the main cell region, includes a sense cell (UC2), and through which a sense current corresponding to the main current flows (please see Figure 1 for I1);
a second insulating film (ILD under EE2) that covers the sense cell; and
a second electrode portion (EE2) that is stacked on the second insulating film, a well region (BR between TR6 and TR8) of the second conductivity type (please see page 3 of English translation of TAKAHASHI) is formed between the main cell region (UC1) and the sense cell region (UC2), and the first electrode portion and the second electrode portion are electrically connected to the well region (EE1 and EE2 are connected to BR between TR6 and TR8 via BR5/BR6).
Regarding claim 2, Figures 1-4 of TAKAHASHI disclose that the semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode portion (EE1) and the second electrode portion (EE2) are electrically connected to each other via a resistance component of the well region (BR between TR6 and TR8 anticipates to have some resistance since it is a doped semiconductor).
Regarding claim 3, Figures 1-4 of TAKAHASHI disclose that the semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein, as viewed in a thickness direction of the drift layer (DR1), the well region (BR between TR6 and TR8) includes a part that overlaps with the first electrode (EE1) portion and a part that overlaps with the second electrode (EE2) portion.
Regarding claim 4, Figures 1-4 of TAKAHASHI disclose that the semiconductor device according to claim 3, wherein the main cell region (UC1) and the sense cell region (UC2) each include trenches (TR) formed from a surface of the body layer (HBRs and WRs ) toward the drift layer (DR1), and the well region (BR between TR6 and TR8) is formed between a first trench and a second trench, the first trench (at GT6) being one of the trenches of the main cell region that is closest to the sense cell region, and the second trench (at GT8) being one of the trenches of the sense cell region that is closest to the main cell region.
Regarding claim 7, Figures 1-4 of TAKAHASHI disclose that the semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein, as viewed in a thickness direction of the drift layer (DR1), the well region (BR between TR6 and TR8) is formed so as to surround the sense cell region.
Regarding claim 8, Figure 4 of TAKAHASHI discloses that the semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein the second electrode portion (EE2) includes a sense contact (BCR4) connected to the well region (BR between TR6 and TR8), and the sense contact includes a sense end contact that is formed at an end of the second electrode portion closest to the main cell region (UC1).
Regarding claim 12, Figures 1-4 of TAKAHASHI disclose that the semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the first insulating film (ILD under EE1) and the second insulating film (ILD under EE2) are formed by a common insulating film.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 9-11 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 5, there is no prior art available nor obvious motivation to combine elements of prior art which teaches a semiconductor device according to claim 4, wherein the well region is formed so as to be closer to the drift layer than a bottom of the first trench and a bottom of the second trench are, and is formed so as to cover at least a part of the bottom of the first trench and at least a part of the bottom of the second trench.
Regarding claim 6, there is no prior art available nor obvious motivation to combine elements of prior art which teaches a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein an impurity concentration of the well region is lower than an impurity concentration of the body layer.
Regarding claim 9, there is no prior art available nor obvious motivation to combine elements of prior art which teaches a semiconductor device according to claim 8, wherein the first electrode portion includes a main contact connected to the well region, and the main contact is formed so as to surround the sense cell region.
Regarding claim 10, there is no prior art available nor obvious motivation to combine elements of prior art which teaches a semiconductor device according to claim 9, wherein the main contact includes a main end contact that is provided at a position facing the sense end contact as viewed in the thickness direction of the drift layer, and the main end contact and the sense end contact respectively include multiple main end contacts and multiple sense end contacts, and a number of the main end contacts is greater than a number of the sense end contacts.
Regarding claim 11, there is no prior art available nor obvious motivation to combine elements of prior art which teaches a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral region includes a termination structure, the termination structure includes a guard ring of the second conductivity type, and an impurity concentration of the well region is lower than an impurity concentration of the guard ring.
Examiner Notes
A reference to specific paragraphs, columns, pages, or figures in a cited prior art reference is not limited to preferred embodiments or any specific examples. It is well settled that a prior art reference, in its entirety, must be considered for all that it expressly teaches and fairly suggests to one having ordinary skill in the art. Stated differently, a prior art disclosure reading on a limitation of Applicant's claim cannot be ignored on the ground that other embodiments disclosed were instead cited. Therefore, the Examiner's citation to a specific portion of a single prior art reference is not intended to exclusively dictate, but rather, to demonstrate an exemplary disclosure commensurate with the specific limitations being addressed. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33,216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)). In re: Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005); In re Fritch, 972 F.2d 1260, 1264, 23 USPQ2d 1780, 1782 (Fed. Cir. 1992); Merck& Co. v. BiocraftLabs., Inc., 874 F.2d 804, 807, 10 USPQ2d 1843, 1846 (Fed. Cir. 1989); In re Fracalossi, 681 F.2d 792,794 n.1, 215 USPQ 569, 570 n.1 (CCPA 1982); In re Lamberti, 545 F.2d 747, 750, 192 USPQ 278, 280 (CCPA 1976); In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385, 1390, 163 USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHAJA AHMAD whose telephone number is (571)270-7991. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Eastern Time).
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/KHAJA AHMAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2813
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