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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-5 in the reply filed on 12/29/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 6 and 7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/29/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 11/30/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 4 recites abbreviations without first setting forth what the abbreviation stands for (e.g., Si, TEOS) and also recites abbreviations for some elements (e.g., Si) but not others (e.g., oxide/nitride). Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoshikawa et al. (US 2005/0277270).
Regarding claim 1, Yoshikawa discloses an optical device wafer (0001) comprising a wafer (20) and a laminate (21) of a plurality of protective layers (insulating film and functional film) (0045). The laminate provided on a main surface of the wafer, arrayed separately, and a part on the main surface of the wafer is exposed (Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 2, Yoshikawa teaches the side surface of the laminate having a tapered shape with a distance between adjacent protective layers of the plurality of increasing away from the main surface of the wafer (Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 3, Yoshikawa teaches a recessed portion (25) which is recessed compared to a region overlapping the protective layers formed in a region not overlapping the protective layers in the wafer (Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 4, Yoshikawa teaches the wafer comprising silicon and the insulating film of the laminate comprising silicon oxide (0045).
Regarding claim 5, Yoshikawa teaches using a cutting blade (521) to form the groove (25) (Fig. 14, 0070) given a disclosed thickness of the cutting blade of 20 µm, the distance between adjacent protective layers is longer than 10 µm e.g., equal to the thickness of the cutting blade. Prior art which teaches an example within the claimed range anticipates the range. See MPEP 2131.03.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALICIA WEYDEMEYER whose telephone number is (571)270-1727. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-4.
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/ALICIA J WEYDEMEYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1781