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 clams 1-17 in the reply filed on 7/10/26 is acknowledged.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 2022/0020804, hereinafter, Kim.)
In regard to claim 1, in figs. 2, Kim discloses an image sensor 1000 comprising:
a first substrate IL (part of CH1) inherently including a first surface and a second surface, the first surface including a plurality of transistors TR, and the second surface being opposite to the first surface and configured to receive light, the first substrate comprising a pixel array region APS and a light-blocking region OB;
an anti-reflection structure (described in para [0031]) on the second surface of the first substrate in the pixel array region and the light-blocking region; and
a light-blocking structure including element 27g (described in para [0037]) on the anti-reflection structure in the light-blocking region, wherein the light-blocking structure comprises a plurality of film that are sequentially stacked, the plurality of film including at least a first conductive film 29, a first insulating film 51, and a second conductive film 27 (described in para [0035].)
Regarding claim 2, wherein a thickness of the first conductive film is greater than a thickness of the second conductive film; and
a thickness of the first insulating film is greater than the thickness of the second conductive film. Fig. 2.
Regarding claim 3, wherein the first conductive film comprises tungsten;
the first insulating film comprises silicon oxide; and the second conductive film comprises titanium (paras [0028 and 0035].)
Regarding claim 5, wherein the light-blocking structure further comprises an anti-reflection film on the second conductive film (described in para [0031].)
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) 4 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claims 4 and 6-7, Kim discloses all of the claimed limitations as mentioned above. Kim also further shows the dimension/thickness of the layers, except the exact dimensions as currently claimed.
Thus, Kim recognizes that there is a need for having the dimension at some values. The thickness of the liner is therefore a result-effective variable.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to vary, through routine optimization, the thickness of the elements as Kim has identified the thickness as a result-effective variable. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to arrive at a thickness of the elements as claimed in order to achieve the desired connections among the layers. MPEP 2144.05.
Furthermore, the applicant has not presented persuasive evidence that the claimed thickness is for a particular purpose that is critical to the overall claimed invention (i.e., that the invention would not work without the specific claimed inventions.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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.
Claims 9-17 are allowed.
The prior art does not disclose wherein the anti-reflection structure comprises at least three different insulating films stacked on each other; and
the image sensor further comprises a barrier metal between the anti-reflection structure and the light-blocking structure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN W HA whose telephone number is (571)272-1707. The examiner can normally be reached M-T: 8:00AM-6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, WAEL FAHMY can be reached at (571)-272-1705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHAN W HA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
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