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 figures 4A-4B, claims 1-3 and 7-15 in the reply filed on 6/24/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 1, line 5, the limitation “a polarization router” withdrawn from the consideration since it is not read on figs. 4A-4B.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 3, change “a first portion)” to -- a first portion--.
Line 6, change “the first pixel)” to -- the first pixel--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by anticipated by KIM et al [US 2024/0120357].
With respect to claim 1, KIM et al (figs. 1-3; cols. 1-3) disclose polarimetric image sensor (100, pp [0023]) formed inside and on top of a semiconductor substrate, the sensor comprising:
a plurality of pixels (PX2, pp [0023]), each comprising a photodetector (PD, pp [0029]) formed in the semiconductor substrate;
a polarization router (155, 156, pp [0031]-[0033]) comprising a two-dimensional metasurface arranged on the side of an illumination surface of the photodetectors, the metasurface comprising a two- dimensional array of pads (155, 156, pp [0031]-[0033]); and
a plurality of first microlenses (ML2, pp [0036]-[0037]) extending in front of a pair of adjacent pixels of the sensor, wherein each microlens has lateral dimensions equal to those of a rectangle formed by said pair of adjacent pixels.
With respect to claim 2, KIM et al (figs. 1-3; cols. 1-3) disclose wherein the first microlenses (ML2, pp [0036]-[0037]) each have an elongated shape.
With respect to claim 3, KIM et al (figs. 1-3; cols. 1-3) disclose wherein the first microlenses (ML2, pp [0036]-[0037]) are arranged on the side of the polarization router (155, 156, pp [0031]-[0033]) opposite to the photodetectors (PD, pp [0029]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-15 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.
Conclusion
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/HOAI V PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892
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