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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 9 - 10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9 and 10 recite the limitation "the upper potion" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 and 10 recite the limitation "the upper potion" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Avramescu et al., US 2023/0411555.
In re Claim 8, Avramescu discloses a growth substrate configured to produce by epitaxy a matrix of diodes based on InGaN, including: a conductive buffer layer 2, produced based on doped GaN; mesas of three categories M1, M2, M3, resting on the conductive buffer layer 2, each including a lower portion 2 produced based on doped GaN, and the mesas M1 further including a non-porous separation intermediate portion 3 and produced based on InGaN, resting on the porous lower portion 2c; then a non-porous upper portion 10 and produced based on AIGaN; the mesas M2 being formed of the non-porous lower portion 2b; the mesas M3 (corresponding to 20b in Fig. 5; [0088]) being formed of the porous lower portion 2c, and not including the non- porous upper portion 10 produced based on AIGaN resting on the lower portion 2 (Figs. 1-5 and A; [0055 -0104]).
PNG
media_image1.png
200
400
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Fig. A. Avramescu’s Fig. 5 , S6 portion, annotated to show the details cited
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
In re Claim 1, prior-art fails to disclose a method for manufacturing a growth substrate configured to produce by epitaxy a matrix of diodes based on InGaN comprising steps of “eliminating, by etching, the upper portion of at least the mesas M3, the upper portion of the mesas M1 being preserved; then o non-photo-assisted electrochemically porosifying the lower portions of only the mesas M1 and M3, the lower portion of the mesas M2 being non-porosified.” Therefore, the claimed method differs from prior art methods on this point and there is no evidence it would have been obvious to make this change.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claim 11-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 8, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Benaissa et al., US 2021/9950476;
Benaissa et al., US 11,319,188;
Zhu et al., US 2023/0290806;
Chen et al., US 2023/0402565;
Chen et al., US 12,336326.
Avramescu et al., US 2024/0030275;
Dupre et al., US 2024/0153986;
Rol et al., US 2024/0213398.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NIKOLAY K YUSHIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7885. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (7-7 PST).
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, Yara B. Green can be reached at 5712703075. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NIKOLAY K YUSHIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights