DETAILED ACTION
Table of Contents
I. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 3
II. Drawings 3
III. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 4
A. Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. 4
IV. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 4
A. Claims 1-3, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2020/0243579 (“Pyo”). 5
V. Pertinent Prior Art 8
Conclusion 8
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I. 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 .
II. Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “optical system” recited in claim 5 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
III. 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.
A. Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation, “the plurality of light-receiving pixels included in the same light-receiving pixel group” in lines 5-6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 3 recites the limitation, “the third separation regions” in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitation, “the plurality of light-receiving pixels having different image heights” in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 4 recites the limitation, “the third separation regions” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
IV. 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.
A. Claims 1-3, 7, 8, 10, 11, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2020/0243579 (“Pyo”).
With regard to claims 1, 2, 3, and 5, Pyo discloses,
1. A solid-state imaging element 1 [¶¶ 39-40; Figs. 1-3; title, abstract] comprising
[1] a plurality of light-receiving pixels P arranged in a matrix [Fig. 2; ¶ 49] inside a semiconductor layer 10 [ e.g. Fig. 8B; ¶¶ 69, 125],
[2a] wherein each of the light-receiving pixels P includes:
[2b] a pair of photoelectric conversion units 110a, 110b disposed adjacent to each other [e.g. Fig. 6A];
[2c] a first separation region 101 [¶ 76; shown in Fig. 8B but not labeled; see Figs. 5A, 6A and 8A] disposed so as to surround the pair of photoelectric conversion units 110a, 110b and disposed so as to penetrate the semiconductor layer 10;
[2d] a second separation region [e.g. 103a, 105a in e.g. Figs. 8A-8B; ¶¶ 93, 124-128] disposed between the pair of photoelectric conversion units 110a, 110b and disposed so as to penetrate the semiconductor layer 10; and
[2e] a third separation region [e.g. 103b, 105b in e.g. Figs. 8A-8B; ¶¶ 93, 124-128] disposed in a region surrounded by the first separation region 101 and disposed from a light incident surface of the semiconductor layer 10 to a middle of the semiconductor layer 10.
2. The solid-state imaging element according to claim 1, wherein the third separation region 103b, 105b is disposed so as to straddle the second separation region 103a, 105a in plan view [Fig. 8A].
3. The solid-state imaging element according to claim 1, comprising
[1] a light-receiving pixel group [i.e. PB, PG1, PG2, PR (e.g. ¶ 86)] including the plurality of light-receiving pixels P that receives light in two or more wavelength regions [i.e. red, green, and blue] [ Figs. 8A-8B (¶¶ 124-128); Figs. 18A-18F (¶¶ 161-176)],
[2] wherein in the plurality of light-receiving pixels P included in the same light-receiving pixel group, the third separation regions 103b, 105b having at least one of different positions [e.g. Figs. 18A-18F] and different shapes [e.g. Figs. 8A-8B, 18A-18F] are disposed, respectively.
5. An electronic device [Fig. 1; ¶¶ 38-46] comprising:
[1] a solid-state imaging element 1 [Figs. 1-3; ¶¶ 47-61];
[2] an optical system 320, 330 [¶ 108] that captures incident light from a subject and forms an image on an imaging surface of the solid- state imaging element 1; and
[3] a signal processing circuit that performs processing on an output signal from the solid-state imaging element [¶ 46; “The I/O buffer 8 may latch the digital signal, and the latched digital signals may be sequentially output to an image signal processing unit (not shown), based on the result decoded by the column decoder 4.”],
[4] wherein the solid-state imaging element 1 includes
[5] a plurality of light-receiving pixels arranged in a matrix inside a semiconductor layer, and
[6a] each of the light-receiving pixels includes:
[6b] a pair of photoelectric conversion units disposed adjacent to each other;
[6c] a first separation region disposed so as to surround the pair of photoelectric conversion units and disposed so as to penetrate the semiconductor layer;
[6d] a second separation region disposed between the pair of photoelectric conversion units and disposed so as to penetrate the semiconductor layer; and
[6e] a third separation region disposed in a region surrounded by the first separation region and disposed from a light incident surface of the semiconductor layer to a middle of the semiconductor layer.
Features [4] through [6e] are the same as features [1] through [2e] and have been discussed above.
With regard to claim 4, Pyo further discloses,
4. The solid-state imaging element according to claim 1, wherein in the plurality of light-receiving pixels P having different image heights [Fig. 2], the third separation regions 103b, 105b having at least one of different positions and different shapes are disposed, respectively Figs. 18A-18F (¶¶ 161-176)].
In this regard, Pyo states,
[0162] Referring to FIGS. 18A, 19A, and 19B, planar positions of the first to third separation structures 103, 105, and 107 in each of the first to third pixel regions PG1, PG2, PB, and PR may be changed depending on positions of the first to third pixel regions PG1, PG2, PB, and PR in the active pixel sensor array.
[0163] As previously described with reference to FIG. 2, the pixel array region R1 may include the center region CR and the edge regions ER. In the first to third pixel regions PG1, PG2, PB, and PR disposed in the edge regions ER, the first to third separation structures 103, 105, and 107 may be shifted toward the center region CR, as shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B.
(Pyo: ¶¶ 162-163; emphasis added)
The different positions of the pixels P at the center region CR versus edge region ER are different “image heights” as defined in the Instant Application (Instant Specification: p. 25, ¶ 109 or ¶ 143 of US 2024/0170517, which is the pre-grant publication of the Instant Application). Therefore, the shifts in position of the isolations regions 103, 105, 107 in Pyo are done for the same reason as in the Instant Application.
V. Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The following references are cited for disclosing at least all of the features of claim 1:
(1) US 2020/0243578 (“Pyo”): discloses the same information as US 2020/0243579 applied above.
(2) US 2017/0345853 (“Kato”): equal to JP 2017-212351-A cited in the IDS filed 09/19/2023.
(3) US 2022/0173139 (“Lee”): see, e.g., Figs. 12-14 and associated text.
(4) US 2020/0235148 (“Shim”): See Figs. 12A-12C and associated text.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIK KIELIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1693. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 10:00 AM-7:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wael Fahmy can be reached on 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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Signed,
/ERIK KIELIN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814