Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claim 1 is 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.
Where applicant acts as his or her own lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d 1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999). The term “third electrode” in claim 1 is used by the claim to mean “a passivation layer,” while the accepted meaning is “an ohmic contact.” The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term.
More specifically, the specification uses the term “electrode” throughout to describe a layer of aluminum oxide. This cannot be what was intended, as aluminum oxide is an insulator and cannot be used as an electrode. It appears what was intended is a passivation layer 8 of aluminum oxide over the first electrode 4 and a wire bond 62 piercing the passivation layer to contact the electrode 4.
The remaining claims are similarly rejected as being dependent.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 20100062599 to Takano et al. (Takano).
Regarding Claim 1, Takano teaches in Fig. 2 at least, semiconductor device comprising:
a semiconductor substrate 11;
a first electrode (14 center) provided on the semiconductor substrate, and the first electrode containing aluminum [0002];
a second electrode (14 left) provided on the semiconductor substrate, the second electrode being provided separately from the first electrode, and the second electrode containing aluminum; and
a third electrode (16, being an “electrode” in so far as the described element in the specification is an electrode) provided on the first electrode, and the third electrode containing aluminum oxide [0066].
Examiner’s Note
The following amendments or others to the same effect will quickly progress prosecution:
(Currently Amended) A semiconductor device comprising:
a semiconductor substrate;
a first electrode provided on the semiconductor substrate, and the first electrode containing aluminum;
a second electrode provided on the semiconductor substrate, the second electrode being provided separately from the first electrode, and the second electrode containing aluminum;
a passivation layer provided on the first electrode, and passivation layer containing aluminum oxide; and
a first bonding wire penetrating the passivation layer to contact the first electrode.
Conclusion
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/EVREN SEVEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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