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 .
Acknowledgement
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 9/17/25. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this office action are claims 1-6.
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.
The limitation “wherein a diameter of the second opening at a lower edge is larger than a diameter of the first opening at an upper edge” recited in claims 1, 2, and 3.
The limitation “wherein the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge of the first opening is larger than the diameter of the first opening at a lower edge of the first opening” recited in claim 2. It is noted that the second opening is formed with light exposure onto the material of the fifth insulating layer. In order for the diameter of the second opening at the lower edge to be larger than the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge, enough material for the fifth insulating layer will need to be present at the lower edge of the first opening, this would result the diameter of the first opening at the lower edge to be larger than the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge. This directly contradicts the claim limitation “wherein a diameter of the second opening at a lower edge is larger than a diameter of the first opening at an upper edge”.
Therefore, the features mentioned above 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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities. The recited limitation “wherein the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge of the first opening is larger than the diameter of the first opening at a lower edge of the first opening” should be corrected to -wherein the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The claimed limitation “wherein a diameter of the second opening at a lower edge is larger than a diameter of the first opening at an upper edge” recited in claims 1, 2, and 3 is not reasonably described to convey possession of the claimed invention at the time of filing.
The drawings do not support the above referenced limitation, and the specification [0165] in page 38 simply states the shape of the second openings can also be the same or larger. This is not sufficient to support possession of written description due to the way the first and second openings are formed. As described in the application, the first openings are formed through etching process while the second opening are formed through light exposure, therefore the shape of the second opening is limited by the shape of the first opening due to the amount of the light sensitive material contained within the first opening. It is convention to form taper down first openings via etching, as shown in the application, however, it would involve additional processing steps to form openings with taper up configuration for the first openings to accommodate the light sensitive material therewithin in order to contain more light sensitive material to form the second openings with the diameter of the lower edge being larger than the diameter of the first opening at an upper edge. No support for such additional processing steps is described in the application, therefore the inventor(s) does not reasonably convey possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 4-6 are rejected for its dependency.
Claims 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claim 2 includes the limitation “wherein a diameter of the second opening at a lower edge is larger than a diameter of the first opening at an upper edge” and “wherein the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge of the first opening is larger than the diameter of the first opening at a lower edge of the first opening”. These two limitations in combination are not enabled.
It is noted that the second opening is formed with light exposure onto a light sensitive material (the fifth insulating layer). In order for the diameter of the second opening at the lower edge to be larger than the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge, enough material of the fifth insulating layer will need to be present at the lower edge of the first opening, this would result the diameter of the first opening at the lower edge to be larger than the diameter of the first opening at the upper edge, which directly contradicts the later claim limitation. Therefor the claim is not enabled.
Claim 5 is rejected for its dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eva Yan Montalvo whose telephone number is (571)270-3829. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 9AM-7PM ET.
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, John Fristoe can be reached at (571) 272-4926. 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.
EVA YAN MONTALVO
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2818
/EVA Y MONTALVO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2818
Prosecution Insights