DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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
Applicant’s election of claims 1-14 without traverse in the reply filed on June 24, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-14 and new claims 22-27 are pending.
IDS
The IDS document(s) filed on April 5, 2024 has been considered. Copies of the PTO-1449 documents are herewith enclosed with this office action.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. § 112(b)
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.
Claims 1-14 and 22-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 112, 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 pre-AIA the applicant, regards as the invention.
As to claim 1, there is a lack of antecedent basis for “the interconnection network”. The Examiner suggests “the electrical interconnection network”.
As to claims 1 and 8, it is unclear if it is the electrical interconnection network or the contact pads that are opposite to the mounting face in the limitation “an electrical interconnection network between the mounting face and contact pads located on a lower face of the support substrate, opposite to the mounting face”. The Examiner assumes the electrical interconnection network.
As to claim 22, there is a lack of antecedent basis for “the lateral wall between the upper wall and the mounting face” (emphasis added).
Claim Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2)
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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shi et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0361096 A1), hereafter “Shi”.
As to claim 8, Shi teaches:
A support substrate 202+206+210 comprising a mounting face (top surface of 210) and an electrical interconnection network 207 between the mounting face and contact pads located on a lower face of the support substrate.
A cap 214 having a lateral wall (vertical sidewalls) fastened on the mounting face, an upper wall (top wall portion with horizontal extension) including a first opening (first opening occupied by 216b), wherein the cap defines with the support substrate a first cavity, an additional wall (lower wall portion with horizontal extension) extending in the first cavity, said additional wall being connected to the lateral wall and having an additional opening (lower opening occupied by 216a).
A first optical element 216b fastened on the upper wall of the cap and sealing the first opening.
An additional optical element 216a fastened on the additional wall and sealing the additional opening.
A first electronic chip 212 mounted on the mounting face in said first cavity.
Wherein the first electronic chip is in optical cooperation with both the first optical element and said additional optical element. Shi teaches the first electronic chip 212 in optical alignment with both the first optical element 216b and the additional optical element 216a. See Shi, FIG. 2A.
No Prior Art Applied
No prior art has been applied to claims 1-7, 9-14, and 22-27.
As to claim 1, Vigier-Blanc et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0146170 A1) teaches in FIG. 3 including a support substrate 2+7 comprising a mounting face (top surface of 2) and an electrical interconnection network 52 between the mounting face and contact pads 3 located on a lower face of the support substrate, opposite to the mounting face; a cap 8 having a lateral wall fastened on the mounting face and an upper wall including a first opening, the cap defining with the support substrate at least one first cavity; a first optical element 9+10 fastened on the upper wall of the cap and sealing the first opening; an electromagnetic shielding element 24 configured to be coupled to a reference supply point (GND) via the electrical interconnection network 52 (paragraph [0079]); and a first electronic chip 4 mounted on the mounting face in said at least one first cavity and in optical cooperation with the first optical element. However Vigier-Blanc does not teach the electromagnetic shielding element embedded in the cap nor configured to be coupled via at least one contact pad.
As to claim 9, while Shi teaches an additional optical element 216a, a collimating lens, Shi does not teach the collimating lens includes a circuit comprising a sensor. No other prior art was found.
As to claim 22, Shi teaches in FIG. 2A a support substrate 202+206+210 comprising a mounting face (top surface of 210); an electronic chip 212 mounted on the mounting face; a cap 214 having a lateral wall fastened on the mounting face, an upper wall and an additional wall extending from the lateral wall between the upper wall and the mounting face; wherein the upper wall includes an upper opening; wherein the additional wall includes an additional opening aligned with the upper opening; an upper optical element 216b closing the upper opening in the upper wall; an additional optical element 216a closing the additional opening in the additional wall; wherein the additional optical element is in optical cooperation with the upper optical element and the electronic chip. However, Shi does not teach an electrically-conductive connection embedded in the lateral wall of the cap; although Shi teaches an electrically-conductive connection formed on a righthand exterior of the cap 214, it is not embedded in the lateral wall. Furthermore, this electrically-conductive connection is connected to the upper optical element 216b, not to the additional optical element 216a.
Prior Art Not Relied Upon
The following prior art was not relied upon but is made of record:
Vigier-Blanc et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0146170 A1)
Exposito et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0212055 A1)
Lin et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0051390 A1)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUBERR CHI whose telephone number is (571)270-3955. The examiner can normally be reached 10am to 6pm.
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/SUBERR L CHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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