Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/628,008

INDUCTOR-CAPACITOR CIRCUIT STRUCTURE AT HYBRID BONDING INTERFACE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 05, 2024
Examiner
PAGE, STEVEN MITCHELL CHR
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
International Business Machines Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allowance Rate
378 granted / 454 resolved
+23.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
472
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.8%
-38.2% vs TC avg
§103
63.7%
+23.7% vs TC avg
§102
25.8%
-14.2% vs TC avg
§112
6.6%
-33.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 454 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 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(s) 1-7 and 10-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chaung et al. (US 20240071911 A1, hereinafter Chuang) With regards to claim 1, Chuang discloses a structure (FIG. 1) comprising: a bottom bonding dielectric layer (bonding dielectric 120) located on a surface of a bottom semiconductor die, (semiconductor substrate 101) wherein the bottom bonding dielectric layer and the bottom semiconductor die have a bottom portion of an inductor-capacitor (l-C) circuit (at least inductive coil 332/passive device 111) present therein; and a top bonding dielectric layer (bonding dielectric 220) located on a surface of a top semiconductor die (semiconductor substrate 201) and in contact with the bottom bonding dielectric layer, wherein the top bonding dielectric layer and the top semiconductor die have a top portion of the L-C circuit (at least inductive coil 333/passive device 211) present therein, wherein the top portion of the L-C circuit is connected to the bottom portion of the L-C circuit at a hybrid bonding interface. (at least interface 311/321/331, see at least FIG. 1) With regards to claim 2, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 1, wherein the hybrid bonding interface is located between the top bonding dielectric layer and the bottom bonding dielectric layer. (see FIG. 1) With regards to claim 3, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 1, wherein the hybrid bonding interface connecting the bottom portion of the L-C circuit to the top portion of the L-C circuit includes a metal-to-metal bond and a dielectric-to-dielectric bond. (See FIG. 1, showing the bonding between dielectrics 120/220 and metal to metal 313/312) With regards to claim 4, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 1, wherein the top portion of the L-C circuit comprises a top capacitor portion and a top inductor, (at least inductive coil 333/passive device 211) and the bottom portion of the L-C circuit comprises a bottom capacitor portion and a bottom inductor, (at least inductive coil 332 and passive device 111) wherein the top capacitor portion is connected to the bottom capacitor portion at the hybrid bonding interface, and the top inductor is connected to the bottom inductor at the hybrid bonding interface. (See FIG. 1) With regards to claim 5, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 4, wherein each the top inductor and the bottom inductor is a planar structure. (See Fig. 1, showing the planar structure) With regards to claim 6, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 4, wherein each of the top inductor and the bottom inductor has a shape of a rectangle, a square, a spiral, or a hexagon. (See FIG. 1, showing the rectangle) With regards to claim 7, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 4, wherein each of the top capacitor portion and the bottom capacitor portion has a shape of a rectangle, a square, or a circle. (See FIG. 1, showing the rectangle) With regards to claim 10, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 1, further comprising a pair of through via structures (at least vias 314/315) present in the top semiconductor die and interconnected to the L-C circuit, wherein one of the through via structures of the pair of through via structures is configurated to allow a signal into the L-C circuit, and the other of the through via structures of the pair of through via structures is configurated to accept the signal that exists the L-C circuit. (See FIG. 1) With regards to claim 11, Chuang discloses a structure (FIG. 1) comprising: a bottom bonding dielectric layer (bonding dielectric 120) located on a surface of a bottom semiconductor die, (semiconductor substrate 101) wherein the bottom bonding dielectric layer has a bottom capacitor portion (at least passive device 111) present therein and the bottom semiconductor die has a bottom inductor (at least inductive coil 332) present therein; a top bonding dielectric layer (bonding dielectric 220) located on a surface of a top semiconductor die (semiconductor substrate 201) and in contact with the bottom bonding dielectric layer, wherein the top bonding dielectric layer has a top capacitor portion (at least passive device 211) present therein and the top semiconductor die has a top inductor (at least inductive coil 333) present therein; and a hybrid bonding interface (at least interface 311/321/331, see at least FIG. 1) located between the bottom bonding dielectric layer and the top bonding dielectric layer at which the top inductor is connected to the bottom inductor, and the top capacitor portion is connected to the bottom capacitor portion. (see Fig. 1, showing the connection) With regards to claim 12, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 11, wherein the hybrid bonding interface is located between the top bonding dielectric layer and the bottom bonding dielectric layer. (see Fig. 1, showing the connection) With regards to claim 13, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 11, wherein the hybrid bonding interface that connects the top inductor to the bottom inductor includes a dielectric-to-dielectric bond. (See FIG. 1, showing the bonding between dielectrics 120/220 and metal to metal 313/312) With regards to claim 14, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 11, wherein the hybrid bonding interface that connects the top capacitor portion to the bottom capacitor portion includes a combination of a dielectric-to-dielectric bond and a metal-to-metal bond. (See FIG. 1, showing the bonding between dielectrics 120/220 and metal to metal 313/312) With regards to claim 15, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 11, wherein each of the top inductor and the bottom inductor has a shape of a rectangle, a square, a spiral, or a hexagon. (See FIG. 1, showing the rectangle) With regards to claim 16, Chuang discloses the structure of Claim 11, wherein each of the top capacitor portion and the bottom capacitor portion has a shape of a rectangle, a square, or a circle. (See FIG. 1, showing the rectangle) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8-9 and 17-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN M Page whose telephone number is (571)272-3249. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10:00AM-6:00PM. 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, Christine S. Kim can be reached at 571-272-8548. 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. /STEVEN M PAGE/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2812
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 05, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12685002
DISPLAY DEVICE
2y 6m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12685166
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME
2y 9m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12677406
MEMORY DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF
3y 6m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12677411
SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE
3y 2m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12670368
TUNABLE HOMOJUNCTION FIELD EFFECT DEVICE-BASED ARTIFICIAL SYNAPSE CIRCUIT AND IMPLEMENTATION METHOD THEREOF
3y 7m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+9.0%)
2y 3m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 454 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month