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 .
This Office Action is in response to amendments and remarks filed January 5, 2026. Claim 1-20 are currently pending. Claims 1-10 are currently withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to non-elected Invention I.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention II, claims 11-15 and 16-20, in the reply filed on January 5, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that claim 12 which is within Invention II with generic circuitry and modes of operation is enough to show the details of the circuitry in Invention I, which includes specifics on the conductive traces and switches, therefore there is no search burden between the two inventions. This is not found persuasive because Invention I includes claims 4-10, which include conductive traces and the various structures of those traces with or without switches and other circuitry such as amplifier, also claims 9 and 10 are different operations of the switches and specific groups/subgroups of photodiodes and reading methods, such as sequentially operated, claim 5 includes dummy conductive traces. All of these specific structures are not within the claim groups of Invention II, which include claims 11-15 and 16-20. Invention II is control/readout circuitry that operates in various modes of operation dependent on number of channels/photodiodes/wavelength/density, claims 11-15 and the modes of operation in relation to a shaft rotation in claims 16-20. There is no detail about conductive traces, dummy traces and switches and their functions controlling the specific modes in Invention II and the modes of operation dependent on number of channels/photodiodes/wavelength/density and the modes of operation in relation to a shaft rotation such as the density/channels/wavelength or using a rotating shaft with crown do not depend on the specific circuitry and can use other types of circuitry without the traces/dummy traces and switches as described. None of this circuitry is inherent to the modes of operation in Invention II. The details of the circuitry would require a more detailed search that is not required for Invention II. Invention II only requires circuitry capable of operating in different modes as claimed. Very different search strings. A different field of search: Where it is necessary to search for one of the inventions in a manner that is not likely to result in finding art pertinent to the other invention(s) (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search queries), a different field of search is shown, even though the two are classified together. The indicated different field of search must in fact be pertinent to the type of subject matter covered by the claims. Patents need not be cited to show different fields of search. For example, Invention I requires a search for various details of the switch and conductive trace circuitry that a search for Invention II would not need. These would be two separate searches and this would increase the burden on the Examiner. Since, the Applicant has not shown how claim 12 explicitly requires the defined circuitry in claims 4-10, then there is no reason that other types of circuitry could be used as long as the different modes of operation, density/wavelength/number photodiodes/channels in channels and rotating shaft with crown and placement of the photodiode/channels with respect to the shaft are present. From the above arguments the Examiner is maintaining the restriction between Invention I and II. Examiner will consider Invention II, claims 11-15 and 16-20, as elected by the Applicant on January 5, 2026. Claims 1-10 are currently withdrawn as being drawn to non-elected Invention I.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizuno et al. (US 2005072912) in view of Masa et al. (US 20200072644).
Re claim 11: Mizuno teaches an electronic device (fig. 2, 4 and 5), comprising: a shared epitaxial structure (500) (paragraph 43, fig. 4); an array of photodiodes (501/502/51) formed in the shared epitaxial structure (500) (paragraph 43, fig. 4), the array of photodiodes (501/502) having an absence of guard structures between adjacent photodiodes (501/502) (see fig. 4, no isolation structures between photodiodes); a readout circuit (70/60) electrically connected to the array of photodiodes (501/502) (see fig. 5) and operable to read out values for a set of channels defined by the photodiodes in the array of photodiodes (501/502) (fig. 5, paragraph 39 and 47-60), but does not specifically teach a control circuit operable to configure the readout circuit in one or more modes of operation, each mode of operation in the one or more modes of operation defining at least one of, a number of channels in the set of channels; or a number of photodiodes per channel in the set of channels. Masa teaches a control circuit (40/41/42) operable to configure a readout circuit (41/42) in one or more modes of operation, each mode of operation in the one or more modes of operation defining at least one of, a number of channels in a set of channels; or a number of photodiodes per channel in the set of channels (paragraphs 68-70 and 110-116, first mode is readout of all of the channels, second mode to readout a subset of the channels with a specific number of photodiodes, see fig. 21, 6, 7 and 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include a control circuit to configure the readout circuit in one or modes of operation in Mizuno similar to Masa in order to increase the accuracy of rotation angle detection providing for more efficient and precise measurements.
Re claim 12: Mizuno as modified by Masa teaches the electronic device, wherein the control circuit (Masa, 40/41/42) is operable to configure the readout circuit in at least a first mode of operation at a first time and a second mode of operation at a second time, the second mode of operation different from the first mode of operation (Masa, paragraphs 68-70 and 110-116, first mode is readout of all of the channels, second mode to readout a subset of the channels with a specific number of photodiodes, see fig. 21, 6, 7 and 8, the two modes are different and executed at a first time and second time respectively).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizuno et al. (US 2005072912) as modified by Masa et al. (US 20200072644) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Fisher (US 20240369385).
Re claim 13: Mizuno as modified by Masa teaches wherein the control circuit (Masa, 40/41/42) is operable to configure the readout circuit in at least a first mode of operation at a first time and a second mode of operation at a second time, the second mode of operation different from the first mode of operation (Masa, paragraphs 68-70 and 110-116, first mode is readout of all of the channels, second mode to readout a subset of the channels with a specific number of photodiodes, see fig. 21, 6, 7 and 8, the two modes are different and executed at a first time and second time respectively), but does not specifically teach wherein the control circuit is operable to configure the readout circuit in at least a first mode of operation having a first density of photodiodes and a second mode of operation having a second density of photodiodes, the second density of photodiodes different from the first density of photodiodes. Fisher teaches a control circuit (218/222) is operable to configure a readout circuit (216/222) in at least a first mode of operation having a first density of photodiodes and a second mode of operation having a second density of photodiodes, the second density of photodiodes different from the first density of photodiodes (paragraphs 82, by turning off specific rows some photodiodes in the column/channel will be turned off reducing the density of the photodiodes, when it is determined there is errors in the comparing of images from individual rows, so first mode would have a higher density of photodiodes in the column/channel, if an error/damage is determined then second mode with fewer photodiodes in the column/channel at lower density). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have a first mode and a second mode with different photodiode densities in the column/channel similar to Fisher with the array and control circuitry of Mizuno as modified by Masa in order to reduce the number of photodiodes that include unwanted information providing for higher quality measurements.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizuno et al. (US 2005072912) as modified by Masa et al. (US 20200072644) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Masa (US 20130015338 herein after Masa ‘338).
Re claim 14: Mizuno as modified by Masa teaches comprising: the array of photodiodes (Mizuno, 501/502/51, fig. 1-3, Masa, 30, fig. 1 and 3), but does not specifically teach an array of filter elements disposed over the array of photodiodes, the array of filter elements including at least two different types of filter element, and at least two different photodiodes in the array of photodiodes disposed under respective different types of filter element in the array of filter elements. Masa ’338 teaches an array of filter elements disposed over an array of pixels, the array of filter elements including at least two different types of filter element, and at least two different pixels in the array of photodiodes disposed under respective different types of filter element in the array of filter elements (paragraph 34 and 75, fig. 11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include an array of filters similar to Masa ‘338 with the array of photodiodes of Mizuno as modified by Masa in order to measure light of different wavelengths at different regions providing for more accurate angular position measurements.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizuno et al. (US 2005072912) as modified by Masa et al. (US 20200072644) and Masa (US 20130015338 herein after Masa ‘338) as applied to claim 14 above, and further in view of Masada et al. (US 20080099666).
Re claim 15: Masa ’338 teaches the array of filter elements disposed over the array of photodiodes, the array of filter elements including at least two different types of filter element, and at least two different pixels in the array of photodiodes disposed under respective different types of filter element in the array of filter elements (Masa ‘338, paragraph 34 and 75, fig. 11, filters, Mizuno, 501/502/51, fig. 1-3, Masa, 30, fig. 1 and 3, photodiodes and Masa, paragraphs 68-70 and 110-116, first mode is readout of all of the channels, second mode to readout a subset of the channels with a specific number of photodiodes, see fig. 21, 6, 7 and 8, the two modes are different and executed at a first time and second time respectively), but does not specifically teach wherein the one or more modes of operation of the readout circuit include a first mode of operation having a first spectral response and a second mode of operation having a second spectral response different from the first spectral response. Masada teaches one or more modes of operation of a readout circuit include a first mode of operation having a first spectral response and a second mode of operation having a second spectral response different from the first spectral response (paragraphs 84, 85 and 93, fig. 4 and 8, two different modes with different wavelengths to measure different locations/codes). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include a first and second mode of different spectral responses similar to Masada with the filtered array of photodiodes and different operation modes of Mizuno as modified by Masa and Masa ‘338 in order to measure light of different wavelengths at different regions providing for more accurate position measurements.
Claim(s) 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rothkopf et al. (US 20190170541) in view of Mizuno et al. (US 2005072912).
Re claim 16: Rothkopf teaches an electronic device (abstract, fig. 1), comprising: a housing (110) (fig. 1); the second a crown (140) having a shaft (160) (see fig. 1), the shaft (160) extending through the housing (110) and having a set of features (165) disposed around the shaft (160) (paragraph 36, fig. 1); a light source (170) positioned within the housing (110) and configured to emit light toward the shaft (160) (fig. 1); and an optical sensor (180, paragraph 31) including an array of photodiodes (paragraph 31) positioned within the housing (110) and configured to receive reflections of the emitted light from the set of features (165) (fig. 1), but does not specifically teach the optical sensor including, a shared epitaxial structure; and the array of photodiodes formed in the shared epitaxial structure and having an absence of guard structures between adjacent photodiodes. Mizuno teaches an electronic device (fig. 2, 4 and 5), comprising: a shared epitaxial structure (500) (paragraph 43, fig. 4); an array of photodiodes (501/502/51) formed in the shared epitaxial structure (500) (paragraph 43, fig. 4), the array of photodiodes (501/502) having an absence of guard structures between adjacent photodiodes (501/502) (see fig. 4, no isolation structures between photodiodes). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to use a two dimensional array of photodiodes similar to Mizuno as the array of photodiodes of Rothkopf in order to measure light in two different directions providing for more accurate angular positions.
Re claim 17: Rothkopf as modified by Mizuno teaches the electronic device, further comprising: a readout circuit (Mizuno, 70/60) electrically connected to the array of photodiodes (Mizuno, 501/502, see fig. 5) and operable to read out values for a set of channels defined by the photodiodes in the array of photodiodes (Mizuno, 501/502, fig. 5, paragraph 39 and 47-60).
Re claim 18: Rothkopf as modified by Mizuno teaches the electronic device, wherein: each channel in the set of channels includes multiple photodiodes (Rothkpf, see fig. 5A and 5B, paragraph 31, 75 and 76, plurality of photodiodes in two dimensions, one dimension along shaft, the other dimension perpendicular to shaft, Mizuno, fig. 2-5, plurality of channels with a plurality of photodiodes in y-direction and x-direction); and different channels in the set of channels have different axes parallel to an axis of rotation of the shaft (Rothkopf, see fig. 5A and 5B, paragraph 31, 75 and 76, plurality of photodiodes in two dimensions, one dimension along shaft, parallel axes to axis of rotation, the other dimension perpendicular to shaft, Mizuno, fig. 2-5, plurality of channels with a plurality of photodiodes in y-direction and x-direction).
Re claim 19: Rothkopf as modified by Mizuno teaches the electronic device, further comprising: a control circuit (Rothkopf paragraph 75 and 76, fig. 5 and 6, processor, Mizuno 70/60) operable to configure the readout circuit in one or more modes of operation, the one or more modes of operation defining, a first number of channels having different axes parallel to an axis of rotation of the shaft; and a second number of channels having different axes perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the shaft (Rothkopf, see fig. 5A and 5B, paragraph 31, 75 and 76, plurality of photodiodes in two dimensions, one dimension along shaft, parallel axes to axis of rotation, the other dimension perpendicular to shaft, Mizuno, fig. 2-5, plurality of channels with a plurality of photodiodes in y-direction and x-direction, at least one operation mode, where the output in two directions, one along/parallel the shaft with a plurality of channels, second perpendicular to shaft with a plurality of channels).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rothkopf et al. (US 20190170541) as modified by Mizuno et al. (US 2005072912) as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Matsui et al. (US 20210006738).
Re claim 20: Rothkopf as modified by Mizuno teaches the electronic device, further comprising: a readout circuit (Mizuno, 70/60) electrically connected to the array of photodiodes (Mizuno, 501/502, see fig. 5) and operable to read out values for a set of channels defined by the photodiodes in the array of photodiodes (Mizuno, 501/502, fig. 5, paragraph 39 and 47-60), but does not specifically teach wherein, in at least one mode of operation, each channel in the set of channels is defined by a respective photodiode in the array of photodiodes. Matsui teaches wherein, in at least one mode of operation, each channel in a set of channels is defined by a respective photodiode in an array of photodiodes (paragraphs 111-114, each channel in the plurality of channels is defined by respective photodiode, the grouping of channels and number of photodiodes in the channel based on the output of photodiode in an initial setting). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to define the channels of Rothkopf as modified by Mizuno similar to Matsui in order to reduce the channels to specific regions where light is being captured providing for more efficient measurements of light.
Conclusion
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/JENNIFER D BENNETT/Examiner, Art Unit 2878