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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 20 March 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 6, and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue (US 2007/0257998 A1) in view of Chapman (US 2019/0348456 A1).
Claim 1, Inoue teaches a solid-state imaging device (imaging apparatus; paragraph 0070) comprising a pixel part having an array of pixels arranged therein (pixel array; paragraph 0049), each of the pixels including a photoelectric conversion part and being configured to perform photoelectric conversion on light incident thereon (photodiode PD; paragraph 0052 and Fig. 3), wherein, in the pixel part, at least two adjacent pixels of the pixels form a pixel unit (see repeating pixel units of Fig. 25), wherein a first pixel of the pixel unit includes:
a first transmission filter having a predetermined transparency (red transmitting filter 405R; paragraph 0182 and Fig. 25), the first transmission filter being provided on a light incidence path leading to a light incidence surface of a corresponding photoelectric conversion part (see paragraph 0061, Fig. 4); and
a first microlens for redirecting incident light toward the light incidence surface of the corresponding photoelectric conversion part via the first transmission filter (micro-lens 406 of red color pixel R; paragraph 0181 and Fig. 25),
wherein a second pixel of the pixel unit includes:
a second transmission filter having a higher transparency than the first transmission filter (transparent filter 405NC of non-color pixel NC; paragraph 0181 and Fig. 25), the second transmission filter being provided on a light incidence path leading to a light incidence surface of a corresponding photoelectric conversion part (see paragraph 0061, Fig. 4);
a second microlens for redirecting incident light toward the light incidence surface of the corresponding photoelectric conversion part via the second transmission filter, and wherein a second incident light redirecting region handled by the second microlens is larger than a first incident light redirecting region handled by the first microlens (size of micro-lens 406 of non-color pixel NC are larger than the micro-lens 406 of the red color pixel R; paragraph 0181),
but Inoue is silent regarding wherein the size of the second incident light redirecting region is selected based on the higher transparency of the second transmission filter to control an amount of photocharge generated in the corresponding photoelectric conversion part.
Chapman teaches wherein a size of an incident light redirecting region (diameter or width of opening for microlenses; paragraph 0062) is selected based on the transparency of the transmission filter to control an amount of photocharge generated in the corresponding photoelectric conversion part (characteristics of microlenses are tuned based on the given color, i.e., transmissivity, of the color filter element; paragraph 0062).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Chapman with that of Inoue in order to improve dynamic range and to mitigate cross-talk between pixels (see paragraph 0016, 0020 of Chapman).
Claim 2, Inoue further teaches wherein the second microlens has a greater diameter than the first microlens in a direction parallel to the light incidence surface of the photoelectric conversion part (micro-lens 406 of non-color pixel NC is larger than micro-lens 406 of red color pixel R; paragraph 0165).
Claim 5, Inoue further teaches wherein a unit color matrix is formed by pixels of at least two adjacent pixel units (see pixel group comprising R,B,G,NC pixels; Fig. 23) .
Claim 6, Inoue further teaches wherein the unit color matrix includes, as the second transmission filters, W (clear, mono) filters that are highly transparent for enhanced responsiveness (NC pixels have a transparent filter 405 NC; paragraph 0164).
Claim 16 is analyzed and rejected as a method for manufacturing the device of claim 1 (see manufacturing steps of Figs. 8-15 and paragraph 0064).
Claim 17 is analyzed and rejected as an electronic apparatus comprising the solid-state imaging device of claim 1 (see camera, paragraph 0005, 0167).
Claim 18, Inoue further teaches wherein the second transmission filter underlying the larger second incident light redirecting region, handled by the second microlens, is made from a highly transparent material (transparent filter 405NC may be formed using a transparent resin; paragraph 0060).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue in view of Chapman, and further in view of Okigawa (US 2014/0204249 A1).
Claim 3, Inoue in view of Chapman teaches the solid-state imaging device of claim 2, but is silent regarding wherein the second microlens of the second pixel extends radially beyond a region of the second pixel over a region of the first pixel adjacent to the second pixel adjacent to the second pixel.
Okigawa teaches wherein a second microlens of a second pixel extends radially beyond a region of the second pixel over a region of the first pixel adjacent to the second pixel adjacent to the second pixel (a part of microlenses 57R,57B gets into an area of an adjacent pixel; see Fig. 8 and paragraph 0083).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the teaching of Okigawa with that of Inoue and Chapman in order to more effectively use an open area of an adjacent pixel and to increase the sensitivity of the corresponding pixel (see paragraph 0084 of Okigawa).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue in view of Chapman and Okigawa, and further in view of Kuo (US 2023/0154956 A1).
Claim 4, Inoue in view of Chapman and Okigawa teaches the solid-state imaging device of claim 3, but is silent regarding wherein the second microlens is shaped like a polyhedron having extended portions that are equally extended in respective extending directions.
Kuo teaches wherein a microlens is shaped like a polyhedron having extended portions that are equally extended in respective extending directions (see polyhedron structure 110; paragraph 0044 and Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the teaching of Kuo with that of the cited prior art in order to improve the performance of photodiodes by focusing light beams to be more correlated with the positions of photodiodes (see paragraph 0007 of Kuo).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue in view of Chapman, and further in view of Iwata (US 2021/0358983 A1).
Claim 7, Inoue in view of Chapman teaches the solid-state imaging device of claim 5, but is silent regarding wherein the unit color matrix includes, as the first transmission filters, IR filters for background light subtraction and/or specific optical imaging.
Iwata teaches a solid-state imaging device (Fig. 1) wherein a unit color matrix includes, as the first transmission filters, IR filters for background light subtraction and/or specific optical imaging (infrared cut-off filter 13 layer for a red pixel; paragraph 0047 and Fig. 3).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the teaching of Iwata with that of Inoue and Chapman in order to prevent infrared light from reaching photoelectric conversion elements and to improve accuracy of detection of visible light (see paragraph 0047 of Iwata).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-15 are allowed.
The reasons for allowance can be found in the Office Action of 10 September 2025.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See attached PTO-892.
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIAWEI A CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 12:00pm - 9:00pm EST.
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/CHIAWEI CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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