CTNF 18/676,545 CTNF 81517 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. DETAILED ACTION This action is responsive to the application No. 18/676,545 filed on 05/29/2024. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Information Disclosure Statement Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS has been considered. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by US Pub # 2010/0320461 to Su et al. (SU) . Regarding independent claim 1 , Su discloses a semiconductor device (Fig. 4H), comprising: a semiconductor substrate (Fig. 4H: 402); an active device region (see Examiner’s Mark-up below) comprising a plurality of gate trenches (403A and 403B) formed at a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate (402); a current sensor region (see Examiner’s Mark-up below) comprising a plurality of gate trenches (405A and 405B) formed at the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate (402); and a transition region (see Examiner’s Mark-up below) arranged between the active device region and the current sensor region, wherein the transition region comprises a supplementary trench (406) formed at the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate (402), wherein the supplementary trench (406) separates the plurality of gate trenches (403A and 403B) of the active device region from the plurality of gate trenches (405A and 405B) of the current sensor region, wherein an electrode (408 and ¶0035) formed in the supplementary trench (406) is neither electrically connected (¶0037) to gate electrodes (408) formed in the plurality of gate trenches (403A and 403B) of the active device region nor electrically connected to gate electrodes (408) formed in the plurality of gate trenches (405A and 405B) of the current sensor region (see ¶0037). ¶0037 explicitly discloses “The P-type dopants 412 proximate the isolation trench 406 form body rings that help provide electrical isolation between the main FET and the sense FET.” PNG media_image1.png 412 761 media_image1.png Greyscale Regarding claim 2 , Su discloses an emitter/source pad (Fig. 4H: 421) formed over the semiconductor substrate (402) and electrically connected to a source region (413 and ¶0037) formed in the active device region; a sense pad (Fig. 4H: 422) formed over the semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to a source region (414) formed in the current sensor region; and a gate pad (Fig. 4H: 420) formed over the semiconductor substrate and electrically connected to the gate electrodes (408) of the active device region and to the gate electrodes (408) of the current sensor region (see ¶0038 and Fig. 4G). Regarding claim 12 , Su discloses wherein the plurality of gate trenches (Fig. 4H: 408) of the active device region has at least one of a same width or a same depth as the plurality of gate trenches (408) of the current sensor region (see Examiner’s Mark-up from claim 1 and ¶0036) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub # 2010/0320461 to Su et al. (SU) in view of US Pub # 2016/0343702 to Tomita et al. (Tomita) . Regarding claim 4 , Su discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 from which this claim depends. Su fails to explicitly discloses a temperature sensor region comprising a temperature sensor device, wherein a first terminal of the temperature sensor device is electrically connected to the sense pad. Tomita discloses a temperature sensor region comprising a temperature sensor device, wherein a first terminal of the temperature sensor device is electrically connected to the sense pad. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have provided the semiconductor substrate of Su with the temperature sensor region as taught by Tomita in order to detect a temperature by detecting a voltage between the first and second sense electrodes while causing a current to flow constantly between the first and second sense electrodes (¶0037) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub # 2010/0320461 to Su et al. (SU) in view of US Pub # 2022/0165879 to Dainese et al. (Dainese) . Regarding claim 9 , Su discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 from which this claim depends. Su fails to explicitly discloses a further supplementary trench extending in parallel with the supplementary trench. Dainese discloses a further supplementary trench (Fig. 1C: 108) extending in parallel (¶0023) with the supplementary trench (another trench 108) (see Examiner’s Mark-up below). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have provided the semiconductor substrate of Su with the further supplementary trench as taught by Dainese in order to provide an electrically conductive connection between the emitter regions and the drift zone in both the power device region and the current sense region (¶0026). PNG media_image2.png 483 885 media_image2.png Greyscale Regarding claim 10 , Su discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 from which this claim depends. Su fails to explicitly discloses wherein the supplementary trench at least partly surrounds the current sensor region. Dainese discloses wherein the supplementary trench (see Examiner’s Mark-up below) at least partly surrounds the current sensor region (see Examiner’s Mark-up below). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have provided the semiconductor substrate of Su with the supplementary trench as taught by Dainese in order to provide an electrically conductive connection between the emitter regions and the drift zone in both the power device region and the current sense region (¶0026) . PNG media_image3.png 479 890 media_image3.png Greyscale Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3, 5-8, 11 and 13-20 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. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 3 recites: “ wherein the electrode formed in the supplementary trench is electrically connected to the source region of the active device region.” Claim 5 recites: “ wherein the semiconductor device is configured to allow for a measurement of a current in the current sensor region using the sense pad when the gate pad is switched to a first state, and wherein the semiconductor device is further configured to allow for a measurement of a temperature of the semiconductor device using the sense pad when the gate pad is switched to a second state.” Claim 11 recites: “ wherein the current sensor region is embedded in the active device region; the supplementary trench separates the plurality of gate trenches of the active device region from the plurality of gate trenches of the current sensor region at a first side of the current sensor region; and a further supplementary trench separates the plurality of gate trenches of the current sensor region from a plurality of further gate trenches of the active device region at a second side of the current sensor region that is opposite to the first side.” Claim 13 recites: “wherein the plurality of gate trenches of the active device region extends along a first direction parallel to the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate; the active device region further comprises a plurality of emitter trenches extending along the first direction in parallel with and in between the gate trenches; the plurality of gate trenches of the current sensor region extends along the first direction parallel to the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate; the current sensor region further comprises a plurality of emitter trenches extending along the first direction in parallel with and in between the gate trenches; and the supplementary trench extends at least partly along a second direction which is orthogonal to the first direction.” Each of the above recitations, interpreted in combination with all other limitations of the claim and all limitations of any claims they depend from, is not taught or rendered obvious by the prior art of record and are indicated as allowable subject matter . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Pub # 2020/0335622 to Hiyoshi, US Pub # 2018/0277641 to Karmous, US Pub # 2017/0179278 to Baldwin et al., US Pub # 2024/0014300 to Osawa . Osawa discloses a semiconductor device (Fig. 4), comprising a semiconductor device 10, a device main surface 10s, a device back surface 10r facing away from the device main surface 10s (see FIG. 4), and four device side surfaces 10a to 10d formed between the device main surface 10s and the device back surface 10r, an emitter electrode 21, an anode 22, a gate electrode 23, a current sense electrode 24, and a cathode 25, the semiconductor device 10 includes a temperature sensitive diode 60 for detecting the temperature of the semiconductor device 10, multiple trenches 35 are arranged side by side on the surfaces (substrate surface 30s) of the base regions 34 in both the main cell region 18M and the sense cell region 24A, a gate trench 23A and an emitter trench 21A are formed by the electrode material embedded in each trench 35. 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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. /MOHSEN AHMADI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896 Application/Control Number: 18/676,545 Page 2 Art Unit: 2896 Application/Control Number: 18/676,545 Page 3 Art Unit: 2896 Application/Control Number: 18/676,545 Page 4 Art Unit: 2896 Application/Control Number: 18/676,545 Page 5 Art Unit: 2896 Application/Control Number: 18/676,545 Page 6 Art Unit: 2896
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