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 .
Response to Amendment
Previous made 112 rejections withdrawn in view of the amendments.
New grounds of rejection presented based on newly found art necessitated by the amendments.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Clarke et al. TW I735854-B.
Clarke teaches:
1. An electrical overstress (EOS) monitor or protection device comprising:
a substrate (ie 304 and see corresponding substrate surface of FIG2A) having a horizontal main surface; and
a plurality of arcing electrode pairs (136/140 pairs 1, 2, 3, FIG1D) comprising conductive layers (ie see corresponding layers of FIG2A disclosed as representative of FIGs 1A to 1D) over the horizontal main surface, different ones of the plurality of arcing electrode pairs separated in a vertical direction by different vertical distances (See FIG9A disclosed as different distance intervals depicted as D1, D2, D3, FIG9) , wherein each pair serves as an arcing electrode pair and different ones of the plurality of arcing electrode pairs are configured to arc discharge at different trigger voltages in response to an EOS signal. See FIG3 and corresponding specification, provided below:
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an excessive electrical stress monitoring device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a conductive structure 316 arranged to monitor a plurality of pairs of different intervals of voltage and/or energy related to an excessive electrical stress event . The plurality of pairs of conductive structures 316 with different intervals includes a plurality of pairs 316-1, 316-2 to 316-n each having a conductive structure spaced therebetween, wherein the plurality of pairs 316-1, 316-2 to 316-n The conductive structures at different intervals are electrically connected in parallel, and are arranged to respectively respond to different excessive electrical stress voltages V.sub.TR1, V.sub.TR2 to V.sub.TRn to form an arc. One end of the plurality of pairs of conductive structures 316 with different intervals is connected to a high-voltage power supply, a high-voltage pin or a high-voltage node 304, and the other end is connected to a plurality of fuses 320 and a plurality of sensing circuits 324.
2. The EOS monitor or protection device of Claim 1, wherein the plurality of pairs of conductive layers comprise:
a plurality of first conductive layers formed at different vertical levels above the horizontal main surface, each of the plurality of first conductive layers extending in a lateral direction substantially parallel to the horizontal main surface; and a second conductive layer formed between the plurality of first conductive layers and the horizontal main surface and extending in the lateral direction, wherein the different ones of the plurality of arcing electrode pairs are formed by different ones of the plurality of first conductive layers paired with the second conductive layer (see FIG2A and FIG1D and corresponding specification).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 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.
Claims 8-16 are allowed.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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 DANIEL CAVALLARI whose telephone number is (571)272-8541. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0900-18:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571)272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL CAVALLARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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