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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/23/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendment(s) filed 7/3/2024.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show “orthogonal projections of at least two of pressure sensing chambers on the base substrate have areas different from each other.” as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 11-14 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 13 & 14 the recitation “orthogonal projections of at least two of pressure sensing chambers on the base substrate have areas different from each other.”, is not clearly defined. The applicant sets forth “orthogonal projections” but has not sufficiently provided, shown and / or clearly established where the “orthogonal projections” are structurally related with respect to the specifications and / or the drawings. The applicant appears to recite a limitation in the claim that does not appear to be reflected in the specification / drawings.
Regarding claim 11 the recitation “the areas of the orthogonal projections of the pressure sensing chambers”, is not clearly defined. The applicant sets forth “areas of the “orthogonal projections” but has not sufficiently provided, shown and / or clearly established where the “areas” and “orthogonal projections” are structurally related with respect to the specifications and / or the drawings. The applicant appears to recite a limitation in the claim that does not appear to be reflected in the specification / drawings.
Regarding claims 12 and 21 the recitation “the areas of the orthogonal projections of the pressure sensing chambers of the sensing units in a same row”, is not clearly defined. The applicant sets forth “areas of the “orthogonal projections” but has not sufficiently provided, shown and / or clearly established where the “areas”, “orthogonal projections” and row are structurally related with respect to the specifications and / or the drawings. The applicant appears to recite a limitation in the claim that does not appear to be reflected in the specification / drawings.
Regarding claim 14 the recitation “the areas of the orthogonal projections of the pressure sensing chambers of the sensing units in a same row”, is not clearly defined. The applicant sets forth “areas of the “orthogonal projections” but has not sufficiently provided, shown and / or clearly established where the “areas”, “orthogonal projections” and row are structurally related with respect to the specifications and / or the drawings. The applicant appears to recite a limitation in the claim that does not appear to be reflected in the specification / drawings.
Since the applicant has not clearly established the feature, the claim is being interpreted as NOT including “orthogonal projections of at least two of pressure sensing chambers on the base substrate have areas different from each other.”. The “orthogonal projections” hereinafter are being interpreted as support structure(s).
Claims 2-13, 15-16, 19 and 23-24 are rejected based on their dependency of rejected claims 1, 11, 12, 14 and / or 21.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 11, 13-15, 23 & 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1() as being anticipated by Ota et al (WO 2023032501 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 11 and 14 Ota et al teaches a base substrate 34, and a plurality of sensing units 30 30E on the base substrate 34, wherein each of the plurality of sensing units 30 30E comprises a pressure sensing chamber 36, and orthogonal projections 311 of at least two of pressure sensing chambers 36 on the base substrate 20 34 have areas different from each other.
Regarding claims 13 & 23 Ota et al as teaches base substrate has a shape of a rectangle or a circle (fig. 2, 7 & 9-13).
Regarding claim 15 Ota et al as teaches forming a support layer on the base substrate, and patterning the support layer to form the respective pressure sensing chambers 36 (fig. 2, 7 & 9-13).
Regarding claim 24 Ota et al as teaches an electronic device, comprising the pressure sensor (fig. 1-13)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 7-10 & 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ota et al (WO 2023032501 A1) in view of Bentley et al (US 8770034 B2).
Regarding claims 7, 9 & 19 Ota et al teaches all of the basic features of the claimed invention. Ota et al however does not disclose four pressure sensing resistors which are formed on the pressure sensing layer and connected in series, and the four pressure sensing resistors form a Wheatstone bridge and conductive wires connecting the pressure sensing resistors together in series. Bentley et al discloses a piezoresistive pressure sensing device that discloses four pressure sensing resistors which are formed on the pressure sensing layer and connected in series via conductive wires, and the four pressure sensing resistors form a Wheatstone bridge (Col. 7 lines 48-67 – Col. 8 lines 1-4) (Claims 1, 9 &11) (fig. 6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art of piezoresistive pressure sensing devices before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pressure sensing device as taught by Ota et al to further include four pressure sensing resistors which are formed on the pressure sensing layer and connected in series, and the four pressure sensing resistors form a Wheatstone bridge as taught by Bentley et al for the purpose of accurately sensing deformation of a deformable pressure sensing layer. Moreover, without undue experimentation it is well within the skill set of a person having ordinary skill in the art of pressure sensing devices to provide half-bridge / Wheatstone bridge configurations to fluid detect force / pressure.
Regarding claim 8 Ota et al as modified by Bentley et al teaches all of the basic features of the claimed invention. However, Ota et al as modified by Bentley et al does not disclose the pressure sensing resistors in each sensing unit are obtained by performing ion implantation on the pressure sensing layer. Since Ota et al as modified by Bentley et al teach a pressure sensing resistor arrangement, lacking any criticality, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art of MEMS pressure sensing devices before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to performing ion implantation or whatever implementation readily available to the manufacturer for the purpose of accurately disposing resistor onto a deformable pressure receiving member. Moreover, the applicant has not provided evidence that “ion implementation” in particular solves a stated problem or utilized for a particular purpose.
Regarding claim 10 Ota et al as teaches the base substrate is a silicon substrate (figs. 2 & 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 11, 16 & 21 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2 the cited prior art of record does not anticipate nor render obvious a first pressure sensing layer and a second pressure sensing layer, wherein the first pressure sensing layer and the second pressure sensing layer are arranged on two sides of each pressure sensing chamber in a depth direction of the pressure sensing chamber, the first pressure sensing layer comprises first pole plates of respective sensing units, and the second pressure sensing layer comprises second pole plates of the respective sensing units.
Regarding claims 11 & 21 the cited prior art of record does not anticipate nor render obvious a plurality of sensing units arranged in an array, the areas orthogonal projections of pressure sensing chambers of a sensing units in a same row on a base substrate are monotonously increased or monotonously decreased, and/or the areas of the orthogonal projections of the pressure sensing chambers of the sensing units in a same column on the base substrate are monotonously increased or monotonously decreased.
Regarding claim 16 the cited prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious a first pressure sensing layer and a second pressure sensing layer on two sides of each pressure sensing chamber in a depth direction of a pressure sensing chamber, wherein the first pressure sensing layer comprises first pole plates disposed in one-to-one correspondence with the pressure sensing chambers, and the second pressure sensing layer comprises second pole plates disposed in one-to-one correspondence with the pressure sensing chambers; and wherein the base substrate is a silicon substrate, and the first pressure sensing layer is formed by performing ion implantation on the silicon substrate; or the forming a second pressure sensing layer on the pressure sensing chambers comprises: providing an SOI sheet, wherein the SOI sheet comprises an auxiliary substrate, and a transition layer and a monocrystalline silicon layer which are arranged on the auxiliary substrate; bonding the monocrystalline silicon layer of the SOI sheet with the base substrate provided with the pressure sensing chambers; and removing the auxiliary substrate and the transition layer to remain the monocrystalline silicon layer, thereby forming the second pressure sensing layer.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 12578244 Pressure sensor and method of manufacturing pressure sensor
CN 120992095 A New air pressure MEMS sensor
CN 119124413 A MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensor and preparation method thereof
US 11939212 B2 MEMS device, manufacturing method of the same, and integrated MEMS module using the same
WO 2023032501 A1 PRESSURE SENSOR ELEMENT AND PRESSURE SENSOR
CN 114088257 A MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensor and preparation method thereof
CN 105060238 B based on the capacitance type pressure sensor for ultra-thin film manufacturing method
US 8770034 B2 Packaged sensor with multiple sensors elements
US 20140159122 A1 P-channel/n-channel FET operating type semiconductor pressure sensor for use in vehicle, has sealing portion for sealing void, where movable electrode is formed of film identical to conductor film qualified as electrodes
US 8316718 B2 MEMS pressure sensor device and method of fabricating same
WO 2012122875 A1 MEMS PRESSURE SENSOR AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREFOR
US 6006607 A Piezoresistive pressure sensor with sculpted diaphragm
WO 2011148973 A1 PRESSURE SENSOR AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING PRESSURE SENSOR
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDRE J ALLEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2174. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 9am-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kristina M Deherrera can be reached at (303) 297-4237. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDRE J ALLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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