DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
2. Claims 1, 3 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iwama et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0054112 A1 (the ‘112 reference, of record).
Referring to claim 1, the ‘112 reference discloses an imaging unit comprising:
an imaging sensor chip (11, Figs. 1-2, 17B, para [29] (paragraph(s) [0029]));
a package substrate (13, para [30]) on which the imaging sensor chip (11) is mounted; and
an adhesion member (bond agent 19 (para [40]), Fig. 2, bond agent 25b, Fig. 17B, para [76]) that adheres a back surface of a light receiving surface of the imaging sensor chip (11) and a mounting surface of the package substrate (13) on which the imaging sensor chip (11) is mounted to each other,
wherein the adhesion member (25b) includes a central adhesion part (not labeled) adhered to a central portion of the imaging sensor chip (11) and a peripheral adhesion part adhered to a peripheral portion of the imaging sensor chip that is separated from the central portion, the peripheral portion being regions extending along a peripheral edge of the image element chip (11), and
the peripheral portion includes a first peripheral portion (top left 25b), a second peripheral portion (top right 25b), a third peripheral portion (lower left 25b), and a fourth peripheral portion (lower right 25b).
Referring to claim 3, Fig. 17B of the ‘112 reference further depicts that the peripheral portion (of the imaging sensor chip 11) includes four corner portions (generally coincide with 25b’s) of the imaging sensor chip (11).
Referring to claim 7, the ‘112 reference further discloses an imaging device (para [3]) comprising the imaging unit detailed above for claim 1.
Referring to claim 8, the ‘112 reference further discloses an imaging device (para [3]) comprising the imaging unit detailed above for claim 2.
Referring to claim 9, the ‘112 reference further discloses an imaging device (para [3]) comprising the imaging unit detailed above for claim 3.
Referring to claim 10, the ‘112 reference further discloses an imaging device (para [3]) comprising the imaging unit detailed above for claim 4.
Referring to claim 11, the ‘112 reference further discloses an imaging device (para [3]) comprising the imaging unit detailed above for claim 5.
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 of this title, 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.
3. Claims 2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over Iwama et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0054112 A1 (the ‘112 reference, of record).
Furthermore, referring to claim 2, although the reference does not specifically disclose relative dimensions as claimed, the claimed relative dimensions (wherein, in a case where an image height at a position of a peripheral edge of the light receiving surface from a center of the imaging sensor chip is defined as a reference image height, the central portion is a region inside a position where an image height is 45% or less of the reference image height, and the peripheral portion is a region from a position where an image height is 85% or more of the reference image height to the peripheral edge of the imaging sensor chip) will not support the patentability of subject matter encompassed by the prior art (the ‘112 reference’s imaging sensor chip 11 has the peripheral edge, a peripheral region, and the central region) unless there is evidence indicating such dimensions are critical. “[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation"; MPEP 2144.05.
Referring to claim 4, in a manner similar to that detailed above for claim 2, although the reference does not specifically disclose relative dimensions as claimed, the claimed relative dimensions (wherein, in a case where an image height at a position of a peripheral edge of the light receiving surface from a center of the imaging sensor chip is defined as a reference image height, the central portion is a region inside a position where an image height is 45% or less of the reference image height, and the four corner portions are located in a region from the peripheral edge of the imaging sensor chip to a position where an image height is 55% of the reference image height) will not support the patentability of subject matter encompassed by the prior art (the ‘112 reference’s imaging sensor chip 11 has a peripheral edge, the four corner portions, and the central region) unless there is evidence indicating such dimensions are critical.
Referring to claim 5, in a manner similar to that detailed above for claim 2, although the reference does not specifically disclose relative dimensions as claimed, the claimed relative dimensions (wherein a total value of areas of the four corner portions in a state of being viewed from a direction perpendicular to the light receiving surface is the same as an area of a region from the peripheral edge of the imaging sensor chip to a position where an image height is 85% or more of the reference image height) will not support the patentability of subject matter encompassed by the prior art (the ‘112 reference’s imaging sensor chip 11 has the peripheral edge and the four corner portions) unless there is evidence indicating such dimensions are critical.
4. Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over Iwama et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 20150054112 A1 (the ‘112 reference) in view of Kinsman et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 20170345862 or Jun U.S. Patent Application Publication 20150325611 (all of record).
Referring to claim 6, the ‘112 reference discloses an imaging unit including the imaging sensor chip (11) and the package substrate (13) on which the imaging sensor chip is mounted, but does not disclose a circuit board that is adhered to a back surface of the mounting surface of the package substrate.
Kinsman, in disclosing an imaging unit including an imaging sensor chip (10, Fig. 1, para [37] (paragraph(s) [0037])) and a package substrate (not labeled) on which the imaging sensor chip (10) is mounted, teaches a circuit board (8) that is adhered (via ball grid array 12) to a back surface of a mounting surface of the package substrate for the purpose of creating a working imaging device (para [2]+); or, Jun, in disclosing an imaging unit including an imaging sensor chip (20, Fig. 2A, para [48]) and a package substrate (10, para [46]) on which the imaging sensor chip (20) is mounted, teaches a circuit board (not shown) that is adhered (via solder ball 55, para [47]) to a back surface of a mounting surface of the package substrate for the purpose of creating a working imaging device (para [3]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the reference’s package substrate on a circuit board. One would have been motivated to make such a modification in view of the teachings in Kinsman or Jun to form a working imaging device.
Furthermore, referring to claim 12, the ‘112 reference further discloses an imaging device (para [3]) comprising the imaging unit detailed above for claim 6.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TU TU V HO whose telephone number is (571)272-1778. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday 6:30 - 15:00, Monday through Thursday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeff W Natalini can be reached on 571-272-2266. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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09-15-2026
/TU-TU V HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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