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 .
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 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin (2010/0123984A1).
Lin discloses a protection circuit 200, comprising: a protection transistor 202, comprising a first end, a second end, and a control end, the first end being connected with a first end of a current path formed by a parasitic diode D1 of a semiconductor element 232 comprised in an internal circuit, and the second end being connected with a first power supply terminal Vdd; and a current limiting circuit D1,R2, connected in parallel with the protection transistor 202.
With regard to claim 8, Lin discloses a semiconductor device, comprising: the protection circuit as claimed in claim 1; and a protected circuit 210, having the internal circuit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 2-7 recite additional features, such as the step-down circuit of claim 2, that have not been taught or been fairly suggested by the prior art of record.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN W JACKSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2051. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-3:00.
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SWJackson
August 7, 2026
/STEPHEN W JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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