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 § 112
Claims 1-14 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 claim 1, it is unclear what exactly constitutes the claimed “first conductivity member” and “second conductivity member”. It appears, from Figs.4A and 4C, that the claimed first conductivity member corresponds to a contact 114 (Fig.4C). Assuming the claimed first conductivity member refers to a contact 114 in Fig.4C, then it is unclear what the claimed second conductivity member corresponds in accordance with Fig.4C. Does it refer to a contact 116? If so, it appears that the contact116 isn’t connected to a power source wiring. If the second conductivity member corresponds to a contact 117 in Fig.4C, it appears that the contact 117 isn’t connected to a gate 110. Thus, it is unclear what constitutes first and second conductivity members. Clarification is required. Furthermore, it is not entirely clear that these “conductive members” are wiring elements providing a permanent electrical connection and not transistors which can be switched. A transistor is also a conductive member as it selectively provides a conductive connection between source and drain across its channel according to the gate voltage applied.
In addition, it is unclear what constitutes the claimed “transistor” in accordance with drawings. Does it refer to a source follower transistor? Or does it refer to a select transistor? Clarification is required. Further, it is unclear what exactly constitutes the terminals of the transistor. The transistor only has “a first main electrode” and “a gate” defined in the claim. It is unclear what the “first main electrode” is. A transistor has 3-4 terminals (a gate, a source, a drain and optionally a substrate contact) and it is unclear which of these terminals the “first main electrode” corresponds to. Clarification is required.
Claims not specifically mentioned above are rejected by virtue of their dependency on a rejected claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 1-14, the prior art fails to disclose or make obvious a photoelectric conversion device comprising, in addition to other recited features of the claim, the details and functions of a photoelectric conversion unit including a first semiconductor region of a first conductivity, a second semiconductor region of the first conductivity type, a transistor, an insulation layer, a first conductive member and a second conductive member in the manner recited in claim 1.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Funabashi (US 2023/0353899 A1) is cited for disclosing an imaging device comprising a photoelectric conversion layer, a transistor, gate electrodes and first and second contact plugs.
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/KEVIN K PYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
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