The microelectronics industry relies on constant innovation to provide new products and services at ever lower costs. Companies manufacturing microelectronic devices, including integrated circuits, MEMS, and microfluidics, expend significant resources and capital on research and development to fuel this innovation. Intellectual property protection, especially in the form of strong patents, is necessary to maintain competitiveness and prevent loss or return on the investments in R&D. Generating robust patents in this industry entails navigating between two formidable challenges.

First Challenge: Prior Art

The first challenge is identifying the prior art. Existing patents, non-patent literature, and documented prior use have an immense range over a kaleidoscopic landscape that needs to be explored. Microelectronics companies around the world are working to solve related problems brought on by the latest technology nodes, and are many times using similar approaches, thus generating that prior art in various manifestations. The USPTO is not always aware of material prior art, especially recent prior art, or may not recognize its applicability to a particular patent application, allowing issuance of claims that may be too broad. Patents with claims that are too broad often fail to deliver their intended protection during licensing and litigation. With serious money at stake, adversaries expend significantly more time and resources on invalidity research. A thorough patentability search is becoming table stakes for industry patents, which requires extensive experience in chip design, fabrication, and packaging, as well as a deep understanding of device physics and process technology. The patentability search must flag art that can contribute to an obviousness threat as well as spotting anticipatory art.

Second Challenge: Maintaining relevance

The second challenge is to write the patent to retain its applicability amidst changes in the industry over the life of the patent. Each new technology node in digital and memory brings new materials and new fab processes, which were often not well known when the patent was filed. Analog, mixed signal and MEMS similarly evolve in complexity, further broadening the art. Moreover, the decreasing cost per functionality across the industry opens up new applications that in turn drive new products. The robust patent cannot anticipate all the specific details of these changes, but must read on infringers’ products and processes.

Writing the patent to be enforceable 20 years later is accomplished by crystallizing the inventive concept in the independent claims, while demonstrating possession of the invention in embodiments and dependent claims that clearly furnish a comprehensive coverage. Meeting this second challenge is attained by a combination of detailed knowledge of the technology and experience in patent writing skills distilled from prosecution through the USPTO. Successful prosecution, including allowance of the broadest claims, is accomplished by starting with a robust application, and applying the same industry experience and technical knowledge to the Office actions.

Finally, the patent can achieve its intended goal of protecting the invention while withstanding intense adverse scrutiny during licensing and litigation.