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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 18 June 2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 18 June 2026. These drawings are unacceptable.
The drawings are unacceptable and therefore objected to because:
The drawings contain figures or views that are not clearly separated. All views of the drawing must be clearly separated from one another. Furthermore, arrows cannot be used to connect different views. Refer to 37 CFR 1.84(h) and 1.84(r). See pages 1-3.
The drawing sheet numbering is formatted improperly. The drawing sheet numbering must be clear and larger than the numbers used as reference characters to avoid confusion. Refer to 37 CFR 1.84(t). See Page(s) 1-8.
The view numbering format is improper because the magnification of a portion of a view is not labeled as a separate view. When a portion of a view is enlarged for magnification purposes, the view and the enlarged view must each be labeled as separate views. Refer to 37 CFR 1.84(h). See Figure(s) 1.
The drawings contain deficient line quality. All drawings must be made by a process which will give them satisfactory reproduction characteristics. Every line must be durable, clean, black (except for color drawings), sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined. Refer to 37 CFR 1.84(l). See Figure(s) 1-13.
Applicant is advised to employ the services of a competent patent draftsperson outside the Office, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office no longer prepares new drawings. The corrected drawings are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The requirement for corrected drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 8-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeh et al. (U.S. 2019/0393140).
Regarding Claim 1, Yeh et al., Figures 8b, discloses an integrated device package comprising:
a substrate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side (substrate 10);
an electronic component mounted on the second side of the substrate (electronic component 11a);
a molding material disposed at least on the first side of the substrate, the molding material having an exterior surface facing away from the substrate (molding material 12/44); and
a conductive material disposed on the first side of the substrate and extending through the molding material (conductive material 45),
wherein the exterior surface of the molding material comprises laser grooves indicative of laser lapping (molding material 12/44. Please note that “laser lapping”, in light of the specification, is interpreted to mean removal by laser, not physical material. Therefore laser ablation, drilling, scanning, cutting, polishing, deflashing, etc. would read on laser “lapping” [0088]).
Regarding Claim 2, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the conductive material protrude above the exterior surface of the molding material (conductive material 45).
Regarding Claim 3, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, wherein the exterior surface of the molding material comprises a lower surface and a raised surface (molding material 44).
Regarding Claim 4, Yeh et al., Figures 8a and 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, wherein more than 50% of the total exterior surface comprises the laser grooves ([0088]).
Regarding Claim 5, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, wherein the molding material comprises a first portion and a second portion, the first portion is disposed on the first side of the substrate and the second portion is disposed on the second side of the substrate, the first portion including the exterior surface, and the second portion having a second exterior surface facing away from the substrate (molding material 12/44).
Regarding Claim 8, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, wherein the electronic component comprises an integrated device die, or a packaged device ([0029]).
Regarding Claim 9, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, wherein the conductive material comprises a solder ball or a metal slug ([0086]).
10, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 1, further comprising a second conductive material disposed on the second side of the substrate ([0027-0029]).
Regarding Claim 11, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, discloses an integrated device package comprising:
a substrate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side (substrate 10);
an electronic component mounted on the first side (electronic component 45); and
a molding material disposed at least on the first side of the substrate, the molding material having an exterior surface facing away from the substrate (molding material 12/44),
wherein at least a portion of the electronic component is exposed through the molding material, and the exterior surface of the molding material comprises laser grooves indicative of laser lapping ([0088] Please note that “laser lapping”, in light of the specification, is interpreted to mean removal by laser, not physical material. Therefore laser ablation, drilling, scanning, cutting, polishing, deflashing, etc. would read on “laser lapping”), and
wherein a second electronic component is mounted on the second side (second electronic component 11a).
Regarding Claim 12, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 11, wherein at least a portion of the electronic component protrudes above the exterior surface of the molding material (electronic component 45).
Regarding Claim 13, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 11, wherein the exterior surface comprises a lower surface and a raised surface (molding material 12/44).
Regarding Claim 14, Yeh et al., Figures 8a and 8b, further discloses the integrated device package of Claim 11, wherein more than 50% of the second exterior surface comprises the laser grooves ([0088]).
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, 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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (U.S. 2019/0393140) as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Huang et al. (U.S. 2015/0187607).
Regarding Claim 6, Yeh et al., Figure 8 does not explicitly disclose that the second exterior surface comprises laser grooves indicative of laser lapping. In the same field of endeavor Huang et al. discloses laser lapping molding compounds formed over the backs of electronic components to planarize said molding compound (Huang et al., molding material 304, electronic component 110, Figures 4-5 [0031]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to planarize and thin the molding compound over the second side of the substrate thereby forming the second exterior surface to comprise laser grooves indicative of laser lapping in The et al. in view of Huang et al., in order to increase processing yield (Huang et al., [0032],[0046].
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (U.S. 2019/0393140) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Weng et al. (U.S. 2011/0117700).
Regarding Claim 7, Yeh et al., Figure 8b, does not explicitly disclose wherein the conductive material comprises laser grooves indicative of laser lapping. In the same field of endeavor, Weng et al. discloses a package wherein a conductive material covered by a molding layer comprises laser grooves indicative of laser lapping (Weng et al., conductive material 706, Figure 7e, [0065-0066]). 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 the conductive material comprise laser grooves indicative of laser lapping in Yeh et al. in view of Weng et al. in order to increase device density (Weng et al., [0031]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Abbigale Boyle whose telephone number is 571-270-7919. The Examiner can normally be reached from 11 A.M to 7 P.M., Monday through Friday.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Zandra Smith, can be reached at 571-272-2429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Abbigale Boyle
Examiner, Art Unit 2899
/ABBIGALE A BOYLE/Examiner, Art Unit 2899
/DALE E PAGE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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