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 .
Response to Amendment/Argument
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 05/15/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 17 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 17 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 05/15/2026 with respect to the rejection of claims 13-20 under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The prior art combination of record for the subject matter of canceled claim 15 does teach the limitation of “a Young's modulus ranging from 1 MPa to 100 MPa” because optically clear silicone falls within this range and provides the benefit of absorbing stress caused by differential thermal expansion and contraction between a chip and a substrate (¶0030 of Vadhavkar).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 13-14 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US-20220271018-A1 – hereinafter Chen) in view of Vadhavkar (US-20200098965-A1).
Regarding claim 13, Chen teaches an electronic device (Fig.16; ¶0075), comprising:
a substrate (Fig.16 16; ¶0075);
a patterned metal layer (Fig.16 122; ¶0045) on the substrate (16);
a metal layer (Fig.16 192) on the patterned metal layer (122);
an electronic component (Fig.16 19; ¶0075) comprising a plurality of bonding pads (Fig.16 191; ¶0069) on the metal layer (122); and
a glue (Fig.16 20; ¶0075) between the bonding pads (191).
Chen does not teach wherein the glue has a Young's modulus ranging from 1 MPa to 100 MPa to absorb stress generated from a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the electronic component and the substrate.
Vadhavkar teaches an underfill material that is optically clear silicone (¶0030 of Vadhavkar) disposed between a chip (Fig.1 102; ¶0030 of Vadhavkar) and a substrate (Fig.1 104; ¶0030 of Vadhavkar).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the silicone based material of Vadhavkar (¶0030 of Vadhavkar) as the underfill material for the underfill of Chen (20 of Chen) to arrive at the claimed invention. A practitioner would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of absorbing stress caused by differential thermal expansion and contraction between a chip and a substrate (¶0030 of Vadhavkar).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen.
Regarding claim 14, Chen teaches the electronic device as claimed in claim 13.
Chen does not teach wherein the glue has a thickness ranging from 50 microns to 600 microns.
However, it would have been obvious to form the thickness within the claimed range, since it has been held by the Federal circuit that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. (In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984)).
Regarding claim 16, Chen teaches the electronic device as claimed in claim 13.
Chen does not teach wherein the glue comprises white glue, optical glue or waterproof glue.
Vadhavkar teaches an underfill material that is optically clear silicone (¶0030 of Vadhavkar) disposed between a chip (Fig.1 102; ¶0030 of Vadhavkar) and a substrate (Fig.1 104; ¶0030 of Vadhavkar).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the silicone based material of Vadhavkar (¶0030 of Vadhavkar) as the underfill material for the underfill of Chen (20 of Chen) to arrive at the claimed invention. A practitioner would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of absorbing stress caused by differential thermal expansion and contraction between a chip and a substrate (¶0030 of Vadhavkar).
Regarding claim 17, Chen teaches the electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the metal layer (192) is between the substrate (16) and the bonding pads (191) of the electronic component (19).
Regarding claim 18, Chen teaches the electronic device as claimed in claim 17, further comprising a solder (Fig.16 193; ¶0069) on the metal layer (122), wherein the bonding pads (191) of the electronic component (19) are on the solder (193).
Regarding claim 19, Chen teaches the electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the glue (16) surrounds the bonding pads (191) from a top view of the electronic device (¶0082).
Regarding claim 20, Chen teaches the electronic device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the glue (16) surrounds the electronic component (19) from a top view of the electronic device (¶0014).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THADDEUS J KOLB whose telephone number is (571)272-0276. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/T.J.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/ELISEO RAMOS FELICIANO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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