DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/2/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I, Figs. 19A-21 in the reply filed on 12/15/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 2, 5, 8, 10-11 and 16-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/15/2025.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Fig. 21 shows two “heatsink 1702”. It’s also unclear where the semiconductor chip 1706 is located in Fig. 21, which is important to the claimed invention.
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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 7, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MacGregor et al. (US 2008/0081489; hereinafter “MacGregor”)
Regarding claim 1, MacGregor discloses an apparatus (Figs. 1A, 1B) comprising:
a carrier plate (101, Fig. 1A) including:
a first surface (top surface of 101) to face a heatsink (not shown, but mentioned in [0030]: “…The thermal solution may be a heat sink, a fan or combination…”);
a second surface (bottom surface of 101) opposite the first surface; and
an aperture (aperture of 101) extending between the first and second surfaces, the aperture dimensioned to surround a semiconductor device (103, Figs. 1A, 1B); and
a spring (same as the resilient surface of 101, which is like a spring when under load lever 109 as shown in Fig. 1B) carried by the carrier plate, the spring to contact a surface (outer edge surface of 103 as shown in Fig. 1B) of the semiconductor device proximate an outer edge of the semiconductor device (as shown in Fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 6, MacGregor discloses the apparatus of claim 1, and MacGregor further discloses wherein a first end of the spring is to contact the surface of the semiconductor device and a second end of the spring (see two ends in cropped Fig. 1B below) is to contact a bolster plate (same as 107, Fig. 1A) on a printed circuit board (111, Fig. 1A).
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Regarding claim 7, MacGregor discloses the apparatus of claim 1, and MacGregor further discloses wherein the spring is a first spring positioned on a first side of the carrier plate (such as left side of 101 in Fig. 1B), further including a second spring (such as right side of 101 in Fig. 1B) positioned on a second side of the carrier plate, the second side opposite the first side.
Regarding claim 12, MacGregor discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the spring is to distribute a load from the heatsink to the surface of the semiconductor device when the semiconductor device is pressed into a corresponding socket (see load distribution arrows in Fig. 1B; note heatsink can be loaded on top of 103).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 4 and 9 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.
Claims 13-15 and 23-26 are allowed.
Re claims 3, 4, prior arts do not teach or suggest the combination of the apparatus of claim 3, in particular, wherein the carrier plate includes a cavity in the first surface, the spring positioned in the cavity.
Re claims 9, prior arts do not teach or suggest the combination of the apparatus of claim 3, in particular, wherein the spring is a torsional spring.
Re claims 13-15, prior arts do not teach or suggest the combination of the apparatus of claim 13, in particular, a carrier plate to be coupled to a heatsink, the carrier plate including an aperture to receive a semiconductor device, the semiconductor device to be thermally coupled to the heatsink; and a torsional spring to extend through a channel in the carrier plate, the torsional spring to contact a surface of the semiconductor device.
Re claims 23-26, prior arts do not teach or suggest the combination of the method of claim 23, in particular, positioning an integrated circuit (IC) package in an aperture of a carrier plate; positioning a torsional spring in a cavity of the carrier plate to contact a surface of the IC package proximate an outer edge of the IC package; and
attaching the carrier plate to a heatsink to thermally couple the IC package to the heatsink.
*Note that if the case is found allowable, species II can be withdrawn and claims 16-17 can be rejoined.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Cheng (US 11,411,332) discloses an apparatus (Figs. 1-2) comprising: a carrier plate (70, Fig. 2) including: a first surface (top surface of 70, Fig. 2); a second surface (bottom surface of 70 shown in Fig. 2) opposite the first surface; and an aperture (aperture within 70 for 80 in Figs. 1, 2) extending between the first and second surfaces, the aperture dimensioned to surround a semiconductor device (80, Figs. 1, 2); and a spring (spring in 40, Fig. 2; can refer to 43 in Fig. 8) carried by the carrier plate.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES WU whose telephone number is (571)270-7974. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00AM - 5:00PM.
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/JAMES WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841