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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 27 February 2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Responsive to the amendment filed 27 February 2026 claim 1 is amended and claim 10 is added. Claims 1-10 are currently under examination.
Status of Previous Rejections
Responsive to the amendment filed 27 February 2026, new grounds of rejection are presented.
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(s) 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0017938 A1 (hereinafter “Kaneko”), in view of CN106271192A (document cited by applicant; machine translation provided by Examiner and referred to hereinafter as “Lanzhou”).
Regarding claim 1, Kaneko teaches an aluminum alloy material for semiconductors (see Abstract or Summary or claim 11). Kaneko teaches that the alloy includes Mg, and Si in amounts overlapping the claimed ranges (see Summary or claim 1 or [0136]). Kaneko teaches that the aluminum alloy may be used for bonding wire (see [0085]).
Kaneko teaches examples of alloys having Mg, Si, and Fe as alloying elements (see Table 1). Example 10 includes 0.22% Mg, 0.22% Si, and 0.15% Fe by mass (Table 1). Example 1 also includes a composition which falls in the claimed ranges for Mg, Si, and Fe. The amounts of Mg, Si and Fe in Example 10 fall in the claimed ranges, establishing a prima facie case of obviousness for the ranges.
Kaneko does not teach wherein the alloy includes any amount x2 of the rare earth elements selected from the group. Kaneko teaches that the aluminum may include further alloying elements up to 2% (see SUMMARY or claim 2), but is silent regarding the elements enumerated in claim 1.
Lanzhou teaches an Al-Mg-Si series aluminum alloy welding wire (see title and Abstract). Lanzhou teaches that the aluminum alloy is used to make wires for motors (see SUMMARY). Lanzhou teaches that the alloy includes Mg, Si, and Er in ranges overlapping the claimed rages (see Summary of the Invention at [0008]-[0010]). Lanzhou teaches the functions of the alloying elements in the al-Mg-Si alloy (see [0025]). Lanzhou teaches that Er refines the grains, while Ce redistributes impurity contents ([0025]). Lanzhou teaches that Ce or Er may be added to the wire in order to improve the welding joint structure and improve performance of the weld ([0051]). Lanzhou teaches that the amount of Er is 0.1-0.2% while Ce is 0.15-0.2% ([0010]). The amounts of these elements overlaps the claimed compositional ranges.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have created the wiring of Kaneko, but to have added in Ce and/or Er as an alloying element, as taught by Lanzhou, in order to have improved the welding joint structure and improve performance of the weld, as taught by Lanzhou (cited above). Combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results would have been obvious to the skilled artisan.
Regarding claim 2, Kaneko teaches that the alloy includes Mg, Si, and Fe in amounts overlapping the claimed ranges (see Summary or claim 1 or [0136]). Example 10 of Table 1 includes 0.22% Mg, 0.22% Si, and 0.15% Fe by mass (Table 1).
Regarding claim 3, Kaneko teaches that the aluminum alloy may be used for bonding wire (see [0085]).
Regarding claim 4, Kaneko teaches that the aluminum alloy may be used for bonding wire for semiconductor modules (see [0085]).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, Kaneko teaches that the alloy includes Mg, Si, and Fe in amounts overlapping the claimed ranges (see Summary or claim 1 or [0136]). Example 10 of Table 1 includes 0.22% Mg, 0.22% Si, and 0.15% Fe by mass (Table 1).
Regarding claim 7, Lanzhou teaches that the amount of Er is 0.1-0.2% while Ce is 0.15-0.2% ([0010]). The amounts of these elements taught by Lanzhou overlap the claimed ranges, establishing a prima facie case of obviousness for the ranges.
Regarding claim 8, Kaneko teaches that the aluminum alloy may be used for bonding wire (see [0085]).
Regarding claim 9, Kaneko does not specify the actual diameter, however in the Examples Kaneko starts with a 10 mm bar (see [0091]). Kaneko teaches degrees of working from 5.5 to 10 [0093]-[0114]). Thus the size of the wire formed would have met the claimed limitation, for example, when the degree of working was 10 (10x reduction in area).
Regarding claim 10, Kaneko in view of Lanzhou are applied as stated above in the rejection of claim 1.
Kaneko teaches that the alloy includes Mg, Si, and Fe in amounts overlapping the claimed ranges (see Summary or claim 1 or [0136]). Example 10 of Table 1 includes 0.22% Mg, 0.22% Si, and 0.15% Fe by mass (Table 1). The amount of Al in the remainder would have met the requirement of at least 99.99% because Kaneko does not describe other elements present.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-9 over Lanzhou have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kaneko in view of Lanzhou.
Specifically applicant argues that the disclosure of Lanzhou includes 0.2-0.3% of Cu and 0.4-0.5% of Fe. It is believed that the wires of falls outside of the claimed compositional ranges for this reason. However, a new grounds of rejection is presented over Kaneko in view of Lanzhou, which is accordingly made non-final.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER S KESSLER whose telephone number is (571)272-6510. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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CHRISTOPHER S. KESSLER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1734
/CHRISTOPHER S KESSLER/ Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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