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
This office action replaces the previous final office action dated 5/28/26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 17 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terada et al.(US Publication 2002/0079350) in view of Horikoshi(US Publication 2010/0139836).
Terada et al. disclose a device for bonding a chip to a substrate(3) comprising a first holder(4) configured to hold a first substrate(3), a second camera(11)located on the first holder to image the chip, a first camera(14) to image the substrate, a second holder to hold a chip(5), a support to support the second holder and the first camera(8), and a stage which supports the first holder and the second camera(10), which is moveable in the xy direction. While the reference does not explicitly disclose a controller, one in the art would appreciate that the data gathered from the images would be used by a controller for controlling the movement. The reference does not disclose a measurement device which measure the position of the stage, or the data the controller uses. Horikoshi discloses a device for bonding two substrates together which uses data from two imaging devices(M1, M2) combined with a device for measuring the position of the stage to align and bond with high precision.[0146] A controller takes the imaging data from the imaging devices and the stage measurement device and controls the movement of the devices for bonding.(Figure 5) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of filing to include a measurement device for measuring the position of the stage and using that in combination with the data from the two imaging devices to control the movement of the devices(Figure 5) to align and bond with high precision as taught by Horikoshi.[0146] One in the art would appreciate that a lead frame or TAB tape would have more than one chip on it and thus a plurality of chips would be bonded to the same substrate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-11, 14-16, 21-23, and 26-29 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: while Terada et al. discloses both a camera and holder on a stage and a camera and holder on a support, there is no pickup unit which holds a chip to be transferred to the second holder which is configured to invert the chip. To modify Terada et al. would require replacing the chip tray with the pickup device, which would add complexity as the pickup devices moves, or require placing the chip down while holding the surface facing downward and then picking it back up again, which would add unneeded steps.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BARBARA J MUSSER whose telephone number is (571)272-1222. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-4:30 M-Th; 7:30-3:30 second Fridays.
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BARBARA J. MUSSER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1746
/BARBARA J MUSSER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1746
