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 .
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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05 August 2026 has been entered.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng (US 2009/0288294 A1) in view of Fan (CN 101896049-A) as provided by (CN 101896049-A) machine translation as an English language equivalent and Wang (TW 110128360) as provided by (US 2023/0037056 A1) as an English language equivalent.
Claim 1:
Feng discloses a manufacturing method of a thermal module (abstract), comprising;
providing at least one aluminum heat conduction component (radiating fin, 431) (figs. 2-5, step 21, ¶33) and at least one copper heat conduction component (heat pipe, 52) (figs. 2-5, ¶35);
mechanically or chemically processing a face of the at least one aluminum heat conduction component to produce a processed face (Feng teaches processing predetermined localized areas of aluminum fin (431) by a plating/deposition process to form deposited coating (4311) thereon; Feng expressly describes the aluminum fins as being “plated” using PVD) (figs. 2, ¶¶18-19 and 34); and,
forming a nickel layer directly (4311) thereon by means of physical or chemical processing, thereby providing an embedded nickel layer surface and an exposed nickel layer contact surface, wherein the embedded nickel layer surface and the exposed nickel layer contact surface are positioned on two opposite faces of the embedded nickel layer (figs. 2-5, ¶34 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 5A, below); and the embedded nickel layer surface (4311) is deep engaged and inlaid so as to be mechanically interlocked with the aluminum heat conduction component (431) (figs. 2-5, ¶34);
abutting the copper heat conduction component (52) with the exposed nickel layer contact surface (4311) (figs. 2-5, ¶34); and,
welding the exposed nickel layer contact surface with the at least one copper heat conduction component (52), such that the surface of the aluminum heat conduction component (431), is securely welded and connected with the copper heat conduction component (52) (figs. 2-5, step 23, 0035).
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Feng fails to disclose forming a copper layer. Instead, Feng discloses forming a nickel layer (¶34).
Fan discloses a manufacturing method of thermal module (abstract), the method comprising:
providing at least one aluminum heat conduction component (11) and at least one copper heat conduction component (12) (figs. 1-2, ¶¶27 and 29); forming a copper layer (13) directly thereon, thereby providing an embedded copper layer surface and an exposed copper layer contact surface, wherein the embedded copper layer surface and the exposed copper layer contact surface are positioned on two opposite faces of the embedded copper layer (fig. 2, ¶27 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 2, below); and the embedded copper layer surface (13) is deep engaged and inlaid so as to be mechanically interlocked with the aluminum heat conduction component (11) (fig. 2, ¶27 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 2, below); and abutting the copper heat conduction component (12) with the exposed copper layer contact surface (fig. 2, ¶27 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 2, below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the copper metal layer taught by Fan for the nickel deposited layer of Feng. Fan expressly teaches copper metal, copper alloy, nickel metal, and copper-nickel alloy as alternatives for the embedded metal layer (Fan, ¶27), while Wang evidences that tin, copper, nickel, and zinc were known alternative weldable metallic layers (Wang, ¶25). See MPEP § 2143 B which describes the prima facie obviousness of simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results. The simple substitution of the known copper layer of Fan for Feng's nickel layer would have constituted the substitution of one known weldable metal layer for another to obtain the predictable result of providing a metallic intermediate layer permitting the components to be joined.
Claim 2:
Feng in view of Fan and Wang renders obvious the manufacturing method of a thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the exposed copper layer contact surface (Fan, 13) and the at least one copper heat conduction component (Feng, 52) being connected with a welding material layer (Feng, 51) (Feng, figs. 2-5, ¶35 – see also annotated reproduction of Feng figs. 4 and 5A, below and annotated reproduction of Fan fig. 2, above).
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Claim 3:
Feng in view of Fan and Wang renders obvious the manufacturing method of a thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the copper heat conduction component (Feng, 52) is a copper heat pipe (Feng, 52), while the aluminum heat conduction component is an aluminum base seat (Feng, 431) (Feng, ¶¶33 and 35). Examiner note: Applicant’s claimed invention is read in light of the specification. There is no structural difference between an aluminum fin of Feng and the claimed aluminum base seat.
Claim 5:
Feng in view of Fan and Wang renders obvious the manufacturing method of a thermal module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surface of the aluminum heat conduction component (Feng, 431) having the embedded copper layer (the nickel layer of Feng, 4311 in view of the copper layer of Fan, 13) has the same metal element as the copper heat conduction component (Feng, 52) (Feng, figs. 2-5, ¶35 – see also annotated reproduction of Feng figs. 4 and 5A, above and Fan, figs. 1-2, ¶¶ 27 and 29).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng in view of Fan and Wang as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Kao et al. (US 2019/0226768 A1).
Claim 4:
Feng in view of Fan and Wang renders obvious the manufacturing method of a thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the aluminum heat conduction component includes a connection section with an embedded copper layer surface engaged with an outer surface of the connection section (Feng, figs. 3 and 5, ¶34 and Fan,¶27 – see also annotated reproduction of Feng fig. 5, below).
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Feng in view of Fan and Wang fails to disclose or fairly suggest the copper heat conduction component has a heat absorption section and a condensation section. Instead, Feng in view of Fan, Wang and Patrick discloses generic heat pipes.
Kao discloses a two-phase fluid heat transfer structure (abstract) further comprising a heat conduction component (heat pipe, 19) having a heat absorption section (191) and a condensation section (opposite section of section (191)) (figs. 1A-1D, ¶¶29, 34); and a heat conduction component (17) having a connection section (172) (figs. 1A-1D, ¶34), the heat absorption section (191) being correspondingly assembled with the connection section (172) (figs. 1A-1D, ¶34).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to improve the thermal module of Feng in view of Fan and Wang by providing heat adsorption and condensation sections on the heat pipe of a proposed combination of Feng, Fan and Wang as taught by Kao in order to provide a circulating working medium enabling heat transfer and heat dissipation (Kao, page 3, ¶34). See MPEP § 2143 A which describes the prima facie obviousness of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. The results would have been predictable because the prior art references are drawn to devices for heat transfer and exchange.
Feng in view of Fan, Wang and Kao renders obvious the manufacturing method of thermal module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the copper heat conduction component (Feng, 52) has a heat absorption section (Kao, 191) and a condensation section (Kao, opposite, of section (191)) (Feng, figs. 2-5, ¶35 and Kao, figs. 1A-1D, ¶¶29, 34),
the aluminum heat conduction component (Feng, 431) having a connection section (Feng, fig. 2-5, ¶33 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 5, above),
the heat absorption section (Kao, 191) being correspondingly assembled with the connection section (Feng, 431 and Kao, 172) (Feng, fig. 2-5, ¶33 – see also annotated reproduction of fig. 5, above and Kao, figs. 1A-1D, ¶34),
the embedded copper layer surface (the nickel of Feng, 4311 in view of the copper of an, 13) being engaged with an outer surface of the connection section (Feng, figs. 2-5, ¶34 and Fan, figs. 1-2, ¶27),
the condensation section being correspondingly passed through multiple radiating fins made of aluminum material (Feng, 431) (Feng, figs. 1-5, ¶33), whereby by means of the copper embedding layer, the heat absorption section is securely welded and connected with the connection section (Feng, figs. 1-5, ¶33 and Fan, figs. 1-2, ¶27).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05 August 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
1. The references do not teach the newly claimed “integrated” processing operation
Applicant characterizes amended claim 1 as requiring the aluminum face to be mechanically or chemically processed and the copper layer formed thereon “as part of the same integrated step”, rather than through separate sequential operations. Applicant argues that none of Feng, Fan, Wang, or Patrick teaches this integrated processing. Applicant's argument is not persuasive.
Claim 1 does not require separate processing and layer-forming operations, nor does it require that the recited operations occur simultaneously. Rather, claim 1 recites “mechanically or chemically processing a face ... and forming a copper layer directly thereon by means of physical or chemical processing.” This language reasonably encompasses processing the face by a process that forms the recited layer thereon.
Such a construction is consistent with Applicant's disclosure. Paragraph [0016] describes the face or section as being physically or chemically processed “so as to dispose a copper embedding layer thereon,” and identifies, for example, high-speed spraying and accumulating metal particles on the surface as physical processing and electroplating, electrolysis, and electroforming as chemical processing for disposing the copper embedding layer on the surface. Thus, Applicant's own disclosure treats processing of the face and formation of the layer thereon as capable of being accomplished through the same deposition operation.
Feng similarly processes predetermined localized areas of aluminum fin (431) by physical vapor deposition to deposit layer (4311) directly thereon (Feng, ¶34). Fan further teaches forming metal layer (13) on first heat-dissipating body (11) by metal spraying and expressly identifies copper as one of the materials suitable for layer (13) (Fan, ¶27). Therefore, the cited references disclose or fairly suggest processing the aluminum surface while forming a metallic layer directly thereon in the manner encompassed by claim 1.
2. Fan does not teach “deep engaged and inlaid so as to be mechanically interlocked”
Applicant further argues Fan merely discloses metal layer (13) and fails to teach the particular claimed relationship in which the embedded copper layer surface is “deep engaged and inlaid so as to be mechanically interlocked” with the aluminum component. Applicant further characterizes its claimed interface as a “robust, mechanically interlocked copper-aluminum interface.”
Applicant's argument is not persuasive because it appears to impart structural requirements to “deep engaged and inlaid so as to be mechanically interlocked” that are not recited in claim 1.
Claim 1 does not require an undercut, dovetail, reentrant portion, hook, barb, or other particular positive-lock geometry. Nor does claim 1 recite the degree or depth by which the copper layer must extend into the aluminum component. Applicant's originally filed disclosure describes the embedding face as “deep engaged and inlaid in a section of the aluminum heat conduction component,” but does not define a particular depth or positive-lock geometry for this relationship. Applicant's Fig. 2 likewise depicts the embedded relationship without identifying such a particular locking geometry.
Fan Fig. 2 similarly depicts metal layer (13) received within and extending below the surrounding surface of first heat-dissipating body (11), thereby providing an embedded surface engaging body (11) and an oppositely facing exposed surface for joining to second heat-dissipating body (12). Therefore, Fan fairly discloses or fairly suggests the claimed deep-engaged and inlaid relationship under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language. In addition, Fan expressly teaches that metal layer (13) may comprise copper and that the layer may be formed by metal spraying (Fan, ¶27).
3. Feng cannot satisfy the embedded/interlocked copper-layer limitation
Applicant further argues Feng's deposited layer (4311) does not itself constitute the claimed copper layer having the claimed embedded/inlaid/mechanically interlocked relationship.
Applicant’s argument is not persuasive because this argument does not address the rejection as a whole. The rejection does not rely upon Feng alone for a copper embedding layer. Feng teaches aluminum heat-conduction component (431), copper heat pipe (52), localized formation of intermediate metallic layer (4311) on aluminum component (431), and subsequent welding of heat pipe (52) to aluminum component (431) through the intermediate layer. Feng expressly identifies layer (4311) as nickel rather than copper.
Fan, however, expressly teaches that the corresponding intermediate metal layer (13) may be copper, copper alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, or copper-nickel alloy and depicts that layer in the recessed/inlaid relationship shown in Fig. 2. Fan further teaches forming layer (13) by metal spraying.
The rejection therefore proposes use of Fan's expressly disclosed copper material for the intermediate metallic layer in Feng's thermal-module arrangement. Applicant's argument that Feng individually does not disclose every limitation of claim 1 does not address the combined teachings relied upon in the rejection.
4. There is no motivation to make the combination / the rejection is hindsight
Applicant further argues that the references fail to provide a reason for modifying Feng in the manner proposed and that the rejection reconstructs Applicant's invention using hindsight. Applicant's arguments are not persuasive.
The proposed modification does not depend upon Applicant's disclosure for the selection of copper. Fan itself expressly teaches copper and nickel as alternative materials for metal layer (13) in a thermal-dissipation structure and teaches formation of that layer on the first heat-dissipating body by metal spraying. Wang paragraph [0025] further evidences the known use of tin, copper, nickel, and zinc as weldable metallic layers.
Feng already teaches forming an intermediate nickel layer (4311) on aluminum heat-conduction component (431) to facilitate joining that aluminum component to heat pipe (52). Therefore, replacing Feng's nickel intermediate layer with the expressly disclosed copper alternative of Fan represents the simple substitution of one known metallic material for another known metallic material used for the same purpose, with the predictable result of providing a metallic interface suitable for joining the aluminum heat-conduction component to the copper heat-conduction component.
The proposed modification is supported by the teachings of the cited references themselves and does not depend upon Applicant's disclosure as a roadmap.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Telenko, Jr. et al. (US 2022/0048141 A1) discloses a method of preparing aluminum metal pieces for welding.
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/Lee A Holly/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
