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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A: Figure 3, claims 1-9 and 16 in the reply filed on 10 November 2025 is acknowledged.
Claim 10-15 and 17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 10 November 2025.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aoki et al. (US 2008/0291628 A1)
Re. claim 1: Aoki discloses a cooler (1) comprising a cooling main body portion extending in a first direction (horizontal direction in fig. 1), wherein:
the cooling main body portion comprises:
a cooling wall (2) including a first face (2A) on which a heat generator (3, 4, 5, 10) is arranged, and a second face (2B) opposite to the first face; (see fig. 2, 3; para. 0034-0036)
a first flow path (14A) extending in the first direction and allowing refrigerant to flow in from one end thereof; (see fig. 1, 3; para. 0029-0031)
a second flow path (14B) extending in the first direction and allowing the refrigerant to flow out from one end thereof; (see fig. 1, 3; para. 0029-0031)
a plurality of cooling flow paths (7) each having a wall surface, a part of which is constituted of the second face; (see fig. 2-4; para. 0028-0031)
a partition (8) arranged to be spaced from the cooling wall in a third direction perpendicular to the first face, separating the first flow path from the plurality of cooling flow paths, and separating the second flow path from the plurality of cooling flow paths; and (see fig. 4-5; para. 0028-0031)
a first narrowing portion (15A) provided at a communication portion between a first cooling flow path among the plurality of cooling flow paths and the first flow path, (see fig. 3, 5, 8; para. 0030-0031)
the plurality of cooling flow paths are arrayed in the first direction and extend in a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and are positioned between (i) the first and second flow paths and (ii) the cooling wall, in the third direction, and
each of the plurality of cooling flow paths causes the first flow path and the second flow path to communicate with each other in the second direction. (see fig. 3-5; para. 0028-0031)
Re. claim 5: Aoki discloses a second narrowing portion (15B) provided in the first cooling flow path. (see fig. 3, 5, 8; para. 0030-0031)
Re. claim 6: Aoki discloses wherein the second narrowing portion (15B) is provided at a location closer to the second flow path (14B) than the first flow path (14A). (see fig. 3, 5)
Re. claim 8: Aoki discloses the partition (8) is formed in such a manner that a distance between a first portion being at least a part of a portion separating the second flow path (14B) from the first cooling flow path (14A) and the second face (2B) is less than a distance between a portion separating the first flow path from the first cooling flow path and the second face, and
the first portion includes a face that is a part of a wall surface of the second narrowing portion. (see fig. 3, 5, 8)
Re. claim 9: Aoki discloses the partition (8) includes two edges (top and bottom edges) extending along the first direction, including a first edge (bottom edge of 8 nearest 14A) adjacent to the first flow path and a second edge (top edge of 8 nearest 14B) adjacent to the second flow path,
a distance between the first edge and the second face is greater than a distance between the second edge and the second face, and (see fig. 3, 5, 8)
a portion of the partition separating the second flow path from the first cooling flow path includes a face that is a part of a wall surface of the second narrowing portion. (see fig. 3, 5, 8)
Re. claim 16: Aoki discloses a semiconductor device with a cooler (1) comprising a cooling main body portion extending in a first direction, (horizontal direction in fig. 1) wherein: (see para. 0026-0027)
the cooling main body portion comprises:
a cooling wall (2) including a first face (2A) on which a heat generator (3, 4, 5, 10) is arranged, and a second face (2B) opposite to the first face; (see fig. 2, 3; para. 0034-0036)
a first flow path (14A) extending in the first direction and allowing refrigerant to flow in from one end thereof; (see fig. 1, 3; para. 0029-0031)
a second flow path (14B) extending in the first direction and allowing the refrigerant to flow out from one end thereof; (see fig. 1, 3; para. 0029-0031)
a plurality of cooling flow paths (7) each having a wall surface, a part of which is constituted of the second face; (see fig. 2-4; para. 0028-0031)
a partition (8) arranged to be spaced from the cooling wall in a third direction perpendicular to the first face, separating the first flow path from the plurality of cooling flow paths, and separating the second flow path from the plurality of cooling flow paths; and (see fig. 4-5; para. 0028-0031)
a first narrowing portion (15A) provided at a communication portion between a first cooling flow path among the plurality of cooling flow paths and the first flow path, (see fig. 3, 5, 8; para. 0030-0031)
the plurality of cooling flow paths are arrayed in the first direction and extend in a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and are positioned between (i) the first and second flow paths and (ii) the cooling wall, in the third direction, and
each of the plurality of cooling flow paths causes the first flow path and the second flow path to communicate with each other in the second direction. (see fig. 3-5; para. 0028-0031)
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 2 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Galyon et al. (US 5,016,090).
Re. claim 2: Aoki fails to disclose:
wherein the first narrowing portion (15A) comprises one or more nozzles extending along the third direction and causing the refrigerant to flow from the first flow path to the first cooling flow path; and
However, Galyon discloses:
wherein a first narrowing portion (402) comprises one or more nozzles (1402) extending along the third direction (vertical direction) and causing the refrigerant to flow from the first flow path to the first cooling flow path; and (see fig. 7, 9, 14; col. 6)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide nozzles extending along the third direction as taught by Galyon to the first narrowing portion of Aoki. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to increase the velocity of the coolant. (Galyon col. 6)
Re. claim 4: Aoki fails to disclose:
wherein the first narrowing portion includes a portion overlapping a semiconductor chip being a heat generating source included in the heat generator in plan view from the third direction.
However, Galyon discloses:
wherein the first narrowing portion (402, 901) includes a portion overlapping a semiconductor chip (chip) being a heat generating source included in the heat generator in plan view from the third direction. (see fig. 7, 10; col. 7)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a semiconductor chip as the heat generating source overlapping the first narrowing portion in plan view as taught by Galyon. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to better cool the semiconductor chip. (Galyon col. 5-6)
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US 2016/0183409 A1).
Re. claim 3: Aoki fails to disclose:
wherein the first narrowing portion comprises one or more nozzles inclined with respect to the third direction and causing the refrigerant to flow from the first flow path to the first cooling flow path.
However, Zhou discloses:
wherein the first narrowing portion (122) comprises one or more nozzles (122A, 122B, 122C) inclined with respect to the third direction and causing the refrigerant to flow from the first flow path to the first cooling flow path.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to angle the nozzles with respect to the third direction in the first narrowing portion as taught by Zhou. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to facilitate non-uniform flow resistances within the device (Zhou para. 0034).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Re. claim 7: the limitations of “wherein a sectional area of the first cooling flow path at a location in the second narrowing portion is smaller than a sectional area of the first cooling flow path at a location between (i) a communication portion between the first cooling flow path and the first flow path and (ii) the second narrowing portion” in combination with the remaining limitations in the claim cannot be found in the prior art because both narrowing portions of Aoki are the same size.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Staskus et al. (US 5,835,345) discloses a cooler comprising multiple cooling paths. Uchibe et al. (US 12,550,293 B2) discloses a semiconductor cooler comprising a cooling path for fluid with narrowing portions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM B DRAVININKAS whose telephone number is (571)270-1353. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9a-6p MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JAYPRAKASH (JP) N GANDHI can be reached at 571-272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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May 28, 2026
/ADAM B DRAVININKAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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