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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-8, 10-13, 15-17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (JP 2008-072617).
With respect to claim 1, Suzuki et al. discloses an electronic device (Fig 1) comprising: an electronic component (item 20) including a functional element (items 22-27) and a bump (item 42) on one main surface (Fig 1); a substrate (item 30) on which the electronic component is mounted using the bump as a joint (Fig 1); a frame (item 50) positioned on the substrate to surround the electronic component in a plan view of the electronic component mounted on the substrate (Fig 1); and a sealing material (item 40) that seals the electronic component and seals a gap between the frame and the electronic component (Fig 1); wherein the frame includes at least one recess (items 52) adjacent to the electronic component (Figs 1-2).
With respect to claim 2, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein at least part of the recess extends to a surface of the substrate (Figs 1-2), and the sealing material is positioned along the recess and in contact with the surface of the substrate (Figs 1-2).
With respect to claim 3, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the frame includes a plurality of the recesses (Fig 2).
With respect to claim 4, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 3, wherein the recesses are each provided on each of sides of the frame facing each other with the electronic component interposed therebetween (Fig 2).
With respect to claim 5, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein an area in the frame other than a portion facing a portion where the bump is located is a location area where the recess is located (Figs 1-2).
With respect to claim 6, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein when a length of the recess is a length in a direction along a side of the frame, a width of the recess is a length perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the direction along the side of the frame and extending to an edge of the electronic component, and a depth of the recess is a length from a deepest portion to the one main surface of the electronic component in a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate; at least one of the length, the width, or the depth of the recess is less than about 30 µm (Paragraphs 24 and 28, wherein the size of the recess is defined as being smaller than a diameter of the filler, which is defined as 15 µm).
With respect to claim 7, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein when a length of the recess is a length in a direction along a side of the frame, a width of the recess is a length perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the direction along the side of the frame and extending to an edge of the electronic component, and a depth of the recess is a length from a deepest portion of the recess to the one main surface of the electronic component in a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate; the length of the recess is less than about 30 µm (Paragraphs 24 and 28, wherein the size of the recess is defined as being smaller than a diameter of the filler, which is defined as 15 µm).
With respect to claim 8, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the frame includes a plurality of parts in a plan view of the frame (Fig 2).
With respect to claim 10, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the bump is a solder bump (Paragraph 22).
With respect to claim 11, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the electronic component is a surface acoustic wave element (Abstract).
With respect to claim 12, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the electronic component is a surface acoustic wave resonator (Abstract).
With respect to claim 13, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein a hollow portion is provided between the electronic component and the substrate (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 15, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a glass epoxy resin, alumina, silicon, a piezoelectric material, polyimide, an epoxy resin, or a metal wiring (Paragraph 21).
With respect to claim 16, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 3, wherein the sealing material is positioned along the plurality of recesses such that the sealing material intrudes along the plurality of recesses in contact with the substrate (Figs 1-2).
With respect to claim 17, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1, wherein the sealing material includes an epoxy resin and one of silica or alumina (Paragraph 24).
With respect to claim 19, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 3, wherein at least one of the plurality of recesses is located on a shorter side of the frame and at least one of the plurality of recesses is located on a longer side of the frame (Fig 2).
With respect to claim 20, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 3, wherein none of the plurality of recesses is located on a shorter side of the frame and at least one of the plurality of recesses is located on a longer side of the frame, or at least one of the plurality of recesses is located on a shorter side of the frame and none of the plurality of recesses is located on a longer side of the frame (Figs 3(b) and 3(c)).
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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al. in view of Makibuchi et al. (US 2011/0115339).
With respect to claim 9, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1.
Suzuki et al. does not disclose that the frame includes a plurality of layers.
Makibuchi et al. teaches a piezoelectric acoustic wave device in which the frame includes a plurality of layers (Fig 2, items 5a, 5b, and 7).
Before the effective filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the multi-layer frame arrangement of Makibuchi et al. with the acoustic wave device of Suzuki et al. for the benefit of providing a frame that includes the electrical connections of the device (Fig 2 of Makibuchi et al.).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al. in view of Ortiz et al. (US 2015/0280688).
With respect to claim 14, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 1.
Suzuki et al. does not disclose that the electronic device is a thin film bulk acoustic wave device or a sensor device.
Ortiz et al. teaches an acoustic wave device in which the electronic device may alternatively be any one of a variety of device, including both surface acoustic wave devices (such as that disclosed by Suzuki et al.), or thin film bulk acoustic wave devices (Paragraph 1).
Before the effective filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to replace the surface acoustic wave device of Suzuki et al. with a thin film bulk acoustic wave device, as taught by Ortiz et al., as Ortiz et al. recognizes that these types of devices are interchangeable (Paragraph 1 of Ortiz et al.).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suzuki et al. in view of Takano et al. (US 2017/0288627).
With respect to claim 18, Suzuki et al. discloses the electronic device according to Claim 17.
Suzuki et al. does not disclose that the sealing material includes about 30 wt% to about 85 wt% of the filler having an average size of about 0.4 µm to about 50 µm in the epoxy resin.
Takano et al. teaches a n acoustic wave device in which the sealing material includes about 30 wt% to about 85 wt% of the filler having an average size of about 0.4 µm to about 50 µm in the epoxy resin (Paragraph 50).
Before the effective filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the sealing material and filler of Takano et al. with the acoustic wave device of Suzuki et al. for the benefit of improving the thixotropic index of the sealing member (Paragraph 50 of Takano et al.).
Conclusion
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/DEREK J ROSENAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837