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 Group I (claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 6/15/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 5, the terminology “zero misalignment” is indefinite since every fabrication process has some overlay tolerance.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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) 1-5, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP Publication No. 1006764 (Li) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0074240 (Levesque).
Li discloses
1. (Original) An apparatus, comprising:
a substrate 60;
a trace 35 on the substrate 60, wherein the trace 60 has a bottom surface, sidewall surfaces, and a top surface, and wherein the sidewall surfaces and the top surface are exposed to air (including pedestal / support element 16 of air bridge and air bridge crossover 90); and
Li fails to disclose
wherein the substrate comprises a glass layer; and
a trench into the substrate adjacent to at least one sidewall surface of the trace.
Levesque teaches
An apparatus comprising:
wherein the substrate 110 / 120 comprises a glass layer 120; and
a trench 114 into the substrate 110 / 120 adjacent to at least one sidewall surface of the trace (not shown but connected to 116, [0084], [0096]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form a trench in a glass substrate adjacent to a trace in Li. The motivation would be to provide electrical isolation and impedance control where specific electrical connections to chips are placed as discussed in Levesque ([0073]).
Li discloses
2. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a metallic layer 34 is provided between the trace 35 and the substrate 60.
Li discloses
3. (Original) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the metallic layer 34 is a seed layer comprising titanium and/or copper.
Li discloses
4. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a via (not labeled) is provided over the trace 35.
Li discloses, to the extent taught and understood,
5. (Original) The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the via (not labeled) has zero misalignment with the trace 35.
Li discloses
9. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a plurality of traces on the substrate.
Claim(s) 6, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Levesque as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0203266 (Iwai).
The combination of references fails to teach
6. (Original) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a second substrate over the first substrate, wherein the second substrate comprises a second glass layer; and
a layer comprising a dielectric between the substrate and the second substrate.
Iwai teaches
An apparatus comprising:
a second substrate 110 over the first substrate 110, wherein the second substrate 110 comprises a second glass layer ([0067]); and
a layer 170 comprising a dielectric between the substrate 110 and the second substrate 110.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to stack substrates using a dielectric in the modified device of Li. The motivation would be stacking substrates with a dielectric adhesive to suppress an increase in coupling resistance therebetween and occurrence of coupling failure therebetween as taught by Iwai ([0107]) and to increase bonding strength which is well known. See MPEP 2144.03.
Li discloses
7. (Original) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein an air-gap (including pedestal / support element 16 of air bridge and air bridge crossover 90) is provided around the sidewalls and top surface of the trace 35,
The combination of references fails to teach
wherein outer surfaces of the air-gap are defined, at least in part, by the layer comprising the dielectric and the substrate.
Iwai teaches
wherein outer surfaces of the air-gap 160 are defined, at least in part, by the layer comprising the dielectric 170 and the substrate 110.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Levesque and Iwai as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of TW Publication No. 201639116 (Shinohara).
The combination of references fails to teach
8. (Original) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein a spacer is provided between the substrate and the layer comprising the dielectric.
Shinohara teaches
An apparatus comprising:
wherein a spacer (insulative adhesive layer paragraphs) is provided between the substrate 3B / 3C and the layer comprising the dielectric 12.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a spacer in the modified device of Li. The motivation would be to ensure the uniformity of press-in at the time of the anisotropic conductive connection as taught by Shinohara.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Levesque as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0364394 (Lin).
The combination of references fails to teach
10. (Original) The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the traces have a trace width up to approximately 2 µm and a spacing between traces up to approximately 2 µm.
Lin teaches
An apparatus comprising:
wherein the traces 220 have a trace width up to approximately 2 µm and a spacing between traces 220 up to approximately 2 µm ([0076]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the width and spacing of the traces the modified device of Li. The motivation would be based on routine optimization to improve alignment tolerance and provide improved yield as taught by Lin.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2024/0113049 (Darmawikarta), 2021/0366761 (Lai), 2015/0221541 (Nemani), 2001/0007788 (Chang), CN Publication No. 102820268 (Yu), JP Publication No. 2005137476 (Iguchi), EP Publication No. 4757573 (Lo) teach an apparatus having a glass substrate and an air gap.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERESA M ARROYO whose telephone number is (703)756-1576. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (8:30 A.M. E.T. - 5:00 P.M. E.T.).
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/TERESA M. ARROYO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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