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 action is responsive to the amendment and remarks received November 10, 2025. Claims 14-20 are amended. No claims are newly added or canceled. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-20, in the reply filed on November 10, 2025 is acknowledged.
In view of the amendment to the claims, all pending claims are encompassed by group I. No claims are withdrawn from consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 14, 2023 is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on April 14, 2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 20 depends upon claim 17 but appears to be referencing the optical fibers introduced in claim 18. Claim 20 is interpreted as depending upon claim 18 instead of claim 17.
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Karhade et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2023/0088009, hereinafter referred to as “Karhade”). Karhade anticipates claims:
1. A package device (photonic package 100 is interpreted as the package device), comprising:
a first die (PIC 102 is interpreted as the first die) having a first optical I/O (the area around the optical surface components 140 are interpreted as the I/O); and
a first through via structure (insulating material 133 in second layer 104-2 is interpreted as the first through via structure) over the first die (see figure 1),
wherein a first region (the region of insulating material 133 between PIC 102 and the TIM 154 and heat transfer structure 156 is interpreted as the first region) of the first through via structure is configured to dissipate heat from the first die (the region is thermally coupled to the first die and is therefore configured to dissipate heat from it) and a second region (see figure 1A, the region containing optical component 137 is interpreted as the second region) of the first through via structure is configured to transmit an optical signal to or from the first optical I/O (see figure 1A and paragraph 0054).
2. The package device of Claim 1, wherein the first through via structure is thermally connected with the first die and electrically isolated from the first die (see figure 1A).
3. The package device of Claim 2, further comprising a thermal interface material (first layer 104-1 is interpreted as the thermal interface material) between the first through via structure and the first die (see figure 1A).
4. The package device of Claim 1, wherein the second region of the first through via structure is configured to accommodate an optical transmissive material (see figure 1A).
5. The package device of Claim 4, wherein the optical transmissive material is a first optical fiber (one fiber of the fiber array block, see paragraph 0054, is interpreted as the first optical fiber) of a fiber array unit, and a filler (the block portion of the fiber array block of 137 is interpreted as the filler) fills a space between the first optical fiber and the first through via structure.
6. The package device of Claim 1, wherein the second region of the first through via structure is configured to guide the optical signal and couple to an optical structure of the first optical I/O of the first die disposed below the second region (see figure 1A and paragraph 0054).
7. The package device of Claim 1, further comprising a heat dissipation layer (heat transfer layer 156 is interpreted as the heat dissipation layer) over the first through via structure, thermally coupled to the first die through the first through via structure (see figure 1A).
8. The package device of Claim 1, wherein the first through via structure comprises a plurality of through silicon vias (the array of components 137 are interpreted as forming a plurality of through silicon vias, see paragraphs 0054-0055).
9. The package device of Claim 8, wherein the first region of the first through via structure is filled with a material (conductive pillars are a copper material with a heat transfer coefficient exceeding silicon, see paragraph 0089) with a heat transfer coefficient exceeding that of silicon.
10. The package device of Claim 9, wherein the first region of the first through via structure comprises a seed layer and an electroplated layer (see paragraph 0089).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-20 are 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: the prior art of record, which is the closest prior art to the subject matter of the claims, does not disclose the limitations “further comprising a first waveguide embedded in the first through via structure and comprising a vertical section proximal to the first optical I/O and a horizontal section away from the first optical I/O” (claim 11); ”further comprising an optical transmissive material accommodated by the second region, wherein the optical transmissive material comprises a first part covered by a filler and a second part exposed by the filler and comprising a first section surrounded by the second region and a second section protruding from the second region” (claim 17); “further comprising: a second die adjacent to the first die and below the first through via structure; a first optical fiber penetrating through the second region and optically coupled to the first die; and a second optical fiber penetrating through the second region and optically coupled to the second die” (claim 18).
There is nothing on the record that would suggest such differences would be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Lastly, one having ordinary skill in the art does not possess any general knowledge or known motivations to find such differences obvious in view of the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M BEDTELYON whose telephone number is (571)270-1290. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am - 4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at 571-272-2397. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/John Bedtelyon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874