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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 10-12 have been considered but are moot on grounds of new rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura (US 2007/0065985 A1 now US 7,523,775 B2) in view of MA et al. (MA) (CN 114836615 A).
In regards to claim 10, Matsumura (claim 1, paragraph 20, Figs. 1-3 and associated text) discloses a method comprising: bonding a first element (items 4 or 6) to a second element (items 4 or 6) in a bond initiation region (where items 10 and 11 or 10a, 10b, 11a, and 11b reside), the bond initiation region having first vibrations (20, 25 or 30 KHz); and externally applying predetermined second vibrations (40, 50 or 60 KHz) to at least one of the first and second elements (items 4 and 6) during said bonding, the second vibrations (40, 50 or 60 KHz) configured to reduce distortions from the first vibrations, but does not specifically disclose the second vibrations counteracting the first vibrations so as to reduce distortions from the first vibrations.
MA (Background) discloses a double frequency transducer to output ultrasonic vibration of two different frequencies for ultrasonic bonding.
Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the teachings of MA for the purpose of controlling and adjusting amplitude value of the ultrasonic driving signal with different frequencies, so as to adapt to different application requirements.
Therefore Matsumura as modified by MA (Background) discloses externally applying predetermined second vibrations (40, 50 or 60 KHz, Matsumura as modified by MA) to at least one of the first and second elements (items 4 and 6) during said bonding, the second vibrations (40, 50 or 60 KHz, Matsumura as modified by MA) counteracting the first vibrations so as to reduce distortions from the first vibrations (20, 25 or 30 KHz, Matsumura as modified by MA).
In regards to claim 11, Matsumura (claim1, paragraph 20, Figs. 1-3 and associated text) as modified by MA (Background) discloses wherein the second vibrations (40, 50 or 60 KHz, Matsumura as modified by MA) are out of phase with the first vibrations (20, 25 or 30 KHz, Matsumura as modified by MA).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura (US 2007/0065985 A1 now US 7,523,775 B2) in view of MA et al. (MA) (CN 114836615 A) as applied to claims 10 and 11 above, and further in view of Molnar et al. (Molnar) (US 2023/0187407 A1).
In regards to claim 12, Matsumura (claim1, paragraph 20, Figs. 1-3 and associated text) as modified by MA (Background) does not specifically disclose wherein said bonding comprises direct hybrid bonding.
Molnar (paragraph 115) discloses hybrid bonding.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate the teachings of Molnar for the purpose of direct bond and low pitch interconnection (paragraph 115).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 13-23 are allowed.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TELLY D GREEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3204. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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TELLY D. GREEN
Examiner
Art Unit 2898
/TELLY D GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898 December 9, 2025
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