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 § 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(s) 1, 2, and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng et al. (US pub 20220108967) in combination with Levy et al. (US pat 12514051).
With respect to claim 1, Jeng et al. teach a package structure, comprising (see figs. 1-14, particularly fig. 1H and associated text):
a first chip structure 160, wherein the first chip structure has a plurality of logic control elements 140 (para 0046); and
a second chip structure directly bonded to the first chip structure through dielectric-to- dielectric bonding 121, 123, 125 and metal-to-metal bonding 120, wherein the second chip structure has a plurality of non-volatile memory elements 210 (para 0065).
Jeng et al. teach the connection 150 between chips is solder type but fail to teach using metal to metal bonding connection.
Levy et al. teach using metal to metal bonding connection to achieve simplified implementation. See col. 11, lines 47-56.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of making semiconductor devices to use metal to metal bonding connection instead of solder connection in Jeng et al. device to achieve the above benefit.
With respect to claim 2, Jeng et al. teach a third chip structure 300 directly bonded to the second chip structure through dielectric-to- dielectric bonding and metal-to-metal bonding R1, wherein the second chip structure 200 is between the third chip structure and the first chip structure (structure under 200), and the third chip structure has a plurality of second non-volatile memory elements. See 1L and associated text.
With respect to claim 3, Jeng et al. teach a through substrate via 190 formed in the second chip structure. See 1H and associated text.
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(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeng et al. (US pub 20220108967) in combination with Levy et al. (US pat 12514051).
With respect to claim 10, Jeng et al. fail to teach attaching a heat sink to the first chip structure.
However, the attachment of a heat sink to a chip to allow dissipation of unwanted heat is well-known in semiconductor art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-13 and 21-25 are allowed.
Claims 5, 7, 9, and 9 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/21/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See the above rejections.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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LONG . PHAM
Examiner
Art Unit 2823
/LONG PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897