DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This action is responsive to the following communications: the Amendment filed 3/26/2026 and the RCE filed 4/23/2026.
Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 12-20 are withdrawn. Claim 1 is currently amended. Claim 1 is independent.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/23/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicants' arguments and amendments, filed 3/26/2026, with respect to independent claim 1, although substantive and pertinent to expediting the prosecution of the current application, are considered moot and not persuasive, respectfully, in light of new grounds of rejections made under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as noted below in the rejection of independent claim 1.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claimed subject matter of claim 1 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Claim 1 recites the limitation “forming a groove in the first encapsulant to expose a top surface and a portion of a lateral surface of the conductive pillar, wherein the groove has a trapezoidal cross section and comprises a groove wall, a bottom base and a top base parallel to a bottom surface of the first encapsulant, the top base is farther from the bottom surface of the first encapsulant than the bottom base, and a width of the top base is smaller than a width of the bottom base and greater than a width of the conductive pillar” in lines 9-15 of the claim, which does not appear to be shown by the Drawings of the current application. The limitation details that the groove exposes a top surface of the conductive pillar, which would be associated with surface 436a of conductive pillar 436 as shown in Figure 4C of the current application. Thereby, it is established that the “top” direction would be away from substrate 410 and as if Figure 4C was viewed upside-down. However, the claim limitation further recites that the groove has a bottom base and a top base, the top base is farther from the bottom surface of the first encapsulant than the bottom base, and a width of the top base is smaller than a width of the bottom base and greater than a width of the conductive pillar, which is not supported by the originally filed disclosure and based on the directional guidelines set forth earlier by the limitations related to the exposed top surface of the conductive pillar. For example, using Figure 4C of the Drawings as a reference and based on “the exposed top surface of the conductive pillar” limitations, the top base of the groove 437 would be the base of the groove 437 facing further away from substrate 410 and on the same side as the exposed top surface 436a of conductive pillar 436, which has a width which is greater than the width of the bottom base, which is the base of groove 437 closer to substrate 410. Thus, the claimed subject matter of claim 1 does not appear to be shown. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “forming a groove in the first encapsulant to expose a top surface and a portion of a lateral surface of the conductive pillar, wherein the groove has a trapezoidal cross section and comprises a groove wall, a bottom base and a top base parallel to a bottom surface of the first encapsulant, the top base is farther from the bottom surface of the first encapsulant than the bottom base, and a width of the top base is smaller than a width of the bottom base and greater than a width of the conductive pillar” in lines 9-15 of the claim, which does not appear to be supported by the originally filed Specification. The limitation details that the groove exposes a top surface of the conductive pillar, which would be associated with surface 436a of conductive pillar 436 as detailed in paragraph [0044] and shown in Figure 4C of the current application. Thereby, it is established that the “top” direction would be away from substrate 410 and as if Figure 4C was viewed upside-down. However, the claim limitation further recites that the groove has a bottom base and a top base, the top base is farther from the bottom surface of the first encapsulant than the bottom base, and a width of the top base is smaller than a width of the bottom base and greater than a width of the conductive pillar, which is not supported by the originally filed disclosure and based on the directional guidelines set forth earlier by the limitations related to the exposed top surface of the conductive pillar. For example, using Figure 4C of the Drawings as a reference and based on “the exposed top surface of the conductive pillar” limitations, the top base of the groove 437 would be the base of the groove 437 facing further away from substrate 410 and on the same side as the exposed top surface 436a of conductive pillar 436, which has a width which is greater than the width of the bottom base, which is the base of groove 437 closer to substrate 410. Thus, the limitation in question fails to comply with the written description requirement.
Note the dependent claims 2-11 do not cure the deficiencies of the claims on which they depend.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY C CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-6132. The examiner can normally be reached Mon- Fri 12pm-10pm.
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/JAY C CHANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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