Attorney’s Docket Number: 0941-4908PUS1
Filing Date: 2/9/2023
Claimed Priority Date: 1/3/2023 (TW 112100022)
Inventor: Huang
Examiner: Marcos D. Pizarro
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 4/28/2026.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for a 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after the final rejection in paper no. 9, mailed on 2/19/2026. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/28/2026 has been entered.
Amendment Status
The RCE submission filed on 4/28/2026 as an amendment in reply to the Office action in paper no. 9 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1-5, 8, 9 and 11-17.
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 RDL recited in claim 4 must be shown or the feature canceled from the claim. 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 § 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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honglei (CN 115513147) in view of Yi-Hung (US 2023/0145304).
Regarding claim 1, Honglei (see, e.g., figs. 19 and 22) shows most aspects of the instant invention including a semiconductor package structure comprising:
A carrier 100
A circuit layer 101, and
A plurality of contacts electrically connecting the circuit layer to the carrier
wherein:
Each contact comprises an insulating portion 103 surrounding a metal portion 10
A gap is formed between the contacts
Sidewalls of the insulating portion protrude outwards
The insulating portion 103 comprises first, second and third portions having first, second and third thickness, respectively
The first insulating portion contacts the circuit layer 101
The third insulating portion contacts the carrier 100
The second insulating portion is located between the first and third insulating potions
Honglei further teaches that the insulating portion comprises an epoxy resin and that its thickness can be adjusted as appropriate to accomplish specific design goals (see, e.g., p.7/l.4 and p.9/ll.20-25). For example, Honglei teaches that smaller thicknesses increase air circulation space, which can improve signal transmission performance of the contacts, while larger thicknesses increase protection of the contacts. Honglei, however, does not expressly teach the insulating portion comprises BCB and that the thickness of the second insulating portion is in a range from 0.1-100 µm.
Yi-Hung teaches that epoxy resins and BCB are art-recognized equivalent materials for their use as the protective insulating layer surrounding the metal portions of contacts in a semiconductor package. Yi-Hung uses the insulating portion to protect the contacts and improve the electrical properties of the package, and further discloses that the thickness is in the range of 0.1-100 µm. See, e.g., Yi-Hung: ¶¶ 0031, 0035.
It would have been obvious at the time of filing the invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) to substitute the BCB material taught by Yi-Hung for the epoxy resin of Honglei, since Yi-Hung establishes that these materials were recognized in the semiconductor art as functional equivalents for this purpose, and the simple substitution of one known, equivalent element for another to obtain predictable results is a design choice within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP§2144.06(II); In re Fout, 675 F.2d 297 (CCPA 1982).
Further, because Honglei teaches adjusting the thickness of the insulating portion as appropriate to achieve desired contact performance, and Yi-Hung teaches thicknesses between 0.1-100 µm, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to select a thickness within the claimed range of 0.1 to 100 µm for the second insulating portion to optimize the performance of the contacts.
The specific claimed thicknesses, are only considered to be the “optimum” thicknesses disclosed by Honglei/Yi-Hung that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been able to determine using routine experimentation based, among other things, on the desired protection, manufacturing costs, etc. (see Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980)), and since neither non-obvious nor unexpected results, i.e., results which are different in kind and not in degree from the results of the prior art, will be obtained as long as an insulating portion around a metal portion of a contact is used, as already suggested by Honglei/Yi-Hung.
Accordingly, since the applicants have not established the criticality (see next paragraph below) of the stated thicknesses, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use these values in the device of Honglei/Yi-Hung.
CRITICALITY
The specification contains no disclosure of either the critical nature of the claimed dimensions or any unexpected results arising therefrom. Where patentability is said to be based upon particular chosen dimensions or upon another variable recited in a claim, the applicant must show that the chosen dimensions are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Regarding claim 2, Honglei (see, e.g., fig. 22) shows that the carrier 100 comprises a substrate or a PCB.
Regarding claim 4, Yi-Hung (¶0065) shows that the circuit layer comprises a RDL.
Regarding claim 5, Honglei (see, e.g., p.7/ll.6-7) shows the metal portion 10 comprising Sn, Ag, Cu, Ni, Ge, Pb, Sb, Bi, Cd, Au, In, Al, As, Fe, An, or combinations thereof.
Regarding claim 8, Yi-Hung (see, e.g., fig. 1A) shows that the thickness of the first, second and third insulating portions 15 is the same.
Regarding claim 11, Honglei (see, e.g., fig. 22) shows that the package further comprises a chip 1011 disposed on the circuit layer 101.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honglei/Yi-Hung in view of Lin (US 2015/0084206).
Regarding claim 3, Honglei/Yi-Hung show most aspects of the instant invention (see paragraphs 8-15 above). They, however, fail to specify that the line width or line spacing of the circuit layer be less than 15 µm. Lin, in a similar package, teaches that line widths or line spacings of less than 15 µm would increase the line density of the circuit layer and allows for smaller packages, reduced warpage, and increased device speed.
It would have been obvious at the time of filing the invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the line widths or line spacings of Honglei/Yi-Hung be less than 15 µm, as suggested by Lin, to increase the line density of the circuit layer and allow for smaller packages with reduced warpage and increased device speed.
Conclusion
Papers related to this application may be submitted directly to Art Unit 2814 by facsimile transmission. Papers should be faxed to Art Unit 2814 via the Art Unit 2814 Fax Center. The faxing of such papers must conform to the notice published in the Official Gazette, 1096 OG 30 (15 November 1989). The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center number is (571) 273-8300. The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center is to be used only for papers related to Art Unit 2814 applications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Marcos D. Pizarro at (571) 272-1716 and between the hours of 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Thursday or by e-mail via Marcos.Pizarro@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Wael Fahmy, can be reached on (571) 272-1705.
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/Marcos D. Pizarro/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
MDP/mdp
August 5, 2026
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