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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hill (US 2005/0087881) and Dando, III et al. (“Dando” US 2007/0159799).
Regarding claim 1, Hill teaches a chip packaging module (Figures 3, 4), comprising: a bearing plate (4b), a die (chip 1 and conductive layer 3b), conductive adhesive (9), a connection reinforcing part (8, includes segments 10 and 12 in Figures 3, 4), and a packaging layer (5), wherein the die (1/3b) is electrically connected to the bearing plate (4b) through the conductive adhesive (9, para. [0011] discloses that the connection reinforcing part 8 electrically connects the bearing plate 4b with the die 1/3b, and since the conductive adhesive is solder and electrically conductive, the conductive adhesive 9 also electrically connects the bearing plate 4b to the die 1/3b), the connection reinforcing part (8) is fixedly connected to the bearing plate (4b, see Figure 3, despite vertically-oriented segments 10 being allowed to move transverse to the plane of the die to compensate for thermal expansion of the die and the metal elements, see para. [0037], the conductive adhesive 9 still physically fixes looped portions of the connection reinforcing part 8 to the bearing plate 4b, thus fixes the connection reinforcing part 8 to the bearing plate as it is a monolithic structure), at least part of the connection reinforcing part (8) is disposed in the conductive adhesive (9, see Figure 4 where the connection reinforcing part 8 is embedded in the conductive adhesive 9), and the packaging layer (5) is disposed on the bearing plate (4b), and covers the die (1/3b, the packaging layer 5 covers at least lateral side surfaces of the die 1/3b), the conductive adhesive (9), and the connection reinforcing part (8, see Figure 4);
an orthogonal projection of the die (1/3b) onto the bearing plate (4b) at least partially vertically overlaps with an orthogonal projection of the connection reinforcing part (8) onto the bearing plate (4b, see Figure 4 which shows vertical overlap in the vertical direction); and the connection reinforcing part (8) is in direct physical contact with the die (1/3b, see Figures 3 and 4);
wherein the connection reinforcing part (8) comprises a strip-shaped conductive elastic member (8 has “flexible metal-element segments” 10, which are segments of the connection reinforcing part 8, see para. [0037]), the strip-shaped conductive elastic member (8) is bent in a first preset direction (vertical direction in Figures 3 and 4, see para. [0018] which discloses bending), and the first preset direction is a direction from the bearing plate (4b) to the die (1/3b); the first preset direction (vertical direction in Figures 3 and 4) is perpendicular to the plane where the bearing plate (4b) is located (the bearing plate 4b is located in a horizontal plane, and the first preset direction which is the vertical direction is perpendicular to the horizontal direction in Figures 3 and 4).
Hill does not explicitly teach the bearing plate is provided with first pads, two ends of the strip-shaped conductive elastic member are correspondingly welded to the first pads, the first pads are all located on a same plane where the bearing plate is located, and wherein the strip-shaped conductive elastic member is fixedly connected to the bearing plate via the first pads.
Dando teaches in Figure 6, however, a bearing plate (12) provided with first pads (80b), two ends of the strip-shaped conductive elastic member (76, ends around component 68 connected to the bearing plate 12) are correspondingly welded to the first pads (80b), the first pads (80b) are all located on a same plane where the bearing plate (12) is located (see Figure 6), and wherein the strip-shaped conductive elastic member (76) is fixedly connected to the bearing plate via the first pads (80b, see Figure 6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teachings of Dando into the teachings of Hill to include the features above for the purpose of enhancing the interface between the bearing plate and the electrical components/dies (Dando, para. [0051]).
Regarding claim 2, Hill teaches wherein the connection reinforcing part (8) is buried in the conductive adhesive (9, see Figure 4).
Regarding claim 3, Hill teaches wherein the connection reinforcing part (8) is welded to the bearing plate (through solder/conductive adhesive 9), and the connection reinforcing part (8) is electrically connected to the bearing plate (4b) and the die (1/3b, see para. [0011]).
Regarding claim 5, Hill teaches wherein the strip-shaped conductive elastic member (8) is in a pre-pressed state, and comprises a first section, a second section, and a third section that are formed via bending, a first end of the first section (Figure 3, the first section is a portion of one horse shoe-shaped portion of the conductive elastic member the extends vertically between the bearing plate 4 and the die 1/3b, see also annotated Figure 3 below) is connected to the bearing plate (4b), a second end of the first section (lower end at dotted line in annotated Figure 3) is connected to a first end of the second section (left end of the second section labeled in annotated Figure 3, which is the section of the horse shoe shape that extends horizontally and is directly contacting the die 1/3b), a second end of the second section (right end of the second section in annotated Figure 3) is connected to a first end of the third section (third section is the opposite side of the horse shoe shape to the first section, also extending vertically), a second end of the third section (upper end) is connected to the bearing plate (4b), and the die (1/3b) is in direct physical contact with and electrically connected to (para. [0011]) the second section (see annotated Figure 3).
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Regarding claim 6, Hill teaches wherein there are a plurality of strip-shaped conductive elastic members (8, see Figure 5), and the plurality of strip-shaped conductive elastic members (10) are disposed in a second preset direction (horizontal direction of Figure 5, which is the in/out of page direction in Figures 3 and 4) side by side (see Figure 5).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-6 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the previous interpretation of the primary reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 Genevieve G Bullard-Connor whose telephone number is (571)270-0609. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dale Page can be reached at 571-270-7877. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Genevieve G Bullard-Connor/Examiner, Art Unit 2899 /DALE E PAGE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2899
