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 .
Applicant's amendment/arguments filed on 4/6/26 as being acknowledged and entered. By this amendment claims 7, 12, and 21-25 are canceled, claims26-27 have been added and claims 1-6, 8-11 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 9, 16, 18, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lewis et al. (US PGPub 2018/0106554).
Claim 1: Lewis teaches (Fig. 5) a thermal management module for an integrated circuit assembly, comprising: a housing (510, 353) [0042] defining a sealed passage configured to receive a fluid and having a variable cross-sectional area; wherein the housing comprises a wall forming a platform configured to receive an integrated circuit (525) or portion thereof; a wick (515) [0032] disposed within the sealed passage, wherein the wick forms pores configured to convey a liquid form of the fluid toward an evaporator section of the thermal management module; and a void (520) formed within the sealed passage between the wick and the wall of the housing, wherein the void is configured to convey a vapor form of the fluid toward a condenser section of the thermal management module [0043-0046].
Claim 3: Lewis teaches (Fig. 5) the housing comprises: a first housing portion (112) on which the wick is disposed; and a second housing portion (120) coupled with the first housing portion and comprising the wall.
Claim 9: Lewis teaches (Fig. 5) the sealed passage comprises a first cross-section having a first cross-sectional area of the variable cross-sectional area at the evaporator section; the sealed passage comprises a second cross-section having a second cross-sectional area of the variable cross-sectional area at the condenser section; and the first cross-sectional area is greater than the second cross-sectional area, the first cross- section and the second cross-section being taken parallel to each other and orthogonal to an average flow direction of the fluid between the condenser section and the evaporator section.
Claim 16: Lewis teaches (Fig. 5) [0043-0046] an integrated circuit assembly, comprising: a substrate (530) having processing circuitry thereon; and a thermal management module comprising: a sealed passage (520); an evaporator section in the sealed passage, the evaporator section being spatially aligned with the processing circuitry and configured to extract heat from the processing circuitry via a fluid to generate a vapor form of the fluid; a condenser section in the sealed passage, positioned away from the processing circuitry and configured to extract heat from the fluid to generate a liquid form of the fluid; a wick (515) [0032] in the sealed passage, spanning the evaporator section and the condenser section, wherein the wick forms pores configured to convey the liquid form of the fluid from the condenser section toward the evaporator section; and a void (520) in the sealed passage, the void formed adjacent to the wick and spanning the evaporator section and the condenser section, wherein the void is configured to convey the vapor form of the fluid from the evaporator section toward the condenser section.
Claim 18: Lewis teaches (Fig. 5) [0043-0046] the evaporator section comprises a rectangular cross-sectional shape; and a first portion of an adiabatic section of the thermal management module couples a first portion of the condenser section with a first side of the rectangular cross-sectional shape, and a second portion of the adiabatic section of the thermal management module couples a second portion of the condenser section with a second side of the rectangular cross-sectional shape.
Claim 26: Lewis teaches (Fig. 5) the thermal management module comprises a housing defining the sealed passage, the housing comprises a wall forming the substrate or receiving the substrate thereon, and the void extends between the wick and the wall.
Claim(s) 10-11, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rush et al. (US PGPub 2023/0038664).
Claim 10: Rush teaches [0049-0056] (Fig. 12) a thermal management module for an integrated circuit assembly, comprising: a sealed passage configured to house a fluid; an evaporator section in the sealed passage, wherein the evaporator section is configured to extract heat from the integrated circuit assembly via the fluid to generate a vapor form of the fluid; a condenser section in the sealed passage, wherein the condenser section is configured to extract heat from the fluid to generate a liquid form of the fluid; a wick (86,88) disposed within the sealed passage and forming pores configured to convey the liquid form of the fluid from the condenser section toward the evaporator section; an integrated circuit assembly platform (70) configured to receive the integrated circuit assembly; and a void formed within the sealed passage adjacent to the wick, wherein the void is configured to convey the vapor form of the fluid from the evaporator section toward the condenser section, and wherein at least a portion of the void (76) is between the integrated circuit assembly platform (70) and the wick (86/88).
Claim 11: Rush teaches [0026] (Fig. 12) a housing defining a sealed passage, wherein the housing comprises a wall (18) forming the integrated circuit assembly platform
Claim 13: Rush teaches [0043] (Fig. 6) a housing, wherein the housing comprises: a first housing portion on which the wick is disposed; a second housing portion coupled with the first housing portion; and a brazing material disposed in a seam formed by the first housing portion and the second housing portion such that the brazing material, the first housing portion, and the second housing portion hermetically seal the sealed passage.
Claim 15: Rush teaches [0040] (Fig. 17/18) the sealed passage comprises a variable cross-sectional area; a first section of the wick comprises a first pore size or density of the pores; a second section of the wick comprises a second pore size or density of the pores; and the first pore size or density differs from the second pore size or density.
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 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lewis et al. (US PGPub 2018/0106554), as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and further in view of Neal et al. (US PGPub 2021/0195798).
Regarding claim 2, as described above, Lewis substantially reads on the invention as claimed, except Lewis does not teach the pores formed by the wick comprise: a first pore size or density adjacent to the evaporator section of the thermal management module; and a second pore size or density adjacent to the condenser section of the thermal management module, wherein the second pore size or density is different than the first pore size or density. Neal teaches [0027] the pores formed by the wick comprise: a first pore size or density adjacent to the evaporator section of the thermal management module; and a second pore size or density adjacent to the condenser section of the thermal management module, wherein the second pore size or density is different than the first pore size or density to improve energy transfer. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device taught by Lewis to have had the pore density required by the claim to improve thermal management efficiency as taught by Neal.
Claim 4: Neal teaches (Fig. 1) a brazing material (132) disposed in a seam formed by the first housing portion and the second housing portion such that the brazing material, the first housing portion, and the second housing portion hermetically seal the sealed passage.
Claims 5-6, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lewis et al. (US PGPub 2018/0106554), as applied to claims 1, 3, and 16 above, and further in view of Rush et al. (US PGPub 2023/0038664).
Regarding claim 5, as described above, Lewis substantially reads on the invention as claimed, except Lewis does not teach a lap welded interface between a first perimeter of the first housing portion and a second perimeter of the second housing portion, wherein the lap welded interface, the first housing portion, and the second housing portion hermetically seal the sealed passage. Rush teaches and brazing as methods for sealing the first and second portions of the housing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device taught by Lewis to have been welded as it is a known substitute for brazing.
Regarding claim 6, as described above, Lewis substantially reads on the invention as claimed, except Lewis does not teach a plurality of columns coupling the wick with the wall, wherein the plurality of columns is positioned in the evaporator section of the thermal management module. Rush teaches a plurality of columns coupling the wick with the wall, wherein the plurality of columns is positioned in the evaporator section of the thermal management module so that the housing can provide thermal and mechanical support to the device [0024]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device taught by Lewis to have had columns coupling the wick with the wall, wherein the plurality of columns is positioned in the evaporator section of the thermal management module to provide thermal and mechanical support to the device [0024] as taught by Rush.
Claim 17: Rush teaches [0026] (Fig. 12) one or more columns disposed in the evaporator section and extending from the wick to an integrated circuit platform assembly, wherein the integrated circuit platform assembly is defined by a housing of the thermal management module and configured to receive the substrate on which the processing circuitry is disposed, and the integrated circuit platform assembly, the one or more columns, and the wick are configured to establish a conductive path configured to transfer heat from the processing circuitry to the fluid.
Claim 19: Rush teaches [0043] (Fig. 6) a housing defining the sealed passage in which the evaporator section , the condenser section, the wick, and the void are disposed, wherein the housing comprises: a first housing portion on which the wick is disposed; a second housing portion coupled with the first housing portion; and a brazing material disposed in a seam formed by the first housing portion and the second housing portion such that the brazing material, the first housing portion, and the second housing portion hermetically seal the sealed passage.
Claim 20: Rush teaches [0043] (Fig. 6) a housing defining a sealed passage in which the wick and the void are disposed, wherein the housing comprises: a first housing portion; a second housing portion; and a lap weld between the first housing portion and the second housing portion such that the lap weld, the first housing portion, and the second housing portion hermetically seal the sealed passage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 14 and 27 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 4/6/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding claim 10, applicant argues that Rush does not teach a sealed passage configured to house a fluid. Rush teaches in paragraph [0053] that the thermal management module does contain a sealed passage configured to house a fluid, the sealed passage containing the other required elements (evaporator, condenser, etc.) as described above and further in paragraph [0053]
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-6, 8-9 and 16-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any 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 SARAH KATE SALERNO whose telephone number is (571)270-1266. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30am-2:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wael Fahmy can be reached at 5712721705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SARAH K SALERNO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
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