DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the communication filed 27 July 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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the Species I embodiment in the reply filed on 4 February 2026 is acknowledged.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 27 July 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states:
Specifically, the sealant 204 of Myers shown in FIG. 2 is cited in the Office Action for disclosing "an area of the middle cross section is greater than the area of the bottom adhering surface," but Myers does not have any description for describing that the sealant 204 shown in FIG. 2 is the same as a flat structure sandwiched between the ink 202 and ground ring 114 as shown in FIG. 3.
Applicant Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment (filed 27 July 2026) at 9. Applicant appears to argue that because FIG. 3 does not include reference character “204,” the structure is not the cited perimeter sealant 204 feature specifically referred to in FIG. 2. The Examiner respectfully notes that various portions of Myers clearly describe the configuration of the perimeter sealant 204. Namely, in [0058], Myers states:
An ink assembly, in one embodiment including 2-5 layers of ink 202, is disposed below the lens 112. In one embodiment, the ink assembly can be printed on the lens 112, vapor deposited thereon, or applied by another technique. This has the effect that the otherwise-translucent button 104 can be made opaque, so the elements of the fingerprint recognition sensor are not immediately visible to the user. The lens 112 is coupled at its edges to the ground ring 114 using a heat activated film and a perimeter sealant 204.
Myers further states in [0068]: “FIG. 3 similarly shows the ink assembly 202 disposed below and coupled to the lens 112 . . . .” FIG. 3 of Myers shows a configuration of an ink assembly described in [0058]. Shown in FIG. 3 are: an ink layer 202, a lens 112, and a ground ring 114. Myers expressly describes the lens 112 and ground ring 114 coupled at the edges of the lens 112 by a perimeter sealant. The structure shown in FIG. 3 between the lens 112 and ground ring 114, which is not the ink layer 202, and which couples the edges of the lens 112 to the ground ring 114, is clearly the described perimeter sealant 204.
Applicant further states:
Moreover, according to the paragraph [0074] and FIG. 3 of Myers, the solder balls 318 are encapsulated within resin, and the solder balls 318 can construct conductive paths when being pressed. In other words, the finger 304 can press the lens 112 to compress the solder balls 318 to construct the conductive paths, thus the lens 112 will inevitably have longitudinal displacement, which will cause pressure on the flat structure (e.g., the blue portion shown in the above FIG. 3). Specifically, the shape of the flat structure shown in Figure 3 appears to be formed under pressure.
In other words, excluding the force applied by the user's finger 304, the shape of the flat structure shown in Figure 3 should be flat and similar to the blue portion shown in above FIG. 2 and fails to disclose "an area of the middle cross section is greater than the area of the bottom adhering surface," and therefore fails to redeem the deficiencies of Jun and fails to provide suggestion to Hanaoka.
Applicant Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment (filed 27 July 2026) at 10. Applicant appears to argue that because a finger 304 is shown in FIG. 3, and because the disclosure describes a separate component, the solder ball 318 and plastic resin configuration shown in FIG. 3, as compressing under pressure, the perimeter sealant 204 must also compress/be compressed such that the shape of the perimeter sealant is actually the shape shown in FIG. 2 in an uncompressed state. The Examiner respectfully asserts that aside from the description of the solder ball 318 and plastic resin, Applicant’s argument is wholly unsupported by the Myers disclosure and merely consists of attorney argument and conjecture based on a fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Myers disclosure. In the interest of clarifying the record, [0074] of Myers, which Applicant asserts supports the above argument, is reproduced below, in its entirety:
In one embodiment, the silicon wafer 308 is constructed including a set of solder balls 318 which are randomly (or pseudo-randomly) disposed coupled to the wafer 308. Optionally, the solder balls 318 need not include actual solder, but may include other electrically conductive material, such as gold, other deformable metals, or other electrically conductive or semiconductive material which can be deformed in response to a physical process such as pressure. The solder balls 318 can be encapsulated in a plastic resin, followed by compression of the layer of solder balls 318 and plastic resin to the point where the solder balls 318 and plastic resin are compressed. This has the effect that the plastic resin is substantially squeezed away from the solder balls 318, and the solder balls 318 are disposed to conduct electrical signals between the silicon wafer 308 and other elements, such as the button 104. As the solder balls 318, or other material, are dispersed horizontally in their layer, this also has the effect that their layer operates to conduct from a layer above to a layer below, without any conduction horizontally across or within their layer.
Notably absent from [0074] and FIG. 3 is any support for Applicant’s assertions that:
“In other words, the finger 304 can press the lens 112 to compress the solder balls 318 to construct the conductive paths, thus the lens 112 will inevitably have longitudinal displacement, which will cause pressure on the flat structure (e.g., the blue portion shown in the above FIG. 3).” Applicant Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment (filed 27 July 2026) at 10.
“Specifically, the shape of the flat structure shown in Figure 3 appears to be formed under pressure.” Id.
“In other words, excluding the force applied by the user's finger 304, the shape of the flat structure shown in Figure 3 should be flat and similar to the blue portion shown in above FIG. 2 . . . .” Id.
In fact, FIG. 3 appears to clearly show the opposite of what Applicant asserts. Namely, FIG. 3 depicts a gap between the finger 304 and the lens 112, and shown in FIG. 3, the solder balls 318 are still suspended in the plastic resin and are not in direct contact with either of the silicon wafer 308 or the flexible element 117, which actually supports a conclusion that the button assembly 200 shown in FIG. 3 is in an uncompressed state.
Finally the Examiner respectfully asserts that FIGS. 2 and 3 disclose alternative embodiments of the button assembly 200. See Myers [0019]: “FIG. 2 shows a conceptual drawing of a button assembly, showing the laminated layers, as partially described with respect to FIG. 1.”; [0020]: “FIG. 3 shows another conceptual drawing of a button assembly, showing the fingerprint recognition sensor, as partially described with respect to FIG. 1.”; [0068]; [0057]-[0058].
Accordingly, Applicant’s arguments are unpersuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The rejections of the claims under § 112(b) are withdrawn, responsive to Applicant’s amendment of the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0154913 (filed Nov. 9, 2016) (hereinafter “Jun”) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0071509 (filed Apr. 18, 2014) (hereinafter “Myers”) and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2024/0170512 (filed Dec. 28, 2021) (hereinafter “Hanaoka”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Jun discloses: A sensor package structure (FIG. 2A, [0009]: “FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I′ of FIG. 1 to illustrate a semiconductor package according to some examples of the inventive concept.”), comprising:
a substrate (FIG. 2A, package substrate 40, [0028]);
a sensor chip disposed on the substrate along a predetermined direction and electrically coupled to the substrate (FIG. 2A, image sensor chip 44 disposed on the package substrate 40 alone a predetermined direction, and electrically coupled to the substrate by bonding wires 45, [0036]),
wherein a top surface of the sensor chip has a sensing region (FIG. 2A, that portion of the image sensor chip 44 including micro lenses MR, [0030]) and a carrying region that surrounds the sensing region (FIG. 2A, that portion of the image sensor chip 44 not including micro lenses MR);
an adhesive layer having an annular shape and being disposed on the carrying region of the sensor chip (FIGS. 1/2A, adhesive pattern 48 having an annular shape, which is disposed in that portion of the image sensor chip 44 not including micro lenses MR, [0044]), wherein the adhesive layer has:
a bottom adhering surface connected to the carrying region (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the adhesive pattern 48 has a bottom surface);
a top adhering surface parallel to the bottom adhering surface (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the adhesive pattern 48 has a top surface),
wherein an area of the top adhering surface is equal to an area of the bottom adhering surface (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the area of the top surface is equal to the area of the bottom surface of the adhesive pattern 48), and the top adhering surface and the bottom adhering surface are entirely overlapped with each other along the predetermined direction (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the bottom surface and the top surface are entirely overlapped with each other); and
a middle cross section parallel to the bottom adhering surface (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the middle cross section of the adhesive pattern 48 is parallel to the bottom surface), wherein a distance between the top adhering surface and the bottom adhering surface is spaced apart from the middle cross section along the predetermined direction is equal to a distance between the bottom adhering surface and the middle cross section along the predetermined direction (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the top and bottom surfaces of the adhesive pattern 48 are spaced apart from the middle cross section of the adhesive pattern 48 by equal distances), and
wherein the adhesive layer is configured to allow light to pass therethrough and is configured to enable the light to change a traveling direction therein and to have an attenuation therein (FIG. 2A; [0032]: “The adhesive pattern 48 may include an epoxy resin-based material containing fillers.”);
a light-permeable layer having an outer surface and an inner surface that is opposite to the outer surface (FIG. 2A, transparent substrate 46 having an outer and inner surface, [0032]), wherein the light-permeable layer is disposed on the top adhering surface of the adhesive layer, so that the light-permeable layer, the adhesive layer, and the sensor chip jointly define an enclosed space (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the transparent substrate 46, the adhesive pattern 48, and the image sensor chip 44 define a space S, [0033]); and
an encapsulant formed on the substrate (FIG. 2A, resin layer 53, [0039]), wherein the sensor chip, the adhesive layer, and the light-permeable layer are embedded in the encapsulant (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the image sensor chip 44, the adhesive pattern 48, and the transparent substrate 46 are embedded in the resin layer 53), and
the outer surface of the light-permeable layer is at least partially exposed from the encapsulant (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the outer surface of the transparent substrate 46 is at least partially exposed from the resin layer 53).
While Jun discloses that “the inventive concept is not limited to a particular shape of the side or sides of the adhesive pattern 48, i.e., the sides of the adhesive pattern 48 may have any of various shapes,” Jun does not specifically disclose wherein an area of the middle cross section is greater than the area of the bottom adhering surface.
In the same field of endeavor, Myers discloses a sensor package structure including an adhesive layer (FIGS. 2/3, perimeter sealant 204, [0058]), wherein the shape of the adhesive layer is such that an area of a middle cross section is greater than an area of either the top or bottom adhering surfaces of the adhesive layer (FIG. 3, depicting wherein perimeter sealant has a shape wherein an area of a middle cross section is greater than an area of either the top or bottom adhering surfaces of the perimeter sealant). In [0113], regarding sealing layers, Myers states: “The adhesive may be electrically nonconductive in some embodiments, and may provide an environmental seal to prevent dust, dirt and other particles from entering.”
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the disclosed semiconductor package of Jun by substituting the perimeter sealant shape of Myers in order to seal the image sensor chip 44 and the transparent substrate 46. See Myers [0113].
Jun in view of Myers does not specifically disclose wherein an area of the middle cross section is 110% to 150% of the area of the bottom adhering surface.
In the same field of endeavor, Hanaoka discloses a sensor package structure including an adhesive layer. Regarding the adhesive layer configuration, in [0081], Hanaoka states: “At this time, it is necessary to perform device design in consideration of application positional accuracy of the adhesive resin applied onto the semiconductor chip 200, application stability depending on resin physical properties such as thixotropy and viscosity, resin spreading at the time of mounting the glass, and the like. In particular, it is necessary to perform device design for securing a sufficient size in which the adhesive resin does not interfere with the pixel portion. This is a factor that reduces the merit of the wafer stacking technology that can shrink the device. For example, the width of the adhesive resin needs to be 0.5 millimeters (mm) or more.” Thus, noted in Hanaoka, the width of the adhesive layer, and thus the cross-sectional area of the adhesive layer, is a result-effective variable for optimizing spreading, reducing interference with the pixel portion of a device, and optimizing device size.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to vary, through routine optimization, the cross sectional area of the adhesive pattern, identified by Hanaoka as a result-effective variable. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to arrive at a cross-sectional area such that an area of the middle cross section is 110% to 150% of the area of the bottom adhering surface in order to achieve a desired balance between spreading, reduction of interference with a pixel portion, and device size as disclosed in Hanaoka in [0081]. See MPEP § 2144.05 (“[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation.”) (quoting In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456 (C.C.P.A. 1955)).
Regarding claim 2, Jun in view of Myers and Hanaoka further discloses wherein the adhesive layer has an inner side arranged in the enclosed space and an outer side that is connected to the encapsulant (FIG. 2A, depicting an inner side of the adhesive pattern 48 arranged in the space S), and at least one of the inner side and the outer side is a curved surface (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the shape of the adhesive pattern 48, as modified by Myers, would have an inner side and an outer side that are curved surfaces).
Regarding claim 3, Jun in view of Myers and Hanaoka further discloses wherein the inner side of the adhesive layer does not have a concave surface, and the outer side of the adhesive layer does not have a concave surface (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the shape of the adhesive pattern 48, as modified by Myers, is such that neither of the inner side and nor outer side would have a concave surface).
Regarding claim 4, Jun in view of Myers and Hanaoka further discloses wherein the adhesive layer has an inner side arranged in the enclosed space and an outer side that is connected to the encapsulant (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the adhesive patter 48 has an inner side arranged in the space S and an outer side connected to the resin layer 53), and wherein, in a cross-sectional view of the adhesive layer perpendicular to the middle cross section, at least one of the inner side and the outer side has a circular arc shape having a center of circle located on the middle cross section (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the adhesive pattern 48, as modified by Myers and Hanaoka, would have a configuration wherein at least one of the inner side or outer side of the adhesive pattern 48 would have an arc shape, wherein the center of the arc would be located on the middle cross section of the adhesive pattern 48).
Regarding claim 5, Jun in view of Myers and Hanaoka further discloses wherein the middle cross section is perpendicular to the predetermined direction, and wherein, out of all cross sections of the adhesive layer perpendicular to the predetermined direction, the area of the middle cross section is largest (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the adhesive pattern 48, as modified by Myers and Hanaoka, would have a configuration wherein, out of all the cross-sections of the adhesive pattern 48, the area of the middle cross section would be the greatest).
Regarding claim 6, Jun in view of Myers and Hanaoka further discloses wherein, out of all the cross sections of the adhesive layer perpendicular to the predetermined direction, the area of the bottom adhering surface and the area of the top adhering surface are both smallest and are equal to each other (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the adhesive pattern 48, as modified by Myers and Hanaoka, would have a configuration wherein, out of all the cross-sections of the adhesive pattern 48, the areas of the top and bottom surfaces are smallest and equal to each other).
Regarding claim 7, Jun in view of Myers and Hanaoka further discloses a plurality of metal wires (FIG. 2A, bonding wires 45, [0036]), wherein two ends of each of the metal wires are respectively connected to the substrate and the carrying region of the sensor chip, so that the substrate and the sensor chip are electrically coupled to each other (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein two ends of each of the bonding wires 45 are connected to the package substrate 40 and that portion of the image sensor chip 44 not including micro lenses MR), and wherein each of the metal wires is located outside of the adhesive layer and is embedded in the encapsulant (FIG. 2A, depicting wherein the bonding wires 45 are embedded in the resin layer 53).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM D WEILAND whose telephone number is (703)756-4760. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Gauthier can be reached at (571)270-0373. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADAM D WEILAND/Examiner, Art Unit 2813
/STEVEN B GAUTHIER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2813
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