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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 11/31/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 11-17 have been cancelled. Claims 1-10 and 18-24 are pending. Claims 18-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected Invention II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US20200286839A1 (Jang) in view of US20210193620A1 (Refai-Ahmed).
Regarding Claim 1, Jang discloses a chip packaging structure (Fig. 13) having a heat dissipation plate (Fig. 13, el. 32, Para. [0139]) comprising: a substrate (Fig. 13, el. 20, Para. [0141]), having a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other (see annotated Fig. 13 below), wherein the first surface of the substrate is provided with a grounding pin (Fig. 13, el. 28, Para. [0149]); at least one chip (Fig. 13, el. 11, Para. [0139]), disposed on the first surface of the substrate (Fig. 13) and electrically connected to the substrate (Fig. 13); the heat dissipation plate, wherein the heat dissipation plate is a metal cover plate (Para. [0163]) that is bonded to the first surface of the substrate (Fig. 13), the heat dissipation plate and the substrate form a cavity in a surrounding manner for holding the chip therein (see annotated Fig. 13 below), a thermal interface material (Fig. 13, el. 60, Para. [0139]) is filled between the heat dissipation plate and the chip (Fig. 13, Para. [0139]), the heat dissipation plate is electrically connected to the grounding pin (Fig. 13, Para. [0149]); a plastic packaging layer (Fig. 13, el. 40, Para. [0061]), covering the chip, the substrate and the heat dissipation plate, and exposing at least part of a surface region of the heat dissipation plate (see Fig. 13); and a metal shielding layer (Fig. 13, 50, Para. [0145]), disposed on a surface of the plastic packaging layer (Fig. 13) and at least connected to the surface region of the heat dissipation plate exposed by the plastic packaging layer (see Fig. 13), and electrically connected to the grounding pin through the heat dissipation plate and the conductive connector (this is inherent since the metal shielding layer is connected to the heat dissipation plate, which is connected to the grounding pin).
Jang does not disclose that the heat dissipation plate is connected to the first surface of the substrate through a conductive connector, and a connection strength between the conductive conductor and the substrate and the heat dissipation plate is greater than a connection strength between the thermal interface material and the chip and the heat dissipation plate.
Refai-Ahmed discloses a chip packaging structure (Fig. 1, el. 100, Para. [0019]) having a heat dissipation plate (Fig. 1, el. 102, Para. [0019]) with conductive connectors disposed between the substrate and the heat dissipation plate.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention to add the conductive connectors disclosed by Refai-Ahmed between the substrate and the heat dissipation plate. As disclosed by Refai-Ahmed, the conductive connecters facilitate heat transfer (Para. [0018]).
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Regarding Claim 9, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to Claim 1, wherein the plastic packaging layer completely exposes an outer surface of the top cover plate of the heat dissipation plate (see annotated Fig. 13 above), and the metal shielding layer completely covers the plastic packaging layer and the outer surface of the top cover plate (see annotated Fig. 13 above).
Regarding Claim 10, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to Claim 9, wherein a tail end of the metal shielding layer is disposed outside an edge of the substrate (see annotated Fig. 13 above).
Regarding Claim 2, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to Claim 1.
Refai-Ahemd further discloses that the heat dissipation plate and the chip are connected by at least one fixed connector (Fig. 1, el. 110, Para. [0019]), and a connection strength between the fixed connector and the chip or the heat dissipation plate is greater than the connection strength between the thermal interface material and the chip or the heat dissipation plate (Para. [0051] and [0052], which describe how the fixed connectors are attached to the die, by for example, electroless plating, electro-plating, chemical vapor deposition, etc., all of which will have a greater connection strength than the connection strength of the TIM material).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention to add at least one fixed connector between the chip and the heat dissipation plate. As disclosed by Refai-Ahmed, these connectors can improve heat dissipation (Para. [0018]).
Regarding Claim 3, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to claim 2.
Refai-Ahmed further discloses that the heat dissipation plate and the chip are connected by a plurality of fixed connectors (Fig. 1, el. 110, Para. [0019]), and the fixed connectors are at least distributed at an edge of a non-functional surface of the chip (Para. [0018] – which discloses that the connectors are connected to the non-functional side of a chip, and Fig. 2, which shows the connectors distributed at an edge of the chip).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention to have a plurality of fixed connectors, placing them on the non-functional side of the chip and at an edge. As disclosed by Refai-Ahmed, adding more connectors and at an edge improves heat transfer where needed (Para. [0018]), and placing them on the non-functional side of the chip ensures that there are no short circuits (implied in Para. [0018]).
Regarding Claim 6, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to Claim 2.
Refai-Ahmed further discloses that the fixed connector and the conductive connector are bonded metal blocks (Para. [0031]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention to use bonded metal blocks for the fixed and conductive connectors. As disclosed by Refai-Ahmed, this material has good heat transfer properties (Para. [0031]).
Regarding Claim 7, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to Claim 6.
Refai-Ahmed further discloses that the chip has a functional surface towards a first surface of a substrate, and non-functional surface opposite to the functional surface, and at least one chip-side metal block is disposed on the non-functional surface of the chip (Fig. 1, Para. [0018]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention to dispose the functional side of the chip towards the substrate, for purposes of electrical connection, while disposing the non-functional side away, with the metal blocks on the non-functional side, to ensure better heat transfer without creating an electrical short.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed and US20160329261A1 (Hung).
Regarding Claim 8, Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed discloses the chip packaging structure according to claim 7, wherein the heat dissipation plate comprises a top cover plate (see Jang, annotated Fig. 13 above) and a side cover plate extending downward along an edge of the top cover plate (see Jang, annotated Fig. 13), the top cover plate is bonded above the non-functional surface of the chip (see analysis of claim 3), , a tail end of the side cover plate is onnected to the first surface of the substrate through the conductive connector (see analysis of claim 1).
Jang in view of Refai-Ahmed does not disclose at least one cover plate-side metal block disposed on the inner surface of the top cover plate, a position and a number of the at least one cover plate-side metal block corresponding to those of the least one chip-side metal block, and the cover plate-side metal block and the chip-side metal block are bonded to form the bonded metal block.
Hung discloses a metal block (Fig. 3A) used for heat dissipation, that comprises multiple layers (Para. [0034]). Hung discloses a chip-side layer (Fig. 3A, el. 22A, Para. [0034]) and a cover-side layer (Fig. 3A, el. 22b, Para. [0034]), the two layers bonded together to form a bonded metal block (Para. [0034]).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention to use the multi-layer structure of Hung to make the connectors of Jang. As disclosed by Hung, doing so greatly increases the thermal conductivity of the connector (Para. [0047]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding Claim 4, none of the prior art of record teaches, suggests or renders
obvious, either alone or in combination the limitation wherein the fixed connectors at least comprise first fixed connectors and second fixed connectors, a connection strength between the first fixed connectors and the chip or the heat dissipation plate is greater than a connection strength between the second fixed connectors and the chip or the heat dissipation plate, the first fixed connectors are distributed at four corners and/or four sides of the non-functional surface of the chip, and the second fixed connectors are distributed in a region between the first fixed connectors on two opposite sides.
Claim 5 is objected to, but would be allowed because it depends on claim 4.
Conclusion
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/ROHIT PARTHASARATHY/Examiner, Art Unit 2899 /DALE E PAGE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2899