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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-14 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected process, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/21/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-10 in the reply filed on 1/21/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koontz et al. (US 8,921,992) (“Koontz”).
With regard to claim 1, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses a three-dimensional chip, comprising: a plurality of integrated circuit layers (104, 108, 112) wherein the plurality of integrated circuit layers (104, 108, 112) comprises at least one of one or more electronic components (“electronic components”, col. 4 ll. 36-37) or one or more photonic components and are arranged in a stack (“stacked wafer assembly”, col. 4 ll. 12-13); one or more microfluidic channel layers 156 positioned between integrated circuit layers (104, 108, 112) wherein the microfluidic channel layers 156 comprise microfluidic channels (120, 116a, 116b) and the microfluidic channels (120, 116a, 116b) are configured to enable working fluid (“fluid”, col. 5 ll. 39) to flow through the microfluidic channels 120 to provide passive heat transfer for the at least one of one or more electronic components (“electronic components”, col. 4 ll. 36-37) or one or more photonic components in the integrated circuit layers (104, 108, 112); and wherein the microfluidic channels 120 comprise one or more portions 120 that extend along a microfluidic channel layer 156 and one or more portions 116b that extend through a microfluidic channel layer 156.
With regard to claim 2, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses that the three-dimensional chip 150 comprises a heat pipe 120 for the passive heat transfer (“No high-power coolant fluid pumps are required”, col. 3 ll. 30).
With regard to claim 4, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses that the three-dimensional chip 150 comprises a two-phase (“2-phase”, col. 4 ll. 21) cooling system for the passive heat transfer 120.
With regard to claim 5, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses that the microfluidic channel layers 156 comprise one or more vias 140 configured to enable electrical signals to be transferred between integrated circuit layers (104, 108, 112) on either side of the microfluidic channel layer 156.
With regard to claim 6, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses that the microfluidic channel layers 156 comprise one or more of the vias 116b configured to enable working fluid to flow between integrated circuit layers (104, 108, 112) on either side of the microfluidic channel layer 156.
With regard to claim 7, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses a heat rejection surface (“chiller”, 6 ll. 36).
With regard to claim 8, fig. 1C of Koontz discloses that the microfluidic channels 120 are configured to enable heat transfer from the integrated chip layers (104, 108, 112), though through the three-dimensional chip 150 to the heat rejection surface (“chiller”, 6 ll. 36).
With regard to claim 10, fig. 1C and 2 of Koontz discloses connectors 224 for connecting the three-dimensional chip 150 to a circuit board 216.
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 3 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koontz et al. (US 8,921,992) (“Koontz”) in view of Smoot et al. (US 2018/0158756) (“Smoot”).
With regard to claim 3, Koontz does not disclose that the three-dimensional chip comprises an oscillating heat pipe for the passive heat transfer.
However, fig. 1 of Smoot discloses the three-dimensional chip comprises an oscillating heat pipe 14 for the passive heat transfer.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the fluid channels of Koontz with the oscillating heat pipe as taught in Smoot in order to acquire and transfer heat from the high heat flux device interfaces and spread it across the larger heat sink interfaces with minimal temperature difference between these locations. See par [0053] of Smoot.
With regard to claim 9, Koontz does not disclose that the heat rejection surface is configured to be cooled with an active cooling system.
However, fig. 1 of Smoot discloses that the heat rejection surface is configured to be cooled with an active (“pumped coolant (active) cooling of three-dimensional microchips can be use”, par [0045]) cooling system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the coolant channels of Koontz wit the pumped coolant as taught in Smoot in order to acquire and transfer heat from the high heat flux device interfaces and spread it across the larger heat sink interfaces with minimal temperature difference between these locations. See par [0053] of Smoot.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN T LIU whose telephone number is (571)272-6009. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11:00am-7:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yara J Green can be reached at 571 270-3035. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN TZU-HUNG LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/YARA B GREEN/ Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893