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
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amano et al. (CN 2014-224283A) (hereafter Amano) in view of Yamada et al. (MY-162021A) (hereafter Yamada).
With respect to claim 1, Amano teaches an Al bonding wire for semiconductor devices containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 500 mass ppm of one or more of Pd and Pt in total (solution; machine translation; and claims) for corrosion resistance but, Amano fails to teach wherein, as a result of measuring a crystal orientation on a cross-section parallel to a wire axis direction including a wire axis of the bonding wire, an orientation ratio of a <100> crystal orientation angled at 15 degrees or less to the wire axis direction is equal to or higher than 30% and equal to or lower than 90%.
However, Yamada teaches a bonding wire wherein, as a result of measuring a crystal orientation on a cross-section parallel to a wire axis direction including a wire axis of the bonding wire, an orientation ratio of a <100> crystal orientation angled at 15 degrees or less to the wire axis direction is equal to or higher than 30% and equal to or lower than 90% (paragraphs 15-16, 19-21, 24-26, and 35).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the crystal orientation of Yamada for the aluminum wire of Amano in order to improve reliability of the bonding wire by alleviating leaning and spring failures.
With respect to claim 2, since the collective wire of Amano and Yamada possesses the claimed composition and crystal orientation, it is the examiner’s position that the collective wire of Amano and Yamada will intrinsically exhibit a tensile strength that is equal to or larger than 25 MPa and equal to or smaller than 85 MPa.
With respect to claim 5, Amano teaches wherein a content of Al is equal to or larger than 98% by mass (claims 1-3; and the machine translation).
With respect to claim 6, Amano teaches wherein a balance of the Al bonding wire comprises Al and inevitable impurities (broadest reasonable interpretation) (claims 1-3; and the machine translation).
With respect to claim 7, Amano teaches a semiconductor device comprising the Al bonding wire for semiconductor devices according to claim 1 (title; and paragraphs 1-3 of the machine translation).
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amano and Yamada as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Amano et al. (CN-103911526A) (hereafter Amano ‘526).
With respect to claim 3, Amano and Yamada do not teach containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 10000 mass ppm of one or more of Si, Au, and Ag in total.
However, Amano ‘526 teaches containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 10000 mass ppm of one or more of Si, Au, and Ag in total (machine translation).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the quantity of one or more of Si, Au, and Ag in total as taught by Amano ‘526 in the collective bonding wire of Amano and Yamada in order to achieve the desired thermal shock resistance and strength.
With respect to claim 4, Amano and Yamada do not teach containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 700 mass ppm of one or more of Fe and Mg in total.
However, Amano ‘526 teaches containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 700 mass ppm of one or more of Fe and Mg in total (machine translation).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the quantity of equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 700 mass ppm of one or more of Fe and Mg in total as taught by Amano ‘526 in the collective bonding wire of Amano and Yamada in order to achieve the desired amount of precipitation of Fe and stabilization of the recrystallization temperature.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amano and Yamada as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kaneko (US2020/0040432A1).
With respect to claim 3, Amano and Yamada do not teach containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 10000 mass ppm of one or more of Si, Au, and Ag in total.
However, Kaneko teaches an aluminum bonding wire containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 10000 mass ppm of one or more of Si, Au, and Ag in total (paragraphs 36 and 47-70).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the quantity of one or more of Si, Au, and Ag in total as taught by Kaneko in the collective bonding wire of Amano and Yamada in order to achieve the desired thermal shock resistance and strength.
With respect to claim 4, Amano and Yamada do not teach containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 700 mass ppm of one or more of Fe and Mg in total.
However, Kaneko teaches containing equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 700 mass ppm of one or more of Fe and Mg in total (paragraphs 36 and 47-70).
At the time of filing the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the quantity of equal to or larger than 3 mass ppm and equal to or smaller than 700 mass ppm of one or more of Fe and Mg in total as taught by Kaneko in the collective bonding wire of Amano and Yamada in order to achieve the desired amount of strength and precipitation of Fe.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KILEY SHAWN STONER whose telephone number is (571)272-1183. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday.
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/KILEY S STONER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735