DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Preliminary Amendment filed on October 31, 2023.
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 § 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, and 8, 10, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakajima (JP 2014022444 A).
In re claim 1, Nakajima shows (figs. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-5) semiconductor device comprising: a lead frame (1) having a mount surface; a semiconductor element (4) disposed on the mount surface; a circuit board (5) disposed apart from the mount surface in a thickness direction of the semiconductor device and electrically connected to the lead frame (by 6c); a sealing resin (7) to seal the lead frame, the semiconductor element, and the circuit board; a connector (part of 5a) having a terminal portion, wherein the lead frame includes a lead (1b) exposed from the sealing resin, the circuit board (5) has at least one exposed portion (5a) exposed from the sealing resin, and the terminal portion (5a) of the connector is exposed from the sealing resin electrically connected to one of the at least one exposed portion (since 5a is considered the terminal portion is also the exposed portion.
In re claim 8, Nakajima shows (figs. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-5) a number of the at least one exposed portion is greater than or equal to two.
In re claim 10, Nakajima shows (figs. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-5) the at least one exposed portion is inside an outline of the sealing resin when viewed along a thickness direction of the semiconductor device.
In re claims 12 and 13, Nakajima shows (figs. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-5, and abstract) the connector serves as a control terminal of the semiconductor device, and the lead serves as a main circuit terminal of the semiconductor device (because the connector 5 is a control board). The device is a power converter comprising: a main conversion circuit to convert and output input power, the main conversion circuit including the semiconductor device (4) according to claim 1; and a control circuit (control board 5) to output a control signal controlling the main conversion circuit to the main conversion circuit.
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, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakajima (JP 2014022444 A).
In re claim 2, Nakajima shows all of the elements of the claims except the thickness of the at least one exposed portion is smaller than a thickness of a portion of the circuit board sealed with the sealing resin. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to form the exposed portion having any desired thickness, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
In re claims 9 and 11, Nakajima shows all of the elements of the claims except the through hole or penetration hole with the screw inserted. These elements are not patentably distinguishable over the cited prior art since the are well known in the art of semiconductors for forming secure connections in electronic devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Glenn (US 6,566,164 B1), Oka (US Pub. 2010/0133667 A1), Noritake (US Pub. 2009/0224398 A1), Shinohara (US Pub. 2006/0091512 A1), Mashimo (US Pub. 2012.0074552 A1), Ishihara (JP-2006054245 A), and Yamaguchi (CN-113316845 B) also disclose various elements of the claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW E WARREN whose telephone number is (571)272-1737. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10am - 6pm.
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/MATTHEW E WARREN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815