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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 8, and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tajima (300-GHz LTCC Horn Antennas Based on Antenna-in-Package Technology).
Regarding claim 1, Tajima discloses a microelectronic assembly, comprising: a microelectronic component (Fig. 1) having a first face (upper surface) and a second face (lower surface), wherein the first face of the microelectronic component has a recess therein (Shown); and an antenna unit (Horn), wherein the antenna unit is at least partially in the recess and includes: a glass layer (LTCCs, Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics, are known to be multilayer glass ceramic substrates; portion glass layer along the inside of the recess) having a first face (upper surface of uppermost glass layer in LTCC) and an opposing second face (upper surface of LTCC glass layer immediately beneath recess), an opening (Shown, opening in glass layer) extending between the first face and the second face of the glass layer, wherein a width of the opening at the first face of the glass layer is larger than a width of the opening at the second face of the glass layer (shown), and a layer of an electrically conductive material on sidewalls of the opening (comprises the vias along the sidewalls of the opening).
Regarding claim 2, Tajima discloses wherein the first face of the glass layer is aligned with the first face of the microelectronic component (Shown).
Regarding claim 3, Tajima discloses further comprising a gap between at least a portion of the glass layer that is within the recess and a sidewall of the recess (the gap being the space filled by vias surrounding recess).
Regarding claim 5, Tajima discloses wherein the gap is between about 1 micron and 200 microns (Section IIIA "The minimum via diameter and spacing are both 0.1 mm", or 100 microns; the gap between the glass layer and the rest of the LTCC layers would therefore necessarily be 100 microns).
Regarding claim 10, Tajima discloses wherein the microelectronic component includes conductive pathways (Fig. 1, highlighted signal line) and the electrically conductive material is in conductive contact with one or more of the conductive pathways (Shown).
Regarding claim 11, Tajima discloses further comprising a bonding layer (Fig. 1, waveguide transition), wherein the conductive pathways of the microelectronic component are coupled to the electrically conductive material via the bonding layer (Shown).
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.
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tajima (300-GHz LTCC Horn Antennas Based on Antenna-in-Package Technology) in view Desai (US 20130101250 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Tajima discloses the microelectronic assembly according to claim 1. However, Tajima does not disclose a lid covering the opening at the first face of the glass layer.
On the other hand, Desai discloses a glass lid (Fig. 1, glass lid 10) covering a first/upper surface of a microelectronic assembly (Shown in Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Tajima according to the teachings of Desai such that a glass lid would cover the opening at the first face of the glass layer, in order to protect the device from moisture, dirt, dust and other debris as is common in the art.
Regarding claim 7, Desai further discloses wherein the lid includes (glass lid 10; para. 18 “molded glass lid 10”).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tajima (300-GHz LTCC Horn Antennas Based on Antenna-in-Package Technology).
Regarding claim 8, Tajima discloses wherein a height of the glass layer is 2700 microns (Abstract “The size of the horn antenna is only 5 mm x 5 mm x 2.7 mm”, also shown in Fig. 6). However, Tajima does not disclose the height of the glass layer being between about 50 microns and 2000 microns. Nonetheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the time of effective filing to modify Tajima such that the height of the glass layer would be between about 50 microns and 2000 microns in order to minimize package height while having a thickness sufficient to maintain structural integrity.
Claim(s) 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tajima (300-GHz LTCC Horn Antennas Based on Antenna-in-Package Technology) in view of Ogawa (US 6952049 B1).
Regarding claim 12, Tajima discloses the microelectronic assembly according to claim 1 comprising a die (Fig. 1, MMIC). However, Tajima does not disclose the die being coupled to the first face of the microelectronic component.
On the other hand, Ogawa discloses a die (Fig. 10, 330) being coupled to the first face of a microelectronic component (Figure 10; in a similar manner as Applicant’s figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Tajima according to the teachings of Ogawa such that the die would be coupled to a recess on the first face of the device as shown in Ogawa’s figure 10, in order to protect the device during manufacturing.
Regarding claim 13, Ogawa further discloses wherein: the recess is a first recess, the first face of the microelectronic component further has a second recess therein (Fig. 10, recess containing die 330),
and the die is at least partially in the second recess (Shown).
Regarding claim 14, Ogawa further discloses wherein the die includes circuitry (Fig. 1, circuitry forming signal path between horn and MMIC) to control operation of the antenna unit or circuity for sending or receiving data using the antenna unit (Fig. 1 shows the signal path at least for receiving data using the antenna unit).
Regarding claim 15, Ogawa further discloses wherein the microelectronic component includes conductive pathways (Fig. 1, highlighted signal line) and the electrically conductive material of the antenna unit is coupled to the die via one or more of the conductive pathways (Fig. 1 shows the vias coupled to the signal path which is then coupled to the die).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 9 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:
Regarding claim 4, the prior art of record does not disclose the microelectronic assembly according to claim 3, further comprising a filler material in the gap.
Regarding claim 9, the prior art of record does not disclose the microelectronic assembly according to claim 1, wherein the layer of the electrically conductive material has a thickness between about 1 nanometer and 20 micron.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL J SMITH whose telephone number is (703)756-5706. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
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/S.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/MARLON T FLETCHER/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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