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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-7, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (CN 111106222 A) in view of Clark et al. (US PG Pub 2013/0322068) and Ayala Vazquez (US PG Pub 2019/0393586).
Regarding claim 1, Wu et al. disclose: a substrate (200) (Figs. 1, 4A and 7, page 7 of translation); a frame structure (110) disposed on the substrate (encapsulation structure formed on the substrate 200) (Fig. 7, page 7 of translation); wherein a sidewall of the frame structure has multiple lamination traces thereon (the first conductive lines 140 and second conductive lines 142 can be linear electrical conductor, embedded in the housing 110) (Fig. 14, page 9 of translation).
Wu et al. do not disclose: and a lens portion covering the substrate, wherein the frame structure has a through hole passing through the sidewall, and the through hole comprises an edge, and a portion of the lamination traces overlaps the edge of the through hole.
Clark et al. disclose: a lens portion (32, 34, 36) covering the substrate (Fig. 2, [0047]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Wu by covering the substrate with a lens portion in order to produce light output of a desired shape and/or position light in a desired direction.
Wu as modified do not disclose: wherein the frame structure has a through hole passing through the sidewall, and the through hole comprises an edge, and a portion of the lamination traces overlaps the edge of the through hole.
Ayala Vazquez et al. disclose: wherein the frame structure has a through hole (20, 22) passing through the sidewall, and the through hole comprises an edge (Fig. 1, [0035]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Wu as modified by forming a through hole through the sidewall of the frame in order to improve heat dissipation in the laser package. The device as modified disclose: portion of the lamination traces overlaps the edge of the through hole (lamination trace surrounds the entire frame structure, edge of through hole would inherently overlap with lamination traces)
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Fig. 1 of Wu
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Fig. 4A of Wu
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Fig. 7 of Wu
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Fig. 14 of Wu
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Fig. 1 of Ayala Vazquez
Regarding claim 2, Wu as modified do not disclose: wherein the frame structure is a metal frame.
Ayala Vazquez et al. disclose: metal housing (16) ([0030]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Wu as modified by forming the frame structure using metal in order to further improve heat dissipation in the laser package.
Regarding claim 3, Wu as modified disclose: wherein the through hole is a quadrilateral (see Fig. 1 of Ayala Vazquez, elements 20 and 22), and the portion of the lamination traces overlaps a bottom side of the quadrilateral (lamination traces would overlap top and bottom sides of quadrilateral since the lamination traces are formed in lines around the frame structure, see the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 4, Wu as modified disclose: wherein a portion of the lamination traces intersects a side of the quadrilateral perpendicularly (lamination traces would intersects a side of the quadrilateral perpendicularly since the lamination traces are formed in lines around the frame structure, see the rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 5, Wu as modified do not disclose: wherein a ratio of an area a of the through hole to an area A of the sidewall through which the through hole passes is in the range of 0<a/A<0.5.
However, In accordance with MPEP 2144.05 II, Optimization of Ranges: Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In the prior art the general conditions are disclosed, a laser package structure with a through hole having an area a and sidewall having a larger area A. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to obtain a workable range of values for the ratio of through hole area to the side wall area a/A by routine experimentation.
Regarding claim 6, Wu as modified disclose: further comprising an adhesive portion, with the adhesive portion continuously filling a gap between the lens portion and the frame structure to form a closed ring (the upper cover 160 can be fixed via bonding (e.g., silver paste), Wu, Fig. 1, page 4 of translation).
Regarding claim 7, Wu as modified do not disclose: wherein the through hole is sandwiched between two of the lamination traces.
However, In accordance with MPEP 2144.04, Legal Precedent as Source of Supporting Rationale: As discussed in MPEP § 2144, if the facts in a prior legal decision are sufficiently similar to those in an application under examination, the examiner may use the rationale used by the court. Examples directed to various common practices which the court has held normally require only ordinary skill in the art and hence are considered routine expedients are discussed below. If the applicant has demonstrated the criticality of a specific limitation, it would not be appropriate to rely solely on case law as the rationale to support an obviousness rejection.
MPEP 2144.04, Rearrangement of Parts: In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) (Claims to a hydraulic power press which read on the prior art except with regard to the position of the starting switch were held unpatentable because shifting the position of the starting switch would not have modified the operation of the device.); In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 188 USPQ 7 (CCPA 1975) (the particular placement of a contact in a conductivity measuring device was held to be an obvious matter of design choice). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to form the through hole between two lamination traces because rearrangement of parts is not a patentable advance.
Regarding claim 9, Wu as modified disclose: wherein a bottom surface of the frame structure is in direct contact with the substrate (200) (Wu, Fig. 9, page 7 of translation).
Regarding claim 10, Wu as modified disclose: further comprising: a light-emitting element (150) disposed between the substrate and the lens portion, with the frame structure surrounding the light-emitting element (Wu, Fig. 1, page 4 of translation).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (CN 111106222 A) in view of Clark et al. (US PG Pub 2013/0322068), Ayala Vazquez (US PG Pub 2019/0393586) and Hashimoto (US PG Pub 2021/0083451).
Regarding claim 8, Wu as modified do not disclose: wherein an inner side of the frame structure has a stepped profile.
Hashimoto discloses: wherein an inner side of the frame structure (30) has a stepped profile ([0047]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Wu as modified by forming the inner side of the frame structure so that it has a stepped profile because the substitution of one known element for another yields predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. In the instant case, the predictable result is a laser package structure with a lens portion formed above the laser device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. diFazio et al. (US 6,059,188) disclose: An integrated optical module for an optical scanner has a lens spaced from a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) by a spacer of defined dimensions. The module, in an alternative embodiment, includes a wafer frame, a suspended mirror mounted for oscillation on the frame, a wafer substrate bonded beneath the frame and a wafer cover bonded above the frame. The cover includes a mirror travel stop to protect the mirror against shocks. A VCSEL mounted to the wafer cover produces a beam which is shaped and deflected by a diffractive optical element onto the oscillating mirror. The reflected beam passes out of the module toward an indicia to be read. Large numbers of such devices may be fabricated relatively cheaply using wafer-scale processing and assembly technology. Three large wafers are fabricated corresponding respectively to arrays of substrates, frames and covers. The large wafers are bonded together in a sandwich arrangement, and are then diced to produce the individual scan modules. The modules may provide either one-dimensional or two-dimensional scanning (Abstract). Joo et al. (US PG Pub 2012/0307481) disclose: packages, systems, and devices for light emitting diodes (LEDs) and related methods are provided. The packages can include a lead frame with an electrically conductive chip carrier comprising an upper surface. An LED can be placed on the upper surface of the electrically conductive chip carrier. A casing can be disposed on the lead frame covering at least a portion of the lead frame. A reflector cavity can be in the casing surrounding the LED. The reflector cavity can have angled side wall portions and angled end wall portions with an angle at which the side wall portions are angled that is different from an angle at which the end wall portions are angled (Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINNING(TOM) NIU whose telephone number is (571)270-1437. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30am-6:00pm.
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/XINNING(Tom) NIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828