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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, Species I in the reply filed on April 3, 2026 and an interview conducted on April 13, 2026 is acknowledged. Claim(s) 3 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention II and Species 2-3, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Accordingly, claims 1-2, 4-11 and 21-29 are ready for examination.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 102b. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraphs [0057] of the specification as published element 460 is referred to as arm and slot. Review of the specification and in particular Fig. 4B, it appears that element 460 is pointing to an arm.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pavier (US 10,074,590, hereinafter “Pavier”, cited on IDS) in view of Suh et al. (US 2018/0269863, hereinafter “Suh”).
Regarding claim 1, Pavier teaches in Figs. 5, 7, 15 and 17A-17B (Figs. 1 and 7 shown below) and related text an apparatus, comprising:
a lead frame (col. 11, ll. 51-60 and col. 13, ll. 40-54) having a gate lead frame post (112; Figs. 5, 7; col. 14, ll. 18 - 23), a sense lead frame post (112; Figs. 5, 7; col. 14, ll. 18 - 23), and a power connection (106, Figs. 1, 7 and col. 14. ll. 18-36);
a direct bond metal (DBM) structure (e.g. 102, Fig. 1, col. 11, ln. 65 and col. 12, ln. 20) including an insulating layer (122, Fig. 1 and col. 12, ll. 1-29);
a first die and a second die (104, Fig. 1 and col. 11 and ll. 51 - 60) attached sideby-side to the DBM structure (102, Fig. 1);
a metal clip (134, Figs. 1, 7 and col. 14, ll. 43 - 50) having a first tab coupling a top side of the first die (104, Figs. 1 and 7) and having a second tab coupling a top side of the second die (104, Figs. 1 and 7) to the lead frame using solder (col. 10, ll. 47 - 57; col. 19, ll. 28 - 49); and
an electrical connection (bond wires in Fig. 7) coupling a gate terminal of the first die (104, Fig. 7, col. 17, ll. 47-58) directly to the gate lead frame post (112, Fig. 7).
PNG
media_image1.png
483
759
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
386
618
media_image2.png
Greyscale
While Pavier does not explicitly teach that the power connection of the lead frame is a ground connection, using ground for the power connection disclosed by Pavier is known in the art as disclosed by Suh (Fig. 4 and ¶[0026]).
Accordingly, since the prior art teaches all of the claimed elements, using such elements would lead to predictable results, and as such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use ground for the power connection disclosed by Pavier is doing so is well known in the art for operating IGBT transistors in power devices.
Regarding claim 2 (1), the combined teaching of Pavier and Suh further discloses a wire bond coupling a sense terminal of the second die to the sense lead frame post (112, Pavier, Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 4 (1), the combined teaching of Pavier and Suh discloses wherein the metal clip (Pavier, 134, Figs. 1 and 7) is connected to the ground connection (110, Fig. 7 and col. 14, ll. 14-17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 5-11 and 21-29 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 5, the prior art of record, alone or in combination, and to the examiner’s knowledge does not teach, disclose, suggest, or render obvious, at least to the skilled artisan, the instant invention regarding an apparatus particularly characterized by a U-shaped metal clip having a first tab coupled to a top side of a first die and a second tab coupled to a top side of a second die, and also coupled to a lead frame, and wire bonds including first wire bond coupling a gate terminal of the first die to a gate terminal of the second die and a second wire bond coupling the second die to a gate pad, as recited in claim, in combination with all other elements of the apparatus recited in the claim(s). The closest prior art of record to Pavier and Suh fails to disclose the above noted elements of the claim. Claim(s) 6-11 which either directly or indirectly depend from claim(s) 5, and which include all of the limitations recited in claim(s) 5, is/are allowed for the similar reasons.
Regarding claim 21, the prior art of record, alone or in combination, and to the examiner’s knowledge does not teach, disclose, suggest, or render obvious, at least to the skilled artisan, the instant invention regarding an apparatus particularly characterized by die attach pad, a boundary of which defines a cutout, with a gate pad disposed in the cutout, where a first wire bond couples a first gate terminal of a first die to a second gate terminal of a second die and a second wire bond couples the second gate terminal to the gate pad, as recited in the claim, in combination with all other elements of the apparatus recited in the claim(s). The closest prior art of record to Pavier and Suh fails to disclose the above noted elements of the claim. Claim(s) 22-29 which either directly or indirectly depend from claim(s) 21, and which include all of the limitations recited in claim(s) 21, is/are allowed for the similar reasons.
Relevant Prior Art
The following prior art is relevant to the invention but not relied upon in any of the rejections:
Romero (US 5,544,412) teaches in Fig. 1 and related text, an apparatus that comprises a lead frame (11, Fig. 1) that includes a gate lead frame post (24, Fig. 1), a sense lead frame post (25, Fig. 1), a first die and a second die (18, Fig. 1) attached sideby-side to the lead frame, a metal clip (29, 31, Fig. 1) having a first tab coupling a top side of the first die and having a second tab coupling a top side of the second die (Fig. 1) to the lead frame and an electrical connection (36, 37, Fig. 1) coupling a gate terminal of the first die directly to the gate lead frame post (Fig. 1).
McPherson et al. (US 2024/0213124) in Fig. 12-15 and related text an apparatus, comprising: a lead frame portion (408, Fig. 12) a direct bond metal (DBM) structure, the DBM structure including a first metal layer, a second metal layer, and a ceramic layer disposed between the first metal layer and the second metal layer (¶[0086]), a first die and a second die (200, Fig. 12) attached side-by-side to a die attach pad of the DBM structure (Fig. 12), a U-shaped metal clip (406, Fig. 15) having a first tab coupled to a top side of the first die and having a second tab coupled to a top side of the second die, the U-shaped metal clip coupled to the lead frame portion and wire bonds including a first wire and a second wire bond coupling the second die to a gate pad (Figs. 12-13).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANETA B CIESLEWICZ whose telephone number is 303-297-4232. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Purvis can be reached at 571-272-1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/A.B.C/Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/SUE A PURVIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights