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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 24, 2026 has been entered.
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 1-3 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Poddar et al. (US 2021/0202357), cited by Applicant.
Regarding claim 1, Poddar discloses a semiconductor device comprising:
a first lead (23/24) having a die pad (22) [Figs. 1C-1E];
a second lead (23/25) arranged to be spaced apart from the first lead (23/24) [Figs. 1C-1E];
a first semiconductor element (40) mounted on the die pad (22) [Figs. 1C-1E];
a second semiconductor element (50) mounted on the die pad (22) [Figs. 1C-1E]; and
a plurality of wires (35) electrically connected to the first semiconductor element (40) and the second lead (23/25) [Figs. 1C-1E],
wherein the die pad (22) and the second lead (23/25) are arranged side by side in a first direction (x) [Fig. 1D, annotated below] perpendicular to a thickness direction (z) [Fig. 1E, annotated below],
wherein all of the plurality of wires (35) are inclined with respect to the first direction (x) when viewed in the thickness direction (z) [Figs. 1D-1E],
wherein the die pad (22) has a die pad main surface (top surface), which faces a first side (top portion) in the thickness direction (z) and on which the first semiconductor element (40) and the second semiconductor element (50) are mounted [Figs. 1D-1E],
wherein the second semiconductor element (50) is arranged on a first side (lateral portion) in the first direction (x) [Figs. 1D-1E], which is opposite to the second lead (23/25) with respect to the first semiconductor element (40) in the first direction (x) [Figs. 1D-1E], and
wherein the second semiconductor element (50) is a drive element that drives the first semiconductor element (40) [paragraphs 0029-0031].
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Regarding claim 2, Poddar discloses:
wherein each of the plurality of wires (35) includes a first bonding portion (B1) bonded to the first semiconductor element (40) and a second bonding portion (B2) bonded to the second lead (23/25) [Figs. 1D-1E, annotated above; and paragraphs 0029 and 0057], and
wherein the first bonding portion (B1) is located on a first side (lateral portion) in a second direction (y), which is perpendicular to the thickness direction (z) and the first direction (x), from the second bonding portion [Figs. 1D-1E, annotated above; and paragraphs 0029 and 0057].
Regarding claim 3, Poddar discloses:
wherein the second lead (23/25) has a second lead main surface (along the cross-sectional line FF) facing a first side (lateral portion) in the thickness direction (y),
wherein the second lead main surface (along the cross-sectional line FF) includes a bonding region (B2) to which the plurality of wires (35) is bonded and a non-bonding region (NB) to which the wires are not bonded [Figs. 1E-1E, annotated above], and
wherein the non-bonding region (NB) is arranged on the first side (lateral portion) in the second direction (y) of the bonding region (B2).
Regarding claim 6, Poddar discloses: wherein each of the plurality of wires (35) is curved in a second direction (y), which is perpendicular to the thickness direction (z) and the first direction (x) [Figs. 1D-1E, annotated above].
Regarding claim 7, Poddar discloses: wherein the second lead (23/25) has a through-hole (H) penetrating in the thickness direction (z) [Fig. 1C, annotated below].
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Regarding claim 8, Poddar discloses wherein the first semiconductor element (40) is a switching element [Fig. 2 and paragraph 0043].
Regarding claim 9, Poddar discloses wherein the first semiconductor element contains GaN [paragraph 0039].
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Poddar et al. (US 2021/0202357).
Regarding claim 4, Poddar discloses wherein a first dimension (D1) of the bonding region in the second direction (y) is 40% or more and 60% or less of a second dimension (D2) of the second lead (25) in the second direction (y) [See Fig. 1D, annotated below].
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Please note that the dimension D1 is equal to about 4/6 (i.e. D2b-D2e) of the total dimension D2 (i.e. D2a-D2f). The court has held that in the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541F.2d 257,191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Poddar et al. (US 2021/0202357) in view of Washida et al. (JP 10012790 A), cited by Applicant.
Regarding claim 5, Poddar is silent with respect to limitation about dummy leads.
Washida teaches dummy leads (1) respectively arranged on both sides of the second lead in a second direction, which is perpendicular to the thickness direction and the first direction [Fig. 1 and English Translation, Section: “Solution” and paragraph 15].
Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would have been motivated to modify Poddar by including dummy leads as taught by Washida because it helps to improve mechanical and thermal resistance reliability [ English Translation, Section: “Problem to be Solved”].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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:
In regards to claim 11, the prior art fails to teach, disclose, or suggest, either alone or in combination, the limitations: a second wire electrically connected to the first semiconductor element and the die pad main surface; wherein the die pad includes an opening having an open end on the die pad main surface and partitioning the first region, the second region, and the third region as instantly claimed, and in combination with the additional limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Pang et al. (US 10037935) teaches dummy leads (520) in Fig. 5.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE R DIAZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1727. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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/Jose R Diaz/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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