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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Applicant’s remarks/amendments of claims 1-2 and 6-14, in the reply filed on August 10th, 2026, are acknowledged. Claim 1 has been amended. Claims 3-5 and 15-19 have been withdrawn from consideration. New claim 20 has been added. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Action on merits of claims 1-2, 6-14 and 20 as follows.
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-2, 6-8 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adachi (US 2022/0122902, hereinafter as Adac ‘902) in view of Kim (US 2021/0066163, hereinafter as Kim ‘163) and further in view of Jeong (KR 101713661, hereinafter as Jeon ‘661).
Regarding Claim 1, Adac ‘902 teaches a power module comprising:
a first board including an insulation layer (Fig. 2, (6b); [0030]), a first metal layer (6c; [0033]) disposed on a first side of the insulation layer, and a second metal layer (6a; [0031]) disposed on a second side of the insulation layer opposed to the first side of the insulation layer;
a semiconductor chip (2; [0026]) disposed on the first metal layer (6c);
a heat dissipation plate (33) connected to the second metal layer (6a) in a first direction thereof;
a housing (case member (4); [0025]) connected to the heat dissipation plate to form an integral cooling channel therein; and
a connecting body made of a clad metal in which a first material (16; [0040]), which is connected to the heat dissipation plate and is disposed to face an inside of the cooling channel, and a second material (13; [0044]), which is connected to the housing (4) overlap each other in the first direction.
Thus, Adac ‘902 is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitations: “a clad metal in which is a first material and the second material is different”.
Kim ‘163 teaches a clad metal (Fig. 4; [0038]) in which is a first material (copper, Fig. 4, (520); [0038]) and the second material (Nickel, (500); [0037]) is different.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Adac ‘902 by having a clad metal in which is a first material and the second material is different for the purpose of improving the cooling performance (see para. [0030]) as suggested by Kim ‘163.
Thus, Adac ‘902 and Kim ‘163 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitations: “a first material, which is physically connected to the heat dissipation plate”.
Jeon ‘661 teaches a first material (DBC substrate, Fig. 2, (101/100); [0038]), which is physically connected to the heat dissipation plate (102; [0039]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Adac ‘902 and Kim ‘163 by having a first material, which is physically connected to the heat dissipation plate in order to improve cooling efficiency (see para. [0026]) as suggested by Jeon ‘661.
PNG
media_image1.png
482
690
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Fig. 2 (Adac ‘902)
Regarding Claim 20, Adac ‘902 teaches a power module comprising:
a first board including an insulation layer (Fig. 2, (6b); [0030]), a first metal layer (6c; [0033]) disposed on a first side of the insulation layer, and a second metal layer (6a; [0031]) disposed on a second side of the insulation layer opposed to the first side of the insulation layer;
a semiconductor chip (2; [0026]) disposed on the first metal layer (6c);
a heat dissipation plate (33) connected to the second metal layer (6a) in a first direction thereof;
a housing (case member (4); [0025]) connected to the heat dissipation plate to form an integral cooling channel therein; and
a connecting body made of a clad metal in which a first material (16; [0040]), which is connected to the heat dissipation plate and is disposed to face an inside of the cooling channel, and a second material (13; [0044]), which is connected to the housing (4) overlap each other in the first direction.
Thus, Adac ‘902 is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitations: “a clad metal in which is a first material and the second material is different”.
Kim ‘163 teaches a clad metal (Fig. 4; [0038]) in which is a first material (copper, Fig. 4, (520); [0038]) and the second material (Nickel, (500); [0037]) is different.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Adac ‘902 by having a clad metal in which is a first material and the second material is different for the purpose of improving the cooling performance (see para. [0030]) as suggested by Kim ‘163.
Thus, Adac ‘902 and Kim ‘163 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitations: “a first material, which is connected to the heat dissipation plate in a second direction intersecting the first direction”.
Jeon ‘661 teaches a first material (DBC substrate, Fig. 2, (101/100); [0038]), which is connected to the heat dissipation plate (102; [0039]) in a second direction intersecting the first direction.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Adac ‘902 and Kim ‘163 by having a first material, which is connected to the heat dissipation plate in a second direction intersecting the first direction in order to improve cooling efficiency (see para. [0026]) as suggested by Jeon ‘661.
Further, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a first material that can be arranged in any order, thus a first material, which is connected to the heat dissipation plate in a second direction intersecting the first direction involves only routine skill in the art. In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167. A person of ordinary skills in the art is motivated to perform the arrangement when this improves cooling efficiency of the semiconductor package.
Regarding Claim 2, Kim ‘163 teaches the heat dissipation plate is at least a portion of the second metal layer (500) (auxiliary cooling plate; see Fig. 2; [0036]-[0037]).
Regarding Claim 6, Adac ‘902 teaches the heat dissipation plate (33) includes at least one projection which extends toward an inside of the cooling channel (see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 7, Adac ‘902 teaches an end of the at least one projection (33c) extends to contact an inner surface of the housing (4) (see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 8, Kim ‘163 teaches the first material is identical to a material forming 100 the heat dissipation plate (see Fig. 2).
Thus, Adac ‘902, Kim ‘163 and Jeon ‘661 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitations: “the second material is identical to a material forming the housing”.
However, it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select the second material is identical to a material forming the housing on the basis of it suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416. A person of ordinary skills in the art is motivated to select the second material is identical to a material forming the housing in order to improve the cooling performance of the semiconductor device.
Claims 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adac ‘902, Kim ‘163 and Jeon ‘661 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Deguchi (US 2022/0360189, hereinafter as Degu ‘189).
Regarding Claim 9, Adac ‘902 teaches the housing (4) extends in a second direction intersecting the first direction from a position which is spaced in the first direction apart from one side of the heat dissipation plate that faces the cooling channel (see Fig. 2).
Adac ‘902, Kim ‘163 and Jeon ‘661 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the limitations: “the housing is bent at first and second end portions thereof toward the heat dissipation plate in the first direction”.
Degu ‘189 teaches the housing (Fig. 9, (150); [0062]) is bent at first and second end portions thereof toward the heat dissipation plate (131; [0062]) in the first direction.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Adac ‘902, Kim ‘163 and Jeon ‘661 by having the housing is bent at first and second end portions thereof toward the heat dissipation plate in the first direction in order to effectively cool the same power module by a plurality of surfaces of the cooler (see para. [0005]) as suggested by Degu ‘189.
Regarding Claim 10, Adac ‘902 teaches the connecting body (16/13) is disposed between the heat dissipation plate and the first and second end portions of the housing (4) in the second direction to connect the heat dissipation plate (33) and the housing (4) to each other (see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 11, Adac ‘902 teaches the second material (13) of the connecting body is disposed so as not to be in contact with the heat dissipation plate (33).
Regarding Claim 12, Adac ‘902 teaches the first material (16) of the connecting body extends in the second direction toward the heat dissipation plate (33) from a portion thereof that overlaps the second material (13).
Regarding Claim 13, Adac ‘902 teaches the first material (16) of the connecting body is disposed so as not to be in contact with the housing (4) (see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 13, Adac ‘902 teaches the second material (13) of the connecting body extends in the second direction toward the first and second end portions of the housing (4) from a portion thereof that overlaps the first material (16).
Examiner’s Note
Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to Applicants' definition which is not specifically set forth in the claims. See MPEP 2111, 2123, 2125, 2141.02 VI, and 2182.
Examiner has cited particular paragraph numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2, 6-14 and 20, filed on August 10th, 2026, have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
Interviews After Final
Applicants note that an interview after a final rejection is permitted in order to place the application in condition for allowance or to resolve issues prior to appeal. However, prior to the interview, the intended purpose and content of the interview should be presented briefly, preferably in writing. Upon review of the agenda, the Examiner may grant the interview if the examiner is convinced that disposal or clarification for appeal may be accomplished with only nominal further consideration. Interviews merely to restate arguments of record or to discuss new limitations will be denied. See MPEP § 714.13
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Dzung Tran whose telephone number is (571) 270-3911. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8 AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Supervisor Sue Purvis can be reached on 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 an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DZUNG TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights