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. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/20/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 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. Claim(s) 1, 9, 12-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CHANG et al. (US Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2022/0139854 A1). [Re claim 1] CHANG discloses the bonding structure, comprising: a lower substrate; a low melting point conductive layer (200) disposed over the lower substrate (100); a high melting point conductive layer (210 and 410) comprising a lower portion (210) and an upper portion (410), wherein the low melting point conductive layer (200) is between the upper portion (410) and the lower portion (210) of the high melting point conductive layer; a dielectric layer (230) encapsulating the low melting point conductive layer and the high melting point conductive layer; and an upper substrate (300) disposed on the upper portion of high melting point conductive layer, wherein an interface between the upper substrate and the upper portion is substantially co-level with an interface between the dielectric layer and the upper substrate (see figure 1B and paragraph [0032]-[0050]). [Re claim 9] CHANG discloses the bonding structure wherein a top surface of a pad (110) of the lower substrate (100) is substantially co-level with an interface between the dielectric layer (230) and the lower substrate (100) (see figure 1B). [Re claim 12] CHANG discloses the pre-bonding structure, comprising: a substrate (100); a bonding layer (210 and 220) disposed over the substrate; and a pre-bonding layer (2301) encapsulating the bonding layer and exposing a top surface of the bonding layer (220), wherein a thickness of the pre-bonding layer is configured to prevent the substrate from being exposed by the pre-bonding layer during a thinning operation for the pre-bonding layer (see figure 8A-8G and paragraph [0096]-[0103]). [Re claim 13] CHANG discloses the pre-bonding structure wherein a thickness of the pre-bonding layer (2301) is greater than a thickness of a pad (110) of the substrate (100) (see figure 8G). [Re claim 14] CHANG discloses the pre-bonding structure further comprising a raising layer (220) on the bonding layer (210) and collectively defining the thickness of the pre-bonding layer (2301) with the bonding layer, wherein the raised layer is configured to reduce a time of the thinning operation for the pre-bonding layer (see figure 8F-8G and paragraph [0101]-[0103]). [Re claim 16] CHANG discloses the pre-bonding structure, comprising: a substrate (100) comprising a first pad (110); a bonding layer (220) over the substrate and spaced apart from the first pad (110), wherein a melting point of the bonding layer (220) is lower than a melting point of the first pad; and a pre-bonding layer (2301) encapsulating the bonding layer and exposing the bonding layer, wherein a top end of a lateral surface of the bonding layer is substantially aligned with a top surface of the pre-bonding layer (see figure 8A-8G and paragraph [0039], [0096]-[0103]). 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) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHANG et al. (US Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2022/0139854 A1). [Re claim 15] CHANG fails to disclose the selection of “a range of the thickness of the pre-bonding layer is from 2µm to 5µm”. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention because it is a matter of determining optimum process conditions by routine experimentation with a limited number of species of result effective variables. These claims are prima facie obvious without showing that the claimed ranges achieve unexpected results relative to the prior art range. In re Woodruff, 16 USPQ2d 1935, 1937 (Fed. Cir. 1990). See also In re Huang, 40 USPQ2d 1685, 1688 (Fed. Cir. 1996)(claimed ranges or a result effective variable, which do not overlap the prior art ranges, are unpatentable unless they produce a new and unexpected result which is different in kind and not merely in degree from the results of the prior art). See also In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA) (discovery of optimum value of result effective variable in known process is ordinarily within skill or art) and In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1995) (selection of optimum ranges within prior art general conditions is obvious). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-8, 10-11 and 17-20 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT KYOUNG LEE whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1982 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M to F, 10am to 6pm . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Eliseo Ramos-Feliciano can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-7925 . 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. /KYOUNG LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817