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 May 30, 2025 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, 2, 6, 9-11, 15, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kuwahara (US Pub 2017/0207211).
In re claim 1, Kuwahara discloses a press pack power semiconductor device comprising: a housing (i.e. 12); a semiconductor (i.e. 10); and a locator strip (i.e. 26) deformed into a ring-like shape to concentrically fit within the housing (i.e. 12) and concentrically locate at least part of the semiconductor (i.e. 10) therein, wherein the locator strip includes a first plurality of regions (i.e. area not 26a) regularly interspersed with a second plurality of regions (i.e. 26a) along a length of the locator strip, and wherein each of the first plurality of regions has a first cross-sectional area that is smaller than a second cross-sectional area of each of the second plurality of regions (i.e. as shown in Figure 2, the width of 26a is wider than the width of the area not 26a) (i.e. see at least Figures 1A, 2; paragraphs 0016-0055).
In re claim 2, Kuwahara discloses wherein each of the first plurality of regions includes a trench on a first side of the locator strip (i.e. see at least Figure 2).
In re claim 6, Kuwahara discloses wherein the trench is U-shaped (i.e. see at least Figure 2).
In re claim 9, it is implicit from Kuwahara wherein each of the first plurality of regions is weaker than each of the second plurality of regions (i.e. see at least Figure 2 – since the second plurality of regions is bigger than the first plurality of regions, the first plurality of regions would be weaker).
In re claim 10, Kuwahara discloses a locator strip comprising: a polymer sheet (i.e. 26) (i.e. see at least paragraph 0047 discloses it is made of polymer) that includes a first plurality of regions (i.e. area not 26a) regularly interspersed with a second plurality of regions (i.e. 26a) along a length of the polymer sheet, wherein each of the first plurality of regions has a first cross-sectional area that is smaller than a second cross-sectional area of each of the second plurality of regions (i.e. as shown in Figure 2, the width of 26a is wider than the width of the area not 26a), and wherein the polymer sheet is deformable into a ring-like shape to concentrically fit within a housing (i.e. 12) of a press pack power semiconductor device and concentrically locate a semiconductor (i.e. 10) therein (i.e. see at least Figures 1A, 2; paragraphs 0016-0055).
In re claim 11, Kuwahara discloses wherein each of the first plurality of regions includes a trench on a first side of the locator strip (i.e. see at least Figure 2).
In re claim 15, Kuwahara discloses wherein the trench is U-shaped (i.e. see at least Figure 2).
In re claim 18, it is implicit from Kuwahara wherein each of the first plurality of regions is weaker than each of the second plurality of regions (i.e. see at least Figure 2 – since the second plurality of regions is bigger than the first plurality of regions, the first plurality of regions would be weaker).
In re claim 19, Kuwahara discloses a method comprising: deforming a locator strip (i.e. 26) into a ring-like shape (i.e. see at least Figure 2); concentrically fitting the ring-like shape of the locator strip within a housing (i.e. 12); and concentrically locating a semiconductor (i.e. 10) within the ring-like shape of the locator strip, wherein the locator strip includes a first plurality of regions (area that is not 26a) regularly interspersed with a second plurality of regions (i.e. 26a) along a length of the locator strip, and wherein each of the first plurality of regions has a first cross-sectional area that is smaller than a second cross-sectional area of each of the second plurality of regions (i.e. as shown in Figure 2, the width of 26a is wider than the width of the area not 26a) (i.e. see at least Figures 1A, 2; paragraphs 0016-0055).
In re claim 20, Kuwahara discloses weakening the first plurality of regions relative to the second plurality of regions with a trench on a first side of the locator strip or a second side of the locator strip that reduces the first-cross sectional area relative to the second cross-sectional area (i.e. see at least Figure 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7, 8, 12-14, 16, and 17 are 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 ANTHONY HO whose telephone number is (571)270-1432. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM, Monday-Friday.
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/ANTHONY HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817