DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Application filed on February 7, 2024.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicants’ election without traverse of Species A drawn to a semiconductor package as recited in claim 1 and drawn to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and subspecies ii drawn to the embodiment shown in Fig. 3B in the reply filed on June 22, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from examination because they are not drawn to the elected species and subspecies, because the independent claim 15 and its dependent claims, and claim 20 appear to be directed to the nonelected species shown in Fig. 7 or Fig. 8 of current application.
Claim 10 is withdrawn because the claimed range for the radius in its entirety does not agree with the claimed species and subspecies.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding claim 2, it is not clear what the “residual stresses” refer to, because Applicants do not claim what “a residual stress” refers to in the first place and where it is originated, not to mention what the “residual stresses” refer to and where they are originated; a stress is a tensor, and therefore, when there are a plurality of stresses applied to the same physical object, those plurality of stresses would be added or subtracted to result in a single stress, and therefore, it is not clear whether the “residual stresses” recited in claim 2 refer to a plurality of stresses applied to a plurality of different objects, and if so, it is not clear where those plurality of different objects are located inside the claimed plurality of leg parts.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3-4, 7-9, 11, and 14, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al. (US 2021/0057317 A1) hereinafter referred to as “Park”.
Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Park discloses a semiconductor package (Figs. 11-15) comprising: a package substrate (element 100), because Applicants do not specifically claim what the package substrate is constituted of, and Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “substrate” as “an underlying support”; a semiconductor chip (elements 200 and 250) ([0108]) that is bonded to the package substrate (element 100); and a stiffener (element 300) ([0027]) that is adjacent to the semiconductor chip (elements 200 and 250) and is bonded to the package substrate (element 100), because Applicants do not specifically claim what the “stiffener” refers to, what it is made of, and/or what it does, and the term “stiffener” is also relative since an object may be stiff for one force, while may not be stiff for another force, wherein the stiffener (element 300) includes a plurality of corner parts (see Fig. 12C illustrated below) that are bonded to a plurality of corner regions of the package substrate (element 100), and a plurality of leg parts (see Fig. 12L illustrated below) that are spaced apart from the package substrate (element 100), because Applicants do not specifically claim what the “plurality of leg parts” refer to, and wherein each of the plurality of leg parts (Fig. 12L) connects corresponding two leg parts of the plurality of leg parts with each other.
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the stiffener (element 300) surrounds the semiconductor chip (elements 200 and 250).
Regarding claim 4, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of corner parts (Fig. 12C) has a first thickness, and wherein each of the corresponding two leg parts (Fig. 12L) has a second thickness smaller than the first thickness.
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of leg parts (Fig. 12L) has at least one bent part.
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Regarding claim 8, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 7, wherein the at least one bent part has a bending shape (Fig. 12L).
Regarding claim 9, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of leg parts includes two to twenty bent parts which form a serpentine shape (Fig. 13, element 300).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of adhesive layers between the plurality of corner parts and the plurality of corner regions of the package substrate (element 100), respectively, because the interface between the corner parts (Fig. 12C) and the package substrate (element 100) acts as the adhesive layer.
Regarding claim 14, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 1, wherein the stiffener (element 300) contains at least one of aluminum (Al), stainless steel, and an engineering plastic material ([0070]).
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(s) 5-6 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 20210057317 A1) hereinafter referred to as “Park”.
Regarding claim 5, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 4, wherein a ratio of the first thickness to the second thickness has a value selected from a range of 0.05 to 0.95.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the ratio of the thickness of the corner parts and the thickness of the leg parts in the stiffener in order to achieve the most efficient stiffener design to minimize warpage of the semiconductor package.
Regarding claim 6, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 4, wherein the first thickness of each of the plurality of corner parts has a value selected from a range of 0.01 mm to 10 mm.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the thickness of the corner parts in the stiffener in order to achieve the most efficient stiffener design to minimize warpage of the semiconductor package.
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 11, wherein a ratio of a thickness of each of the plurality of adhesive layers to a thickness of a corresponding one of the plurality of corner parts has a value selected from a range of 0.0005 to 50.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the ratio of the thickness of the adhesive layer and the thickness of the corner parts of the stiffener to ensure that the corner parts are properly adhered to the substrate.
Regarding claim 13, Park discloses the semiconductor package of claim 12, wherein the thickness of each of the plurality of adhesive layers has a value selected from a range of 10 μm to 500 μm.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the adhesive layer thickness to ensure that the corner parts are properly adhered to the substrate.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELICA ROSE E. GALVAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0122. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30am - 6:00pm ET.
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, Joshua Benitez can be reached at (571) 270-1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAY C KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
/ANGELICA ROSE GALVAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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