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 .
This OA is in response to the claims filled on 9/20/2023 that has been entered, wherein claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/20/2023 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 § 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 14 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.
Claim 14 recites the limitation " a component" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 14 depends on claim 11, Is a component of claim 14 the same or different than the first component or second component of claim 11? For the purpose of examination, “a component” will be interpreted as “an additional component”.
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.
Claims 1, 4-6, 9-11, 14-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoon et al. (US 2020/0135626 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yoon teaches a microelectronic device(Fig. 7), comprising:
a die pad(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) having a first surface and a second surface opposite from the first surface, the die pad being electrically conductive(¶0036);
a first component(116, ¶0038) directly attached to the first surface of the die pad through a first thermally conductive material(120, ¶0039);
a second component(124, ¶0041) directly attached to the second surface of the die pad through a second thermally conductive material(120, ¶0039), wherein at least a portion of the second component(124, ¶0041) overlaps at least a portion of the first component(116, ¶0038);
leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036) extending to an exterior of the microelectronic device, the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036) being electrically conductive(¶0036);
a first thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) connecting the die pad to a first lead(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) of the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036), the first thermal shunt being electrically conductive(¶0036), wherein the first thermal shunt is closer to a center of the first component(116, ¶0038) than to a center of the second component(124, ¶0041); and
a second thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) connecting the die pad to a second lead(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) of the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036), the second thermal shunt being electrically conductive(¶0036), wherein the second thermal shunt is closer to the center of the second component(124, ¶0041) than to the center of the first component(116, ¶0038).
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Regarding claim 4, Yoon teaches the microelectronic device of claim 1, further including an additional component(108, ¶0041) attached to the first component(116, ¶0038).
Regarding claim 5, Yoon teaches the microelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the die pad, the first thermal shunt, the second thermal shunt, and the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036) are elements of a lead frame(102, ¶0036).
Regarding claim 6, Yoon teaches a method of forming a microelectronic device(Fig. 7), comprising:
providing a lead frame(102, ¶0036) having a die pad(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7), leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036), a first thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) connecting the die pad to a first lead of the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036), and a second thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 7) connecting the die pad to a second lead of the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036);
attaching a first component(116, ¶0038) to a first surface of the die pad through a first thermally conductive material(120, ¶0039); and
attaching a second component(124, ¶0041) to a second surface of the die pad, opposite from the first surface, through a second thermally conductive material(120, ¶0039); wherein:
the die pad, the leads(portion of 104 physically contacting 504, ¶0036), the first thermal shunt, and the second thermal shunt are electrically conductive(¶0036);
at least a portion of the second component(124, ¶0041) overlaps at least a portion of the first component(116, ¶0038);
the first thermal shunt is closer to a center of the first component(116, ¶0038) than to a center of the second component(124, ¶0041); and
the second thermal shunt is closer to a center of the second component(124, ¶0041) than to a center of the first component(116, ¶0038).
Regarding claim 9, Yoon teaches the method of claim 6, further including attaching an additional component(108, ¶0041) to the first component(116, ¶0038).
Regarding claim 10, Yoon teaches the method of claim 6, wherein attaching the first component(116, ¶0038) to the die pad is performed prior(¶0046) to attaching the second component(124, ¶0041) to the die pad.
Regarding claim 11, Yoon teaches a microelectronic device(Fig. 9), comprising:
a first die pad(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9) having a first surface and a second surface opposite from the first surface, the first die pad being electrically conductive(¶0051);
a first component(708 ¶0051) directly attached to the first surface of the first die pad through a first thermally conductive material(716, ¶0051);
a second die pad(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9) having a third surface and a fourth surface opposite from the third surface, the third surface being coplanar with the first surface of the first die pad and the fourth surface being coplanar with the second surface of the first die pad, the second die pad being electrically conductive(¶0051);
a second component(712, ¶0051) directly attached to the fourth surface of the second die pad through a second thermally conductive material(716, ¶0051), wherein at least a portion of the second component(712, ¶0051) overlaps at least a portion of the first component(708 ¶0051);
leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049 extending to an exterior of the microelectronic device, the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049 being electrically conductive(¶0051);
a first thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9) connecting the first die pad to a first lead of the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049, the first thermal shunt being electrically conductive(¶0051); and
a second thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9) connecting the second die pad to a second lead of the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049, the second thermal shunt being electrically conductive(¶0051).
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Regarding claim 14, Yoon teaches the microelectronic device of claim 11, further including additional component(108, ¶0041) attached to the first component(708 ¶0051).
Regarding claim 15, Yoon teaches the microelectronic device of claim 11, wherein the first die pad, the second die pad, the first thermal shunt, the second thermal shunt, and the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049 are elements of a lead frame(102, ¶0036).
Regarding claim 16, Yoon teaches a method of forming a microelectronic device(Fig. 9), comprising:
providing a lead frame(102, ¶0036) having a first die pad(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9), a second die pad(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9), leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049, a first thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9) connecting the first die pad to a first lead of the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049, and a second thermal shunt(please see examiner annotated Fig. 9) connecting the second die pad to a second lead of the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049; wherein:
the leads(portion of 704 physically contacting 726, ¶0049, the first and second die pads, and the first and second thermal shunts are electrically conductive(¶0051);
the first die pad has a first surface and a second surface opposite from the first surface; and the second die pad has a third surface coplanar with the first surface of the first die pad and a fourth surface opposite from the first surface, the fourth surface being coplanar with the second surface of the first die pad;
attaching a first component(708 ¶0051) to the first surface of the first die pad through a first thermally conductive material(716, ¶0051); and
attaching a second component(712, ¶0051) to the fourth surface of the second die pad through a second thermally conductive material(716, ¶0051), wherein at least a portion of the second component(712, ¶0051) overlaps at least a portion of the first component(708 ¶0051).
Regarding claim 19, Yoon teaches the method of claim 16, further including directly attaching an additional component(108, ¶0041) to the first component(708 ¶0051).
Regarding claim 20, Yoon teaches the method of claim 16, wherein attaching the first component(708 ¶0051) to the first die pad is performed prior(¶0053) to attaching the second component(712, ¶0051) to the second die pad.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3, 7-8, 12-13, 17-18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding dependent claim 2, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole either taken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach “the first component is directly attached to the third surface of the second die pad through a third thermally conductive material; and a third thermal shunt connecting the second die pad to a third lead of the leads, the third thermal shunt being electrically conductive, wherein the third thermal shunt is closer to the center of the first component than to the center of the second component”.
Claim 3 depends on claim 2 and inherits it’s allowable subject matter.
Regarding dependent claim 7, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole either taken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach “the lead frame includes a third thermal shunt connecting the second die pad to a third lead of the leads; and further including attaching the first component to the third surface of the die pad through a third thermally conductive material; wherein: the second die pad is electrically conductive; the third thermal shunt is electrically conductive; and
the third thermal shunt is closer to the center of the first component than to the center of the second component”.
Claim 8 depends on claim 7 and inherits it’s allowable subject matter.
Regarding dependent claim 12, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole either taken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach “the first component is directly attached to the fifth surface of the third die pad through a third thermally conductive material; and
a third thermal shunt connecting the third die pad to a third lead of the leads, the third thermal shunt being electrically conductive”.
Claim 12 depends on claim 13 and inherits it’s allowable subject matter.
Regarding dependent claim 17, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole either taken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach “the lead frame includes a third thermal shunt connecting the third die pad to a third lead of the leads, the third thermal shunt being electrically conductive; and
further including attaching the first component directly to the fifth surface of the third die pad through a third thermally conductive material”.
Claim 17 depends on claim 18 and inherits it’s allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA DYKES whose telephone number is (571)270-3161. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-5 pm.
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/LAURA M DYKES/Examiner, Art Unit 2892