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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 10/30/023 has been acknowledged and a signed copy of the PTO-1449 is attached herein.
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)(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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito et al. (US 2012/0068357 A1, hereinafter “Saito”).
In regards to claim 1, Saito discloses (See, for example, Fig. 10A/10B) a semiconductor device comprising:
a lead frame (10);
a semiconductor element (20P) mounted on the lead frame;
a clip (40A) bonded through a bonding material (52) to an electrode (202, See, for example, Fig. 2B) on a surface of the semiconductor element (20P) opposite to the lead frame;
a sealing material (60) covering the semiconductor element (20P) and the clip (40A); and
an insulating layer (22) serving as a thermal resistance portion, the insulating layer (22) disposed in a bonding region (proximate to 52) bonded through the bonding material (52) between the semiconductor element (20P) and the clip (40A),
wherein the insulating layer (22) is covered with (at least on one side) the bonding material (52), and has a thermal resistance higher than that of a different portion in the bonding region.
In regards to claim 2, Saito discloses (See, for example, Figs. 10A/10B) in the bonding region, a single insulating layer (22) is disposed at a position separated from an outer contour of the electrode (202, See for example, Fig. 2B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERMIAS T WOLDEGEORGIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5350. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8 am - 5 pm E.S.T..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Britt Hanley can be reached on 571-270-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERMIAS T WOLDEGEORGIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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