Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/545,757

ELECTRONIC APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 19, 2023
Examiner
KIM, TONG-HO
Art Unit
2811
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Shinko Electric Industries Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
95%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 10m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 95% — above average
95%
Career Allow Rate
991 granted / 1040 resolved
+27.3% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 10m
Avg Prosecution
42 currently pending
Career history
1082
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
42.1%
+2.1% vs TC avg
§102
31.5%
-8.5% vs TC avg
§112
8.6%
-31.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1040 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 12/19/2023 was filed. The submission 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 § 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) 1- 4 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fillion (US 2019/0304910) in view of Chauhan (US 2015/0084207) . Regarding claim 1 , Fillion discloses, in at least figure 21 and related text, a n electronic apparatus comprising: a first metal layer ( 136/ 138, [71], [75]) that includes a first mounting portion (right 138, figure) and a second mounting portion ( left 138, figure); a component mounting substrate (14/40/45/52, [40], figure) that includes a wiring board (40/45/52, [40], figure) and an electronic component (14, [40], figure) that is mounted on the wiring board (40/45/52, [40], figure) , the electronic component (14, [40], figure) being mounted on the first mounting portion (right 138, figure) ; a second metal layer (28, [35]) that is bonded to a driving component (12/134, [74]) and that is arranged on the first metal layer ( 136/ 138, [71], [75]) such that the second metal layer (28, [35]) and the second mounting portion (left 138, figure) sandwich the driving component (12/134, [74]) ; and sealing (60, [44]) that fills a space between the first metal layer (136/138, [71], [75]) and the second metal layer (28, [35]) , covers the component mounting substrate (14/40/45/52, [40], figure) , and seals the electronic component (14, [40], figure) and the driving component (12/134, [74]) , wherein the first metal layer (136/138, [71], [75]) includes a terminal portion (136, [75]) that protrudes from the first mounting portion (136/138, [71], [75]) toward the second metal layer (28, [35]) , and the second metal layer (28, [35]) includes a wire portion that comes into contact with the terminal portion (136, [75]) and electrically connects the second metal layer to the first mounting portion (right 138, figure) . Fillion does not explicitly disclose sealing resin. Chauhan teaches, in at least figure 23 and related text, the electronic apparatus comprising sealing resin ([29]) , for the purpose of providing a power overlay (POL) package structure having POL interconnects that form all electrical and thermal interconnections in the package ([8]) . Fillion and Chauhan are analogous art because they both are directed to electronic apparatus and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Fillion with the specified features of Chauhan because they are from the same field of endeavor. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the structure disclosed in Fillion to have the sealing resin , as taught by Chauhan , for the purpose of providing a power overlay (POL) package structure having POL interconnects that form all electrical and thermal interconnections in the package ([8] , Chauhan ) . Regarding claim 2 , Fillion in view of Chauhan discloses t he electronic apparatus according to claim 1 as described above. Fillion further discloses, in at least figure 21 and related text, the first mounting portion (right 138, figure) and the second mounting portion ( left 138, figure) are separated from each other via a slit (figure) . Regarding claim 3 , Fillion in view of Chauhan discloses the electronic apparatus according to claim 2 as described above. Fillion further discloses, in at least figure 21 and related text , the terminal portion (136, [75]) is arranged along a side edge of the first mounting portion (right 138, figure) that is adjacent to the slit (figure) . Regarding claim 4 , Fillion in view of Chauhan discloses the electronic apparatus according to claim 1 as described above. Fillion further discloses, in at least figure 21 and related text , the terminal portion (136, [75]) is covered by the sealing resin (60, [44]). Regarding claim 6 , Fillion in view of Chauhan discloses the electronic apparatus according to claim 1 as described above. Fillion further discloses, in at least figure 21 and related text , the electronic component (14, [40], figure) is mounted on one surface (upper surface, figure) of the first mounting portion (right 138, figure), and a surface ( lower surface, figure) of the first mounting portion (right 138, figure) opposite to the surface (upper surface, figure) on which the electronic component (14, [40], figure) is mounted is exposed from the sealing resin (60, [44]) . Regarding claim 7 , Fillion in view of Chauhan discloses the electronic apparatus according to claim 1 as described above. Fillion further discloses, in at least figure 21 and related text , the driving component (12/134, [74]) is mounted on one surface (upper surface, figure) of the second mounting portion ( left 138, figure), and a surface ( lower surface, figure) of the second mounting portion (left 138, figure) opposite to the surface (upper surface, figure) on which the driving component (12/134, [74]) is mounted is exposed from the sealing resin (60, [44]). Allowable Subject Matter Claim 5 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 because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitations of the base claims 1 and 5 that recite " the first metal layer includes another terminal portion that protrudes from the second mounting portion toward the second metal layer along a side edge of the second mounting portion, and the second metal layer includes another wire portion that comes into contact with the other terminal portion and electrically connects the second metal layer to the second mounting portion " in combination with other elements of the base claims 1 and 5. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT TONG-HO KIM whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-0276 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday thru Friday; 8:30 AM to 5PM . 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 Lynne Gurley can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1670 . 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. /TONG-HO KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2811
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 19, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
95%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+0.4%)
1y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1040 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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