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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that the prior arts do not disclose “solder contact pads”. Examiner respectfully disagree, Reinert discloses solder contact pads (See para [0018], [0044], [0052] and [0061])
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 – 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reinert (US 20080283991 A1, “Reinert”) in view of Itamoto (US 20080118251 A1, “Itamoto”) and further in view of Pillarisetty et al.(US 2020/0203604).
Regarding claim 1, Reinert discloses (Fig. 1) an optoelectronic assembly comprising: an optoelectronic component (5) with two or more terminal contacts for the supply of supply and/or control signals(para 0015); and a housing base (4) having a planar textured housing underside that comprises, two or more solder contact pads (8+9), the solder contact pads passing through the housing base and being connected to the two or more terminal contacts, and two or more solder areas (Fig 3, the first area is to the left of center of the device and the second area is to the right of center of the device) each enclosed by a non-wettable region; wherein the two or more solder contact pads (8+9) and the solder areas are substantially evenly distributed on the underside of the housing (See Fig. 1).
Reinert is silent on the assembly being an optoelectronic assembly and each contact pad is surrounded by a non-wettable region.
Regarding the optoelectronic assembly. Itamoto discloses (Fig. 1) an optoelectronic assembly comprising: an optoelectronic component (3)
Reinert and Itamoto are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of electronic assembly. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Reinert to incorporate the teachings of Itamoto and provide an optoelectronic assembly. Doing so would allow the assembly to receive or emits optical signals (para [0002] and [0006]).
Regarding, Pillarisetty et al. discloses each contact pad(fig 3, 166) is surrounded by a non-wettable region(fig 3, 164). Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Reinert to incorporate the teachings of Pillarisetty et al. since this is commonly done to surround each contact pad by a non-wettable region so as to prevent the solder from spreading between pads causes an electrical connection between the pads.
Regarding claim 2, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, Reinert further discloses wherein the two or more solder contact pads and/or the two or more solder areas each comprise the same size (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1; Reinert further discloses wherein the two or more solder contact pads comprise the same shape, and the two or more solder pads comprise a different shape with respect to the solder contact pads (See Fig. 1 parts 8 and 9).
Regarding claim 4, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 3, Reinert further discloses wherein the solder contact pads are round and the solder areas are square (See Fig. 1 parts 8 and 9).
Regarding claim 5, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, in which Itamoto further discloses the housing underside comprises a metallic layer as a heat sink, in particular a metallic block, on which the two or more solder areas are structured (See para [0013]).
Regarding claim 6, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, Reinert further discloses wherein the non-wettable regions are formed by a solder resist (See para [0052]).
Regarding claim 7, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, Itamoto further discloses wherein the non-wettable regions surrounding the solder contact pads are formed by glass (See para [0013]).
Regarding claim 8, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, Reinert further discloses wherein the solder area surrounding non-wettable regions is formed by a solder repellent metal (See para [0026] the metal can be aluminum which is a solder repellent metal).
Regarding claim 9, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, in which Reinert further discloses the solder areas form part of the underside of the housing, and comprise a metal layer, in particular of gold, which can be wetted by solder, the gold layer being removed in the non-wettable regions surrounding the solder areas (See para [0026] and [0044]).
Regarding claim 10, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, in which Reinert further discloses the solder areas each form planar elevations over the underside of the housing, and the non-wettable areas surrounding the solder areas are formed by the edge of the planar elevation, wherein optionally at the edge the metal layer wettable by solder, in particular of gold, is removed (See para [0026] and [0044]).
Regarding claim 11, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 10, wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 50
μ
m
to 500
μ
m
(a general range for surface mount device solder pad is 0.5 mm to 2. 0 mm which is well within the claim range, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Reinert to have the pads within the claim range).
Regarding claim 12, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, in which Reinert further discloses the underside of the housing can be subdivided into a virtual grid of rows and columns, a solder contact pad or a solder area being arranged in a virtual grid field defined by the subdivision, in particular in each defined virtual grid field (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 13, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 12, wherein Reinert further discloses the virtual raster fields are of equal size (See Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 1, wherein an area of the virtual grid array is in the range of from 100% to 175% of the area of the solder area disposed in the virtual grid array and the surrounding non-wettable area or the solder contact pad and the surrounding non-wettable area (See Fig. 1).
Claim(s) 11, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reinert (US 20080283991 A1, “Reinert”) in view of Itamoto (US 20080118251 A1, “Itamoto”) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Nguyen et al. (US 20150138742 A1, “Nguyen”).
Regarding claim 11, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according to claim 10, wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 50
μ
m
to 500
μ
m
Reinert in view of Itamoto is silent on wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 50
μ
m
to 500
μ
m
However, Nguyen discloses wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 50
μ
m
to 500
μ
m
(See para [0032])
Reinert in view of Itamoto and Nguyen are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of electronic assembly. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Reinert in view of Itamoto to incorporate the teachings of Nguyen and provide wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 50
μ
m
to 500
μ
m
(See para [0032]).
Regarding claim 20, Reinert in view of Itamoto discloses the optoelectronic assembly according claim 10,
Reinert in view of Itamoto is silent on wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 100
μ
m
to 300
μ
m
However, Nguyen discloses wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 100
μ
m
to 300
μ
m
(See para [0032])
Reinert in view of Itamoto and Nguyen are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of electronic assembly. Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Reinert in view of Itamoto to incorporate the teachings of Nguyen and provide wherein the planar protrusions are in the range of 100
μ
m
to 300
μ
m
(See para [0032]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIDI MOHAMED MAIGA whose telephone number is (703)756-1870. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am 5 pm.
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/SIDI M MAIGA/
Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847