6DETAILED 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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The new title submitted 5/14/2026 is acknowledged and accepted by the Office.
Claims Status
Claims 8-13 are currently pending. Claims 1-7 and 14-17 have been canceled.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KITA et al (US 2009/0243120 A1-of record, hereafter Kita) in view of Horiuchi et al (US 2013/0048350 A1, hereafter Horiuchi).
Re Claim 8, Kita discloses in FIG. 2(A)-2(B) (with references to FIGS. 1(A)-1(B)) a micro bump (4/11/5), comprising:
an electrically conductive material part (tin of 11; [0100]; [0107] and [0189]);
a bonding material part (4/5; [0102]-[0103]) provided on at least a part of an upper portion (top plane) and a lower portion (bottom plane) of the electrically conductive material part (tin 11); and
a plurality of fine trenches (indentations/stripes of 3 on 11; [0097]; [0099]; [0108]-[0109] and [0135]-[0135]) provided in an outer circumferential surface (outermost surface) of the electrically conductive material part (tin of 11), the outer circumferential surface being exposed to an exterior (bottom of indentations/stripes of 3 on 11 in FIG. 1(B)) of the micro bump (4/11/5), wherein each of the plurality of fine trenches (indentations/stripes of 3 on 11) has a form of a groove (of Height H in FIG. 1(B)); [0109]) extending in a height direction (vertically) of the micro bump (4/11/5),
wherein the plurality of fine trenches (indentations/stripes of 3 on 11) are formed as a result of contact (physically touching when seed layer 19 is omitted; [0188]) between the micro bump (4/11/5) and a pore (through-hole 1; [0101]) of a body made of an insulating silicon oxide film (9; [0101] and [0187]).
Kita fails to disclose wherein the plurality of fine trenches (indentations/stripes of 3 on 11) are formed as a result of contact between the micro bump (4/11/5) and pores of a body made of an anodic aluminum oxide film.
However,
Horiuchi discloses in FIG. 10 a micro bump (31/12/32), comprising: an electrically conductive material part (conductors 12; [0033]);
a bonding material part (31/32; [0065]) provided on at least a part of an upper portion (top plane) and a lower portion (bottom plane) of the electrically conductive material part (conductors 12); and
the electrically conductive material part (conductors 12) is formed as a result of contact between the micro bump (conductors 12 of 31/12/32) and pores (11x; [0041]) of a body (11; [0041]) made of an anodic aluminum oxide film ([0041]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the structure of Kita by using the anodic aluminum oxide film of Horiuchi as a substitutional equivalent (MPEP § 2144.06) for the silicon oxide of Kita, forming through-holes in a body of high mechanical strength for micro bumps having a very small diameter at a high density (Horiuchi [0005] and [0009]), wherein the plurality of fine trenches (indentations/stripes of 3 on 11) are formed as a result of contact between the micro bump (4/11/5) and pores of a body made of an anodic aluminum oxide film.
Re Claim 9, Kita discloses micro bump of claim 8, wherein the fine trenches (indentations/stripes of 3 on tin 11) are provided along (around and extending vertically upward on) the entire circumference (distance around tin 11) of the side surface (vertical walls within hole 1) of the electrically conductive material part (tin 11).
Re Claim 10, Kita discloses micro bump of claim 8, wherein the bonding material part (4/5) includes: a first bonding material part (5) provided on the lower portion (bottom plane) of the electrically conductive material part (tin 11); and a second bonding material part (4) provided on the upper portion (top plane) of the electrically conductive material part (tin 11).
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kita and Horiuchi as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Lin (US 2019/0214257 A1-IDS prior art of record).
Re Claim 11, Kita discloses the micro bump of claim 10.
But, fails to disclose the micro bump further comprising: a seed layer provided between the first bonding material part (5) and the electrically conductive material part (tin 11).
However,
Lin discloses in FIG. 7 a micro bump (11/13/11; [0031]; [0037] and [0044]) comprising a seed layer (unseen lower Pd; [0038]) provided between a first bonding material part (lower 11; [0031]) and an electrically conductive material part (Sn or Au 13; [0037]-[0038]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the structure of Kita and Horiuchi by using the first and second bonding parts of Lin with the electrically conductive material part of Kita, the micro bump further comprising: a seed layer provided between the first bonding material part (5) and the electrically conductive material part (tin 11), to form a micro bump selectively formed with matched electrical and mechanical properties (Lin; [0037]-[0038]).
Re Claim 12, Kita discloses the micro bump of claim 8.
But, fails to disclose the micro bump further comprising: a functional layer provided between the electrically conductive material part (tin of 11) and the bonding material part (4/5).
However,
Lin discloses in FIG. 7 a micro bump (11/13/11; [0031]; [0037] and [0044]) comprising a seed layer (unseen upper/lower Pd; [0038]) provided between a bonding material part (upper/lower 11; [0031]) and an electrically conductive material part (Sn or Au 13; [0037]-[0038]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the structure of Kita and Horiuchi by using the first and second bonding parts of Lin with the electrically conductive material part of Kita, the micro bump further comprising: a functional layer provided between the electrically conductive material part (tin of 11) and the bonding material part (4/5), to form a micro bump selectively formed with matched electrical and mechanical properties (Lin; [0037]-[0038]).
Re Claim 13, Kita discloses the micro bump of claim 8.
But, fails to disclose wherein the fine trenches are also provided on at least a part of a side surface of the bonding material part.
However, these limitations would be rendered obvious by the addition of the bonding material part of Lin to the electrically conductive material part of Kita (see claims 11-12), such that the modified structure is formed within the fine trench (indentations of 3 on 11) producing hole (1) of Kita, as would be part of the selectively formed micro bump discussed for claims 11-12.
Response to Arguments
A. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-12, filed 5/14/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of KITA et al (US 2009/0243120 A1-of record, hereafter Kita) in view of Horiuchi et al (US 2013/0048350 A1, hereafter Horiuchi).
For the record, Kita’s base disclosure relates to conductive material (11) formed with a plurality of trenches (stripe-like concavo-convex structures) consistent with trenches (stripe-like concavo-convex structures) formed in a direction of a thickness of a silicon oxide body, which is substantially identical to the claimed invention. However, Kita lacks disclosure of pores of a body made of an anodic aluminum oxide film, which is remedied by Horiuchi as discussed above.
B. Applicant’s arguments regarding the prior art used to reject claims 11-13 are limited to the prior art’s failure to cure the deficiencies of Kita with respect to currently amended Claim 1, and are deemed moot independent of the new grounds of rejection for claim 1.
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 ERIC W JONES whose telephone number is (408) 918-9765. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM PT.
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, N. Drew Richards can be reached at (571) 272-1736. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC W JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892
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