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 Amendment
Claim 1-7, 10, 13 and 19 have been cancelled; claim 8, 14, 15 and 20 have been amended; and claims 8-9, 11-12, 14-18, and 20-21 are currently pending.
The indicated allowability of claims 8 and 15 are withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Watanabe et al. Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 02/18/2026 have been acknowledged and signed copies of the PTO-1449 are attached herein.
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.
Claims 8, 9, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bolken et al. (US 2005/0059188 A1, hereinafter “Bolken”) in view of Seo et al. (US 2015/0340397 A1, hereinafter “Seo”), Meng et al. (US 2009/0108426 A1, hereinafter “Meng”), and Watanabe et al (US 2005/0275741 A1, hereinafter “Watanabe”).
In regards to claim 8, Bolken (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) a semiconductor device, comprising:
a substrate (600) comprising a top side, a bottom side, and
a conductive structure (66/64/68);
a body (60) over the top side of the substrate (600);
an electronic component (4) over the top side of the substrate (600),
wherein the electronic component (4) comprises an interface element (interface) on a top side of the electronic component (4) and a component terminal (14) on the top side of the electronic component (14),
wherein the component terminal (14) is coupled with the conductive structure (66/64/68) with an internal interconnect (44);
a lid (22) over the interface element (interface), and
a seal (seal) between the top side of the electronic component (4) and the lid (22),
wherein the component terminal (14) is external to the seal (seal); and
a buffer (76) over the top side of the electronic component (4) between the seal (seal) and the component terminal (14);
wherein the body (60) covers the component terminal (14), the internal interconnect (44), and the buffer (76).
Bolken is silent about wherein the buffer is contained within a footprint of the electronic component.
Seo discloses (See, for example, Fig. 6) the buffer (420) is contained within a footprint of the electronic component (100).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bolken by Seo because this would help holding back the generation of diffuse reflection in the image sensor package and the flare is not generated in the image sensor package while increasing the sensitivity of the image sensor package. Furthermore, the size of the image sensor chip and the size of the image sensor package are reduced and the reliability of the image sensor package is improved.
Bolken is silent about the body contacts the top side of the electronic component, and the component terminal is in the body and uncovered the buffer.
Meng while disclosing a semiconductor device teaches (See, for example, Fig. 4d) the body (43) contacts the top side of the electronic component (11), and the component terminal (13) is in the body (43) and uncovered the buffer (31).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to further modify Bolken by Horoto because having the buffer would help prevent the seal from being pressed out of the buffer portions.
Bolken as modified above further fails to explicitly teach that a protection film over a top side of the lid and a top side of the body.
Watanabe while disclosing an image pickup device teaches (See, for example, Fig. 4) a protection film (16, See Pars [0064], [0082], and [0087], and See also Par [0085]) over a top side of the lid (14, See also , Par [0085]) and a top side of the body(15).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bolken by Watanabe because this would help provide a high performance of light entrance, reduce the deformation caused by thermal expansion of the body, and exhibits high performance of image pickup.
In regards to claim 9, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the buffer (76) covers a lateral side of the seal (Seal) and a lateral side of the electronic component (4).
In regards to claim 11, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the buffer (76) covers a lateral side of the electronic component (4) and the top side of the substrate (600).
In regards to claim 12, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the component terminal (14) and the internal interconnect (44) are in the buffer (76).
Claims 15-18 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bolken in view of TU et al. (US 2019/0019834 A1, hereinafter “TU”) , Chien and Watanabe.
In regards to claim 15, Bolken (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) a semiconductor device, comprising:
a substrate (600) comprising a top side, a bottom side, and
a conductive structure (66/64/68);
a body (60) over the top side of the substrate (600);
an electronic component (4) over the top side of the substrate (600),
wherein the electronic component (4) comprises an interface element (interface) on a top side of the electronic component (4) and a component terminal (14) on the top side of the electronic component (4),
wherein the component terminal (14) is coupled with the conductive structure (66/64/68) with an internal interconnect (44);
a lid (22) over the interface element (interface),
wherein the interface element (interface) is between the top side of the electronic component (4) and the lid (22); and
a buffer (76) over the top side of the substrate (600),
wherein the buffer (76) is between the top side of the electronic component (4) and a bottom side of the lid (22), and the component terminal (14) and the internal interconnect (44) are in the buffer (76).
Bolken is silent about wherein the electronic component is uncovered by the body, and wherein the body extends over a top side of the buffer.
TU while disclosing a sensor package teaches (See, for example, Fig. 8) that the electronic component (2) is uncovered by the body (54), and
wherein the body (54) extends over a top side of the buffer (53).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bolken by TU because this would help the thermal expansion and contraction of the packaging compound generates less stress to the sensor package structure, and thus, increasing the reliability of the sensor package structure.
Bolken fails to explicitly teach that the body is discreet from the substrate.
Chien while disclosing image sensor packaging teaches (See, for example, Fig. 7) the body (110) is discreet from the substrate (102).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bolken by Chien because this would help enhance flexibility and freedom in the fabrication process of the image sensor package. Furthermore, this will also reduce the damage during the fabrication of the image sensor package and improves fabrication yield.
Bolken as modified above further fails to explicitly teach that a protection film over a top side of the lid and a top side of the body.
Watanabe while disclosing an image pickup device teaches (See, for example, Fig. 4) a protection film (16, See Pars [0064], [0082], and [0087], and See also Par [0085]) over a top side of the lid (14, See also , Par [0085]) and a top side of the body(15).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Bolken by Watanabe because this would help provide a high performance of light entrance, reduce the deformation caused by thermal expansion of the body, and exhibits high performance of image pickup.
In regards to claim 16, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the buffer (76) covers a lateral side of the lid (22) and a lateral side of the electronic component (4).
In regards to claim 17, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the buffer (76) covers the top side of the substrate (600).
In regards to claim 18, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the buffer (76) is between the electronic component (4) and the body (60).
In regards to claim 21, Bolken discloses (See, for example, annotated Fig. 22A attached below) the buffer (76) is between the interface element (interface) and the component terminal (14).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14 and 20 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.
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