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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group 1 and Species V in the reply filed on 07/06/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the restriction has not properly detailed how the asserted species are mutually exclusive. This is not found persuasive because the variation of the shapes of reinforcement structures 110 illustrated in Fig 11-14B, shows that species V reinforcement structures having a rectangular shape, cannot also have a triangular shape such as in Species I. Consequently, the species I-VII are mutually exclusive.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Consequently, claims 6 and 23 are withdrawn as directed to a species other than elected Species V.
Claims 1-5, 7-15, 21-22, 24-25 are still pending in this office action.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-3, 8, 15, and 21-22, 24-25 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2 recites “the reinforcement structures of the plurality of reinforcement structures” in Lines L1-2 but should read --reinforcement structures of the plurality of reinforcement structures--.
Claim 2 recites “corresponding corners of the dies of the plurality of die” in Lines L2-3 but should read --corresponding corners of the plurality of dies--.
Claim 3 recites “wherein the corresponding corners of the dies” in Lines L1-2 but should read -- wherein the corresponding corners of the plurality of dies--.
Claim 3 recites “the center of the interposer” in Line L3 but should read --a center of the interposer--.
Claim 8 recites “the plurality of reinforcement structures are attached” in Lines L1-2, but should read -- the plurality of reinforcement structures is attached--.
Claim 15 recites “adjacent” in Line L1, but should read –adjacent to --.
Claim 21 recites “adjacent” in Lines L6 and L9, but should read –adjacent to --.
The balance of claims is objected for being dependent upon an already objected claim
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation “free of the plurality of reinforcement structures” in Lines L7-8, renders the claim indefinite because, when compared to claim 4 limitation “free of physical contact”, it is unclear what free of the plurality of reinforcement structures may mean. Could this mean that the molding material is independent of the plurality of reinforcement structures or outside the plurality of reinforcement structures or not having the plurality of reinforcement structures in the molding material? Thus, the limitation “free of the plurality of reinforcement structures" is unclear because defining which how the molding material can be free of the plurality of reinforcement structures, is not clearly defined. Thus, determining whether one is infringing the limitation is subjective, rather than objective, and thus the claim is unclear.
In the purpose of compact prosecution, “free of the plurality of reinforcement structures” has been interpretated as having the plurality of reinforcement structures outside the molding material.
The balance of claims is rejected for being dependent upon an already rejected claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 21-22, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeh et al. (US20220246490A1 from IDS-Yeh90).
Regarding claim 1, Yeh90 discloses a method comprising:
attaching a first package component to a substrate (Interposer 101 of First package component, bonded so attached to Substrate 103-[0036] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Yeh Fig 14),
wherein the first package component comprises (First package component comprising interposer 101, Left/Rigth dies 203 on interposer 101, and molding material 303 surrounding Left/Right dies 201-Examiner's annotated Fig 14):
an interposer;
a plurality of dies on the interposer; and
a molding material surrounding the plurality of dies; and
attaching a plurality of reinforcement structures to top surfaces of the plurality of dies (Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process and attached to the top surfaces of left/right dies 201/203-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
wherein the molding material is free of the plurality of reinforcement structures (being free of has been interpretated as having the reinforcement structures 501 outside the Molding material 303 so Molding material 303 surrounding Left/right dies 201/203, being free of reinforcement structures 501-Examiner's annotated Fig 14).
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Regarding claim 2, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 1, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein the reinforcement structures of the plurality of reinforcement structures are respectively attached to corresponding corners of the dies of the plurality of dies (Reinforcement structures 501 attached to corresponding corners of the dies of left/right dies 201/203-Fig 5B).
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Regarding claim 3, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 2, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein the corresponding corners of the dies are corners of the plurality of dies that are laterally closer to edges of the interposer than to the center of the interposer (Reinforcement structures 501 attached to corresponding corners of the dies of left/right dies 201/203 laterally closer to edges of the interposer than to the center of the interposer-Examiner's annotated Fig 5B).
Regarding claim 4, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 1, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method further comprising
attaching a lid to the top surfaces of the plurality of dies (Lid 1401 sealed to ring 701 so attached to top surfaces of Left/Right dies 201/203-[0087] L1-6, Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
wherein the lid is free of physical contact with the plurality of reinforcement structures (Lid 1401 being free of physical contact with Left/Right reinforcement structures 501-Examiner's annotated Fig 14).
Regarding claim 21, Yeh90 discloses a method comprising:
attaching an interposer to a package substrate (Interposer 101 of First package component, bonded so attached to Package Substrate 103-[0036] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Yeh Fig 14);
attaching a first semiconductor die to the interposer (Left/First die 203 bonded on interposer 101 so attaching it to interposer 101-[0036] L1-6, Examiner's annotated Fig 14);
attaching a second semiconductor die to the interposer (Second/Right die 201 bonded on interposer 101 so attaching it to interposer 101-[0036] L1-6, Examiner's annotated Fig 14);
attaching a first reinforcement structure to a top surface of the first semiconductor die (Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process and attached to the top surfaces of left/right dies 201/203-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
wherein the first reinforcement structure is adjacent a first side of the first semiconductor die (First/Left reinforcement structure 501 being adjacent to first/left side of the first semiconductor die 203-Examiner's annotated Fig 14);
attaching a second reinforcement structure to a top surface of the second semiconductor die (Reinforcement structures Left/First and Second/Right 501 placed using a pick and place process and attached to the top surfaces of left/right dies 201/203-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
wherein the second reinforcement structure is adjacent a first side of the second semiconductor die (Second Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process and attached to the top surfaces of Second/right dies 201, adjacent to right side of first semiconductor die 201-Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
wherein the first side of the first semiconductor die faces away from the first side of the second semiconductor die (first/left side of first/left semiconductor die 203 facing away from first/right side of the second/right semiconductor die 203-Examiner's annotated Fig 14); and
depositing a molding material on the interposer (Molding material 303 disposed so deposed on interposer 101-[0040] L1-3, Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
wherein the molding material is separated from the first reinforcement structure and the second reinforcement structure (reinforcement structures 501 outside the Molding material 303 so Molding material 303 being separated from the reinforcement structures 501-Examiner's annotated Fig 14).
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Regarding claim 22, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 21, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein the first reinforcement structure has a rectangular shape in a plan view (reinforcement structures 501 having a rectangular/square shape in plan/top view-Fig 5B).
Regarding claim 24, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 21, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein the first reinforcement structure comprises
a metal material (comprising copper-[0047] L 1-11) or
a ceramic material.
Claim(s) 7is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeh et al. (US20220246490A1 from IDS-Yeh90) as evidenced by C. S. Selvanayagam et al. ( "Nonlinear thermal stress/strain analyses of copper filled TSV (through silicon via) and their flip-chip microbumps," 2008 58th Electronic Components and Technology Conference, Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA, 2008, pp. 1073-1081-NPLSelvanayagam08), stating that the Silicon has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 2.5 × 10⁻⁶ oC⁻¹ and copper has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 17.5 × 10⁻⁶ oC⁻¹(Abstract).
Regarding claim 7, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 1, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method further comprising
wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the plurality of reinforcement structures is greater than a CTE of the plurality of dies (dies are semiconductor dies and the reinforcement structures are made of copper material as silicon has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 2.5 × 10⁻⁶ oC⁻¹ and copper has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 17.5 × 10⁻⁶ oC⁻¹ , so the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of plurality of reinforcement structures is greater than the CTE of the dies -[0036] L1-3, [0047] L1-9).
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) 5, 8-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (US20220246490A1 from IDS-Yeh90) in view of Hsu et al. (US 20230402404 A1 from IDS-Hsu04).
Regarding claim 5, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 1, as noted above.
Yeh90 does not disclose a method comprising
attaching a second package component to the substrate.
Hsu04 teaches a method comprising
attaching a second package component to the substrate (bonding so attaching a second/Right package component 700/800 to substrate 300 via interposer 920-[0062] L1-6, [0063] L1-14, Fig 3A).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 as taught by Hsu04 for the purpose of reducing the footprint of a stiffener structure mounted onto a package substrate to provide additional space for other chip package structures uses and components (Hsu04: [0054]).
Regarding claim 8, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 1, as noted above.
Yeh90 does not disclose a method
wherein the plurality of reinforcement structures are attached to the top surfaces of the plurality of dies before the first package component is attached to the substrate.
Hsu04 teaches a method
wherein the plurality of reinforcement structures are attached to the top surfaces of the plurality of dies before the first package component is attached to the substrate (reinforcement structures 780/880 being attached to the top surfaces of dies 700/800/810 before the first package component UA being attached to substrate 300-[0064] L 1-15, Fig 3A, Fig 3C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 as taught by Hsu04 for the purpose of reducing the footprint of a stiffener structure mounted onto a package substrate to provide additional space for other chip package structures uses and components (Hsu04: [0054]).
Regarding claim 9, Yeh90 discloses a method comprising:
attaching a component to a package substrate (Interposer 101 of First package component, bonded so attached to Substrate 103-[0036] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Yeh Fig 14),
wherein the component comprises a first die (First package component comprising First/Left die 203 on interposer 101-Examiner's annotated Fig 14);
forming a first reinforcement structure on a first corner region of the first die (First/Left Top Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process so formed on first/left top conner region of left/first die 203-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14, Examiner's annotated Fig 5),
wherein the first reinforcement structure is underlapped by the first die (First/Left Top Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process so formed on first/left top conner region of left/first die 203, underlapped by first/left die 201-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14, Examiner's annotated Fig 5); and
forming a second reinforcement structure on a second corner region of the first die (Second/Left Bottom Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process so formed on second/left bottom conner region of left/first die 203, underlapped by first/left die 203-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14, Examiner's annotated Fig 5),
wherein the second reinforcement structure is underlapped by the first die (First/Left Top Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process so formed on first/left top conner region of left/first die 203, underlapped by first/left die 203-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14, Examiner's annotated Fig 5).
Yeh90 does not disclose a method
wherein the first reinforcement structure is fully underlapped by the first die,
wherein the second reinforcement structure is fully underlapped by the first die.
Hsu04 teaches a method
wherein the first reinforcement structure is fully underlapped by the first die (First/Left reinforcement structure 880 being fully underlapped by the first die 810-Fig 3C),
wherein the second reinforcement structure is fully underlapped by the first die (Second/Right reinforcement structure 880 being fully underlapped by the first die 810-Fig 3C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 as taught by Hsu04 for the purpose of reducing the footprint of a stiffener structure mounted onto a package substrate to provide additional space for other chip package structures uses and components (Hsu04: [0054]).
Regarding claim 10, Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination discloses all the steps of claim 9, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein forming the first reinforcement structure on the first corner region of the first die comprises
attaching the first reinforcement structure to the first die using an adhesive (attaching first reinforcement structure 501 to the first die 203 using a thermal interface material (TIM), the TIM has been interpretated as an adhesive-[0049] L1-4).
Regarding claim 11, Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination discloses all the steps of claim 9, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein forming the first reinforcement structure on the first corner region of the first die comprises
depositing a metal material on a top surface of the first die (placed using, e.g., a pick and place process so depositing lids 501 being copper so depositing a metal material on a top surface of the first die-[0048] L1-7, [0047] L1-9, Examiner's annotated Fig 14).
Regarding claim 12, Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination discloses all the steps of claim 9, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein a sidewall of the first reinforcement structure and a sidewall of the first die are coplanar (sidewall/bottom surface of the first reinforcement structure 501 and sidewall/top surface of first die 201 are coplanar-Examiner's annotated Fig 14).
Regarding claim 14, Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination discloses all the steps of claim 9, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein the component comprises a second die (component/first package component comprising a second/right die 201-Examiner's annotated Fig 14), and further comprising
forming a third reinforcement structure on a third corner region of the second die (Third/Right Top Reinforcement structure 501 attached to Third/Right top corner of second/right die 201, Third/Right Top Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process so formed on Third/Right Top conner region of second/right die 201-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14, Examiner's annotated Fig 5),
wherein the third reinforcement structure is underlapped by the second die (Third/Right Top Reinforcement structures 501 placed using a pick and place process so formed on Third/Right Top conner region of left/first die 201, underlapped by second/right die 201-[0048] L1-7, [0049] L1-4, Examiner's annotated Fig 14, Examiner's annotated Fig 5).
Yeh90 does not disclose a method
wherein the second third reinforcement structure is fully underlapped by the second die.
Hsu04 further teaches a method
wherein the second third reinforcement structure is fully underlapped by the second die (Third reinforcement structure 780/880 being fully underlapped by the second die 810/700-Fig 3C), [0064] L1-15).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 as taught by Hsu04 for the purpose of reducing the footprint of a stiffener structure mounted onto a package substrate to provide additional space for other chip package structures uses and components (Hsu04: [0054]).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (US20220246490A1 from IDS-Yeh90) in view of Hsu et al. (US 20230402404 A1 from IDS-Hsu04), and further in view of Sinha et al. (US 20220077076 A1-Sinha76).
Regarding claim 13, Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination discloses all the steps of claim 9, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method
wherein the component comprises a molding material surrounding the first die (Molding material 303 surrounding Left/first die 201-Examiner's annotated Fig 14).
Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination does not disclose a method
wherein the first reinforcement structure is laterally separated from the molding material by a distance in the range of 0.1 µm to 100 µm.
Sinha76 teaches a method
wherein the first reinforcement structure is laterally separated from the molding material by a distance in the range of 0.1 µm to 100 µm (First/Left Reinforcement structure 230a attached to first/left corner of die 208 laterally separated from the molding material 212 by a distance w2. w2 can be 50 µm so in the range of 0.1 µm to 100 µm- [0040] L1-10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 in view of Hsu04, as taught by Sinha76 for the purpose of reducing warping or bending due to CTE mismatch s (Sinha76: [0023]).
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Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (US20220246490A1 from IDS-Yeh90) in view of Hsu et al. (US 20230402404 A1 from IDS-Hsu04), and further in view of Yang et al. (US 20220157777 A1-Yang77).
Regarding claim 15, Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination discloses all the steps of claim 14, as noted above.
Yeh90 and Hsu04 combination does not disclose a method
wherein the first corner region is adjacent the third corner region.
Yang77 teaches a method
wherein the first corner region is adjacent the third corner region (Examiner's annotated Fig 4C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 in view of Hsu04, as taught by Yang77 for the purpose of preventing warpage of the package structure by reducing the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch (Yang77: [0040]).
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Claim(s) 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh et al. (US20220246490A1 from IDS-Yeh90) in view of Chen et al. (US20210305227A1 from IDS-Chen27).
Regarding claim 25, Yeh90 discloses all the steps of claim 21, as noted above.
Yeh90 further discloses a method comprising
attaching a lid to the first semiconductor die and the second semiconductor die (Lid 1401 sealed to ring 701 so attached to top surfaces of Left/Right dies 201/203-[0087] L1-6, Examiner's annotated Fig 14),
Yeh90 does not disclose a method
wherein the lid comprises
a first recess corresponding to the first reinforcement structure and
a second recess corresponding to the second reinforcement structure.
Chen27 teaches a method
wherein the lid (lid 330A-Fig 10B) comprises
a first recess corresponding to the first reinforcement structure (Lid 330A comprising a first/left recess 331 corresponding to first/Left reinforcement structure 220 -Fig 10B) and
a second recess corresponding to the second reinforcement structure (Lid 330A comprising a second/right recess 331 corresponding to second/right reinforcement structure 220 -Fig 10B).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Yeh90 as taught by Chen27for the purpose of managing stress and warpage (Chen27: [0062]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHALIE R FAYETTE whose telephone number is (571)272-1220. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 am-6pm ET.
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, Christine Kim can be reached at (571) 272-8458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NATHALIE R. FAYETTE
Examiner
Art Unit 2812
/NATHALIE R FAYETTE/Examiner, Art Unit 2812 08/25/2026
/CHRISTINE S. KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2812
Prosecution Insights