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 without traverse of species 1, Fig. 1-17 in the reply filed on 04/09/2024 is acknowledged.
Regarding claim 5, claim 5 reads on elected species because Fig. 8, Fig. 17 shows the recessed region [411] includes a pair of wall surfaces [4113 and 4112] and a groove bottom [4111] located between the pair of wall surfaces [4113 and 4112] in the first direction [X]. Therefore, claim 5 will be examined.
Regarding claims 8-16, claims 8-16 do not read on elected species for the following reasons: claim 8 requires “the first terminal portion includes a first section and a second section, the first section is located closer than the second section to the die pad portion in the first direction and covered with the sealing resin, and the second section protrudes from the second resin surface and is exposed at the end region”. However, elected species 1 of Fig. 1-Fig. 17 shows that the second section [122] protrudes from the first resin surface [41] and is exposed at the end region.
Accordingly, claims 6, 8-16 were withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) to foreign application JP2021195176 filed on 12/01/2021. The foreign application is not in English. The certified copy of the foreign priority application JP2021195176 has been received.
Filing Dates for the Claims — All Claims Not Entitled to Priority Date
To be entitled to the filing date of the foreign priority application JP2021195176 that is not in English, an English translation of the non-English language foreign application JP2021195176 and a statement that the translation is accurate in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55 is required to perfect the claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The foreign application must adequately support the claimed subject matter, meaning satisfy the written description and enablement requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a). See MPEP §§ 215 and 216. 37 C.F.R. 1.55(g)(3)(ii)-(iii). To demonstrate compliance with 35 U.S.C. 112(a), applicant should point to support for their claimed subject matter in their translations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-2, 5, 7, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ding et al. (US Pub. 20150084168).
Regarding claim 1, Ding et al. discloses in Fig. 5-Fig. 8 a semiconductor device comprising:
a semiconductor element [103];
a conductive member [113 and 105] including a die pad portion [105], a first terminal portion [113 left], and a second terminal portion [113 right]; and
a sealing resin [107] covering a portion of the conductive member [113 and 105] and the semiconductor element [103], wherein the sealing resin [107] includes a first resin surface [142] facing in a first sense of a thickness direction of the sealing resin [107], a second resin surface [141] facing in a second sense of the thickness direction, a third resin surface facing in a first sense of a first direction perpendicular to the thickness direction, and a fourth resin surface facing in a second sense of the first direction,
the die pad portion [105] includes: a mounting surface facing in the first sense of the thickness direction and on which the semiconductor element [103] is mounted; and an exposed surface facing in the second sense of the thickness direction and exposed from the second resin surface [141],
the first terminal portion [113 right] is bent toward a side in the first sense of the thickness direction and exposed from the third resin surface,
the second terminal portion [113 left] is bent toward the side in the first sense of the thickness direction and exposed from the fourth resin surface,
the first resin surface [142] includes a recessed region [139 or 601] recessed in the thickness direction toward the second resin surface [141], and
the recessed region [139 or 601] overlaps with an imaginary line connecting the first terminal portion [113 right] and the second terminal portion [113 left] as viewed in the thickness direction.
Regarding claim 2, Ding et al. discloses in Fig. 7, Fig. 8
wherein the sealing resin [107] includes a fifth resin surface facing in a first sense of a second direction perpendicular to the thickness direction and the first direction, and a sixth resin surface facing in a second sense of the second direction, and the recessed region [139 or 601] extends from the fifth resin surface to the sixth resin surface as viewed in the thickness direction.
PNG
media_image1.png
531
402
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claims 5 and 7, Ding et al. discloses in Fig. 6
wherein the recessed region [601] includes a pair of wall surfaces and a groove bottom located between the pair of wall surfaces in the first direction;
wherein the first resin surface [142] includes an end region on either side of the recessed region [601] in the first direction, and the end region is flat;
Regarding claim 17, Ding et al. discloses in paragraph [0020]
wherein the semiconductor element [103] comprises a switching element or a diode.
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 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ding et al. (US Pub. 20150084168) as applied to claim 2 above and further in view of Jeon et al. (US Pub. 20100171228).
Regarding claims 3-4, Ding et al. discloses in Fig. 6, Fig. 8
wherein the recessed region [601] includes: a valley [bottom of recess 601] that linearly extends from the fifth resin surface to the sixth resin surface as viewed in the thickness direction, a first sidewall that meets the valley from a side in the first sense of the first direction,
wherein the recessed region [601] includes a second sidewall that meets the valley from a side in the second sense of the first direction.
PNG
media_image2.png
294
812
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
518
323
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Ding et al. fails to disclose
the first sidewall comprises a first slope that is inclined relative to the second resin surface, and the first slope is inclined such that a depth of the recessed region increases with approach toward the valley;
the second sidewall comprises a second slope that is inclined relative to the second resin surface, and the second slope is inclined such that the depth of the recessed region increases with approach toward the valley.
Jeon et al. discloses in Fig. 2-Fig. 4
the first sidewall comprises a first slope that is inclined relative to the second resin surface, and the first slope is inclined such that a depth of the recessed region [212, 312 or 412] increases with approach toward the valley;
the second sidewall comprises a second slope that is inclined relative to the second resin surface, and the second slope is inclined such that the depth of the recessed region [212, 312, 412] increases with approach toward the valley.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Jeon et al. into the method of Ding et al. to include the first sidewall comprises a first slope that is inclined relative to the second resin surface, and the first slope is inclined such that a depth of the recessed region increases with approach toward the valley; the second sidewall comprises a second slope that is inclined relative to the second resin surface, and the second slope is inclined such that the depth of the recessed region increases with approach toward the valley. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Ding et al. in the above manner for the purpose of providing suitable shape of the recess formed on top surface of an encapsulation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SOPHIA T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1686. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am -5:00 pm, Monday-Friday.
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, BRITT D HANLEY can be reached at (571)270-3042. 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.
/SOPHIA T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
Prosecution Insights