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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This application appears to be a division of Application No. 17/734,325, effectively filed 02/28/07, effectively filed 5/12/21. A later application for a distinct or independent invention, carved out of a pending application and disclosing and claiming only subject matter disclosed in an earlier or parent application is known as a divisional application or “division.” The divisional application should set forth the portion of the earlier disclosure that is germane to the invention as claimed in the divisional application. This application is fully supported by
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 is(are) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kitada et al. (WO 2020090491, US 20210384573 as English equivalent, listed on IDS).
As to claims 1-7, Kitada (claims, abs., 7, 115-117, 262-265, Comp. 3) discloses a semiconductor device comprising: a power semiconductor element made of Si, SiC, GaN, Ga2O3 or diamond that is encapsulated by a thermally cured (claim 1) product of a resin composition for encapsulation, wherein the resin is an epoxy, NC-3000 (epoxy eq.=276, a biphenyl aralkyl type), the same one used in instant Ex.2 and 4; the resin comprises 82.8 wt% (by calculation) of silica (spherical and melted and crushed silica, particle size 0.5, 4.7 and 20 microns). Instant pgpub [0040-41, 48] indicates the claimed resin composition comprises ≥70 wt% of silica, and there are no particular restrictions on an average particle size of the inorganic filler, it is typically 1 to 100 μm, preferably 1 to 50 μm, more preferably 1 to 20 μm. Thus, the disclosed epoxy composition is substantially identical to the claimed ones regarding, the epoxy, the silica (size, type), and the silica loading.
Kitada is silent on the claimed dielectric tangent of not larger than 0.50 when measured at 150° C. and 0.1 Hz. However, the disclosed epoxy composition would inherently exhibit the claimed dielectric tangent, because in view of the substantially identical composition (in this case, the disclosed the epoxy, silica (size, type), and silica loading), it appears that the adduct would have inherently possessed the claimed properties. See MPEP § 2112.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANE FANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7378. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thurs. 8am-6pm. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached on 571.572.1302. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHANE FANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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