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
It appears that the limitation of claim 3 is read on non-elected species of figure 7 and it is not read on elected species of figure 12, therefore this claim is withdrawn from consideration with non-elected claims 5,7-8,10-11,13-19.
Claims 3,5,7-8,10-11,13-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/15/2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of species D, Figure 12 including claims 1-2,4,6,9,12 and 20 in the reply filed on 12/15/2025 is acknowledged.
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al (Pat# 8,933,719).
As to claim 1, Huang et al disclose An adhered multilayer die unit for a probe head of a test system for performing a functional test to a device under test integrated on a semiconductor wafer as shown in figure 1-1 comprising at least one probe zone (an area for inserting probes “10”) and at least one non-probe zone (an area where there are no inserted probes) , the probe zone being adapted for being inserted with a plurality of probes (10), the adhered multilayer die unit comprising: a plurality of dies (6,7) , each of the dies comprising at least one connecting surface(a top surface and a bottom surface), and a plurality of through holes located in the at least one probe zone for the probes(10) to be slidably inserted through the through holes of each of the dies. It is noted that Huang et al teach that the upper die (6) is disposed on the lower die (7) but Huang et al do not teach at least one adhesive layer adhering the connecting surfaces of the dies to each other, the at least one adhesive layer being entirely located in the at least one non-probe zone. However, It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to provide an adhesive layer in the non-probe zone for the purpose of stably holding both dies (6,7) during the test performance.
As to claim 2, Huang et al disclose a unit as mention in claim 1 wherein a plurality of said non-probe zones arranged in a matrix and one said probe zone distributed in a grid pattern on a periphery of the non-probe zones and between the non-probe zones.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4,6,9,12 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.
The prior art does not disclose the connecting surfaces of the dies comprise a first connecting surface and a second connecting surface, which are adhered to each other; at least one of the first connecting surface and the second connecting surface is provided with at least one flow guiding groove in the non-probe zone; the at least one flow guiding groove is configured to define an adhesive applying region; the at least one flow guiding groove is located between the adhesive applying region and the probe zone; the adhesive layer is located in the adhesive applying region as recited in claim 4 and in combined with other claimed elements as recited in claim 1. Claims 6,9, 12 and 20 depend directly or indirectly from objected claim 4, it is also objected to.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hsu et al (Pat# 9,535,091) disclose Probe Head, Probe Card Assembly Using The Same, And Manufacturing Method Thereof.
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/VINH P NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858