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 Invention I in the reply filed on 7/10/2016 is acknowledged.
Claims 12-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/10/2016.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
(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.
Claims 1, 3, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yazdanpanah et al. (US PG Pub 2014/0338076, hereinafter Yazdanpanah).
Regarding claim 1, figures 18A-21 of Yazdanpanah disclose a method of fabricating a circuit package, the method comprising:
mounting a micro-wire (1801) for transport, the micro-wire being formed of a metal and having a diameter of 10 microns or less (nanoneedles);
introducing the mounted micro-wire and the circuit package into a focused ion beam (FIB) apparatus (¶ 57) that comprises a FIB microscope (¶ 3) and a nanopositioner (101);
bringing the micro-wire, the nanopositioner and the circuit package into a work area for the FIB apparatus;
using the nanopositioner to bring the micro-wire and the circuit package together at a location for attachment;
welding the micro-wire into position (¶ 71); and
releasing the micro-wire (¶ 71).
Regarding claim 3, figures 18A-21 of Yazdanpanah disclose the nanopositioner (101) comprises an element that is chosen from a group that consists of an elongated tip, a micro-gripper, a microelectromechanical (MEMs) device, and a device that uses static electrical forces for positioning.
Regarding claim 8, figures 20A-20F of Yazdanpanah disclose welding the micro-wire into position comprises welding a first end of the micro-wire to a first conductive element on a first IC chip of the circuit package and welding a second end of the micro-wire to a second conductive element on the first IC chip.
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 2, and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yazdanpanah.
Regarding claim 2, Yazdanpanah does not explicitly disclose the FIB apparatus further comprises a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
However, SEMs are well known in the art and it would have been obvious to use an SEM for the purpose of selecting a high precision microscope for micro-area analyses.
Regarding claim 4, Yazdanpanah does not explicitly disclose welding the micro-wire into position uses a precursor gas chosen from a group of organometallic precursors that comprises (trimethylcyclopentadienal) trimethyl platinum (C9H17Pt) and tungsten hexacarbonyl (W(CO)6).
However, tungsten hexacarbonyl is well known in the art and it would have been obvious to use it as a precursor to produce a strong weld.
Regarding claims 5-7, Yazdanpanah does not explicitly disclose the circuit package comprises an element chosen from the group consisting of single IC chip, multiple IC chips attached together, a chip-to-device package, and a device-to-device package, wherein the device is a non-IC electrical component or circuit; or
shaping the micro-wire to form an antenna (or micro-inductor)
However, such claimed types of devices are well known in the art and it would have been obvious to use the method of Yazdanpanah to form the claimed types of devices to form functioning IC devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-11 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.
Conclusion
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/YU-HSI D SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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