DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed 4/26/2024.
Currently, claims 1-12 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 4/26/2024 and 4/3/2026 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 3116877U, hereinafter referred to as ‘877 (cited in IDS).
Pertaining to claim 1, ‘877 shows, with reference to FIG. 3-4, a semiconductor device, comprising:
a semiconductor package (4);
a cooler (1) configured to cool the semiconductor package;
a seal member (2) provided between the semiconductor package and the cooler, the seal member having an opening penetrating therethrough between the semiconductor package and the cooler; and
a thermally conductive member (3) formed of a metal filling the opening, the metal having a fluidity (para. [0018]).
Pertaining to claim 5, ‘877 shows the cooler is formed of copper or copper alloy (para. [0013]).
Pertaining to claim 6, ‘877 shows the cooler is formed of aluminum or aluminum alloy (para. [0013]).
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 208159088U, hereinafter referred to as ‘088 (cited in IDS).
Pertaining to claim 1, ‘088 shows, with reference to FIG. 1-3, a semiconductor device, comprising:
a semiconductor package (1)
a cooler (5) configured to cool the semiconductor package;
a seal member (3) provided between the semiconductor package and the cooler, the seal member having an opening penetrating therethrough between the semiconductor package and the cooler (FIG. 3); and
a thermally conductive member (2) formed of a metal filling the opening, the metal having a fluidity (para. [0041]).
Pertaining to claim 2, ‘088 shows the cooler has, on a surface thereof in contact with the seal member, a first groove (4) into which the seal member is inserted.
Pertaining to claim 5, ‘088 shows the cooler is formed of copper or copper alloy (para. [0046]).
Pertaining to claim 6, ‘088 shows the cooler is formed of aluminum or aluminum alloy (para. [0046]).
Pertaining to claim 9, ‘088 shows a fixing member configured to press the semiconductor package against the cooler (para. [0021]).
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 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘088 in view of JP 2013-251473, hereinafter referred to as ‘473 (cited in IDS).
Pertaining to claim 4, ‘088 shows the cooler has, on a surface thereof in contact with the seal member, a first groove (4) into which the seal member is inserted.
‘088 fails to show, pertaining to both claims 3 and 4, the semiconductor package has, on a surface thereof in contact with the seal member, a second groove into which the seal member is inserted.
However, ‘473 teaches in FIG. 1-2 and para. [0012] that, for a similar device, the portion 4 of the semiconductor package that is in contact with the thermally conductive member 9 has a groove 4g in which the seal member 8 is inserted.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify ‘088 to have a groove in the semiconductor package, as taught by ‘473, with the motivation that the groove confines the thermally conductive member upon the fixing of the semiconductor package and the cooler (para. [0012]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over either one of ‘877 or ‘088, in view of JP 2018-110187, hereinafter referred to as ‘187 (cited in IDS).
Both ‘877 and ‘088 show the device of claim 6, but fail to show the layer formed of copper or nickel or an alloy thereof at the surface.
However, ‘187 teaches in para. [0027] that a cooler such as the cooler of ‘877 and ‘088 may be surface-plated with nickel.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for the cooler of either ‘877 or ‘088 to be surface-plated with nickel, with the motivation that this leads to improvement in anti-corrosion (para. [0027]).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over either one of ‘877 or ‘088, in view of JP 02224265, hereinafter referred to as ‘265 (cited in IDS).
Both ‘877 and ‘088 show the device of claim 6, but fail to show the layer formed of aluminum oxide at the surface.
However, ‘265 teaches in e.g. p. 9, para. (15) that, for a cooler similar to ‘877 and ‘088, and aluminum oxide layer is formed at a surface thereof.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for the cooler of either ‘877 or ‘088 to have a layer of aluminum oxide layer at a surface thereof, with the motivation that this prevents metal dust from forming at a contact surface of the cooler ([Overview]/PURPOSE, p. 3).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over either one of ‘877 or ‘088, in view of Tsuchida et al. (US 2022/0262759) (cited in IDS).
Both ‘877 and ‘088 show the device of claim 1, but fail to show an adhesive configured to fix the semiconductor package and the seal member.
However, Tsuchida teaches in para. [0032] that, for a similar device structure, an adhesive is used to fix the substrate 14 of a semiconductor package to a seal member 14.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use an adhesive to fix the semiconductor package and the seal member of either one of ‘877 or ‘088, as taught by Tsuchida, with the motivation that the adhesive increases the bond strength between the two.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over either one of ‘877 or ‘088, in view of JP 2012-190958, hereinafter referred to as ‘958 (cited in IDS).
Both ‘877 and ‘088 show the device of claim 1, but fail to show a sealing resin configured to seal the semiconductor package, the seal member, and the cooler.
However, ‘958 teaches in e.g. FIG. 6 that a sealing resin is used to seal an entire apparatus including a semiconductor package 30, a cooler 10, and elements therebetween.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to form a sealing resin to seal the structure of either ‘877 or ‘088, as taught by ‘958, with the motivation that, as is well known in the art, such a sealing resin provides mechanical and often moisture protection.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘088 in view of Sarwar et al. (US 2019/0250205).
‘088 shows the package may include an IGBT (para. [0020]), but does not explicitly show that the device is a power conversion device for converting direct current into alternating current.
However, Sarwar teaches in para. [0030] that an IGBT is used in a power inverter module to convert direct current into alternating current.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for the IGBT of ‘088 to be used in a power conversion application, as taught by Sarwar, so that energy stored in a battery may be used to operate a motor in an electric vehicle application (para. [0002]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL M LUKE whose telephone number is (571)270-1569. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, EST.
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/DANIEL LUKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896
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