DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the communications dated 05/02/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Acknowledges
2. Receipt is acknowledged of the following items from the Applicant.
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 05/02/2024. The references cited on the PTOL 1449 form have been considered.
Applicant is requested to cite any relevant prior art if being aware on form PTO-1449 in accordance with the guidelines set for in M.P.E.P. 609.
Foreign Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Specification
4. The specification has been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of possible minor errors. However, the applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-3, 6-8, and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tellkamp (US 2012/0107552)
Regarding claim 1, Tellkamp discloses a chip bonding film comprising:
an adhesive film layer 130 (fig. 1, fig. 4) that is curable by heat (paras. 0007, 0032); and
fillers 140 & 141 that are thermally conductive and are contained in the adhesive film layer 130, each of the fillers comprising magnetic particles (paras. 0010-0012, 0025),
wherein a heat dissipation path is formed by the fillers 140 & 141 in a vertical direction from a lower surface to an upper surface of the adhesive film layer 130. See paras. 0017-0020, 0024-0030, 0032.
Regarding claim 2, Tellkamp discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein the fillers 140, 141 are connected to each other (forming particle chains, paras. 0005, 0007) in the vertical direction from the lower surface to the upper surface of the adhesive film layer.
Regarding claim 3, Tellkamp discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein each of the fillers 140, 141 has a plate shape extending in the vertical direction, the vertical direction being perpendicular to the lower surface of the adhesive film layer. See fig. 1, fig. 4, and paras. 0027-0030.
Regarding claim 6, Tellkamp discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein each of the fillers 140, 141 has a plate shape (see fig. 1), and thermal conductivity of the fillers in an in-plane direction of the fillers is 10 or more times thermal conductivity of the fillers in a through-plane direction of the fillers that is perpendicular to the in-plane direction (paras. 0010-0012, 0021, 0025, 0027-0030).
Regarding claim 7, Tellkamp discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein the adhesive film layer 130 comprises a binder material (polymer) and a thermosetting resin. See paras. 0019-0022.
Regarding claim 8, Tellkamp discloses the chip bonding film of claim 7, wherein the binder material comprises acryl, and the thermosetting resin comprises epoxy. See paras. 0019-0022.
Regarding claim 15, Tellkamp discloses a semiconductor package comprising:
a package substrate 101 (see fig. 1, fig. 4);
at least one chip 110 on the package substrate 101; and
at least one chip bonding film 130 that bonds and fixes the at least one chip 110 onto the package substrate 101,
wherein each of the at least one chip bonding film 130 comprises:
an adhesive film layer 130 (fig. 1, fig. 4) that is curable by heat (paras. 0007, 0032); and
fillers 140 & 141 that are thermally conductive and are contained in the adhesive film layer 130, each of the fillers comprising magnetic particles (paras. 0010-0012, 0025),
wherein a heat dissipation path is formed by the fillers 140 & 141 in a vertical direction from a lower surface to an upper surface of the adhesive film layer 130. See paras. 0017-0020, 0024-0030, 0032.
Regarding claim 16, Tellkamp discloses the semiconductor package of claim 15, wherein each of the fillers 140, 141 has a plate shape (see fig. 1, fig. 4) extending in the vertical direction, and the fillers are connected to each other in the vertical direction (forming particle chains, paras. 0005, 0007) from the lower surface to the upper surface of the adhesive film layer 130.
7. Claims 1-3, 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lu et al. (US 12,595,399)
Regarding claim 1, Lu discloses a chip bonding film comprising:
an adhesive film layer 2280 (see fig. 26) that is curable by heat (col. 13, lines 5-11); and
fillers 30, 32 (col. 26, line 32 – col. 28, line 44) that are thermally conductive and are contained in the adhesive film layer 2280, each of the fillers 30, 32 comprising magnetic particles,
wherein a heat dissipation path is formed by the fillers 30, 32 in a vertical direction from a lower surface to an upper surface of the adhesive film layer 2280 (see col. 26, line 32 – col. 27, line 9).
Regarding claim 2, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein the fillers 30, 32 are connected to each other in the vertical direction from the lower surface to the upper surface of the adhesive film layer 2280. See fig. 26.
Regarding claim 3, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein each of the fillers 30, 32 has a plate shape extending in the vertical direction, the vertical direction being perpendicular to the lower surface of the adhesive film layer 2280. See fig. 26; see also col. 14, lines 9-17.
Regarding claim 5, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein each of the fillers 30, 32 comprises boron nitride (BN) or aluminum nitride (AlN), and each of the magnetic particles comprises iron oxide (Fe3O4) or nickel oxide (NiO). See col. 14, lines 25-40, and col. 40-67.
Regarding claim 6, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein each of the fillers 30, 32 has a plate shape (see fig. 26), and thermal conductivity of the fillers in an in-plane direction of the fillers is 10 or more times thermal conductivity of the fillers in a through-plane direction of the fillers that is perpendicular to the in-plane direction. Col. 14, lines 54-67; col. 28, line 60 – col. 29, line 28.
Regarding claim 7, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein the adhesive film layer 2280 comprises a binder material 70 (fig. 24A, fig. 31) and a thermosetting resin. See col. 32, line 53 – col. 33, line 30.
Regarding claim 8, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 7, wherein the binder material 70 comprises acryl, and the thermosetting resin comprises epoxy. See col. 32, line 50 – col. 29, line 28.
Regarding claim 9, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, wherein the adhesive film layer is present in an amount of 80 wt % or less, and the fillers are present in an amount of 20 wt % to 50 wt % (fig. 24A, fig. 26 of Lu show the chip bonding film 2080 comprising of a significant amount of adhesive film layer 70 compared to that of the fillers 30, 32).
Regarding claim 10, Lu discloses the chip bonding film of claim 9, wherein the adhesive film layer comprises a binder material and a thermosetting resin, and a ratio of the binder material to the thermosetting resin is 6:4. See figs. 24A, 26.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 103
8. 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 of this title, 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.
9. Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tellkamp (US 2012/0107552) in view of Sugo et al. (US 2019/0206825)
Regarding claim 11, Tellkamp discloses the chip bonding film of claim 1, comprising all claimed limitations, as discussed above, except for further comprising:
a base film on the lower surface of the adhesive film layer; and
a release film on the upper surface of the adhesive film layer,
wherein the base film and the release film are configured to be removed from the adhesive film layer when the chip bonding film is used for bonding of a chip.
Sugo discloses:
a chip bonding film 12 (see fig. 2, fig. 3), comprising:
a base film 11 (paras. 0034, 0102-0104) on the lower surface of an adhesive film layer 3 (fig. 2); and
a release film 34 (separator 34, fig. 3) on the upper surface of the adhesive film layer 3,
wherein the base film 32 and the release film 34 are configured to be removed from the adhesive film layer 3 when the chip bonding film 30 is used for bonding of a chip 5 (fig. 4, para. 0130).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Tellkamp to further include a base film and a release film the adhesive film layer, as that/those taught by Sugo, to provide protection to the adhesive film layer, and/or for an ease of handling the adhesive film layer.
Regarding claim 12, Tellkamp/Sugo discloses the chip bonding film of claim 11, wherein the base film 1 comprises a polyethylene (PE) resin or a polypropylene (PP) resin (paras. 0102-0104), the release film 34 comprises a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, and a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film 2 is between the base film 1 and the adhesive film layer 3. See figs. 2, 3 of Sugo.
Regarding claim 13, Tellkamp discloses a chip bonding film comprising:
adhesive film 130, wherein the adhesive film 130 comprises:
an adhesive film layer 130 (fig. 1, fig. 4) that is curable by heat (paras. 0007, 0032); and
fillers 140 & 141 that are thermally conductive and are in the adhesive film layer 130, each of the fillers comprising magnetic particles (paras. 0010-0012, 0025),
wherein each of the fillers 140, 141 has a plate shape (see fig. 1) extending in a vertical direction that is perpendicular to a lower surface of the adhesive film layer 130 (forming particle chains, paras. 0005, 0007), and
wherein the fillers 140, 141 are connected to each other in the vertical direction from the lower surface of the adhesive film layer to an upper surface of the adhesive film layer. See paras. 0017-0020, 0024-0030, 0032.
Tellkamp fails to disclose:
a base film;
a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film on the base film;
an adhesive film on the PSA film; and
a release film on the adhesive film.
Sugo discloses:
a chip bonding film 12 (see fig. 2, fig. 3), comprising:
a base film 1 (paras. 0034, 0102-0104);
a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film 2 on the base film 1;
an adhesive film layer 3 (fig. 2); and
a release film 34 (separator 34, fig. 3) on the adhesive film layer 3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Tellkamp to further include a base film, a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film, and a release film the adhesive film layer, as that/those taught by Sugo, to provide protection to the adhesive film layer, and/or for an ease of handling the adhesive film layer.
10. Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US 12,595,399) in view of Sugo et al. (US 2019/0206825)
Regarding claim 13, Lu discloses:
an adhesive film comprises:
an adhesive film layer 2280 (see fig. 26) that is curable by heat (col. 13, lines 5-11); and
fillers 30, 32 (col. 26, line 32 – col. 28, line 44) that are thermally conductive and are in the adhesive film layer, each of the fillers comprising magnetic particles,
wherein each of the fillers has a plate shape (fig. 26) extending in a vertical direction that is perpendicular to a lower surface of the adhesive film layer, and
wherein the fillers 30, 32 are connected to each other in the vertical direction from the lower surface of the adhesive film layer 2280 to an upper surface of the adhesive film layer 2280.
Lu fails to disclose:
a base film;
a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film on the base film;
an adhesive film on the PSA film; and
a release film on the adhesive film.
Sugo discloses:
a chip bonding film 12 (see fig. 2, fig. 3), comprising:
a base film 1 (paras. 0034, 0102-0104);
a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film 2 on the base film 1;
an adhesive film layer 3 (fig. 2); and
a release film 34 (separator 34, fig. 3) on the adhesive film layer 3.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Lu to further include a base film, a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) film, and a release film the adhesive film layer, as that/those taught by Sugo, to provide protection to the adhesive film layer, and/or for an ease of handling the adhesive film layer.
Regarding claim 14, Lu/Sugo discloses the chip bonding film of claim 13, wherein each of the fillers comprises boron nitride (BN) or aluminum nitride (AlN), and each of the magnetic particles comprises iron oxide (Fe3O4) or nickel oxide (NiO). See col. 14, lines 25-40, and col. 40-67 of Lu.
11. Claims 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tellkamp (US 2012/0107552) in view of Lu et al. (US 12,595,399)
Regarding claim 17, Tellkamp discloses the semiconductor package of claim 15, comprising all claimed limitations, as discussed above, and wherein each of the fillers (first particles) 30 comprises silver flakes, carbon nano-tubes, or elongaged magnetic metal core, and each of the magnetic particles (second particles) 32 comprises iron oxide (Fe3O4) or nickel oxide (NiO). See paras. 0010-0011, 0026.
Tellkamp does not particularly teach that each of the fillers comprises boron nitride (BN) or aluminum nitride (AlN).
Lu discloses:
A semiconductor package comprising a chip bonding film comprising an adhesive film layer 2280 (fig. 26) having fillers 30, 32 (col. 26, line 32 – col. 28, line 44) in the adhesive film layer 2280, and each of the fillers 30, 32 comprising magnetic particles, wherein each of the fillers 30, 32 comprises boron nitride (BN) or aluminum nitride (AlN), and each of the magnetic particles comprises iron oxide (Fe3O4) or nickel oxide (NiO). See col. 14, lines 25-40, and col. 40-67.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Tellkamp to further have boron nitride (BN) or aluminum nitride (AlN) as optional materials for the fillers first particles 30. It would have been obvious that selecting a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use is just within the general skill of a worker in the art.
MPEP § 2144.07 states that the selection of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945) (Claims to a printing ink comprising a solvent having the vapor pressure characteristics of butyl carbitol so that the ink would not dry at room temperature but would dry quickly upon heating were held invalid over a reference teaching a printing ink made with a different solvent that was nonvolatile at room temperature but highly volatile when heated in view of an article which taught the desired boiling point and vapor pressure characteristics of a solvent for printing inks and a catalog teaching the boiling point and vapor pressure characteristics of butyl carbitol; “Reading a list and selecting a known compound to meet known requirements is no more ingenious than selecting the last piece to put in the last opening in a jig-saw puzzle.” 325 U.S. at 335, 65 USPQ at 301.). See also In re Leshin, 227 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960) (selection of aknown plastic to make a container of a type made of plastics prior to the invention washeld to be obvious); Ryco, Inc. v. Ag-Bag Corp., 857 F.2d 1418, 8 USPQ2d 1323(Fed. Cir. 1988) (Claimed agricultural bagging machine, which differed from a prior art machine only in that the brake means were hydraulically operated rather than mechanically operated, was held to be obvious over the prior art machine in view of references which disclosed hydraulic brakes for performing the same function, albeit in a different environment.).
Caterpillar Inc. v. Deere & Co., 224 F.3d 1374, 56USPQ2d 1305 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Al-Site Corp. v. VSI Int ’ l, Inc., 174 F.3d 1308, 1316, 50 USPQ2d 1161, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 1999); Chiuminatta Concrete Concepts, Inc. v. Cardinal Indus. Inc., 145 F.3d 1303, 1309, 46 USPQ2d 1752, 1757 (Fed. Cir. 1998); Lockheed Aircraft Corp. v. United States , 193 USPQ 449, 461 (Ct. Cl. 1977 ); Data Line Corp. v. Micro Technologies, Inc., 813 F.2d 1196, 1 USPQ2d 2052 (Fed. Cir. 1987). In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
See also MPEP § 2183.
Regarding claim 18, Tellkamp/Lu discloses the semiconductor package of claim 15, wherein each of the fillers has a plate shape, and thermal conductivity of the fillers in an in-plane direction of the fillers is 10 or more times thermal conductivity of the fillers in a through-plane direction of the fillers that is perpendicular to the in-plane direction. See col. 14, lines 9-67 of Lu.
Regarding claim 19, Tellkamp/Lu discloses the semiconductor package of claim 15, wherein the adhesive film layer comprises a binder material and a thermosetting resin, and a ratio of the binder material to the thermosetting resin is 6:4. See col. 14, lines 9-67 of Lu.
12. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tellkamp (US 2012/0107552) in view of Morita (US 2024/0128154).
Regarding claim 20, Tellkamp discloses the semiconductor package of claim 15, comprising all claimed limitations, as discussed above, except for wherein the at least one chip comprises a first chip and a second chip on the first chip, the at least one chip bonding film comprises a first chip bonding film and a second chip bonding film, the first chip is bonded and fixed onto the package substrate via the first chip bonding film, and the second chip is bonded and fixed onto the first chip via the second chip bonding film.
Morita discloses:
A semiconductor package comprising a package substrate 6
wherein the at least one chip comprises a first chip 4 (bottom chip 4, fig. 6) and a second chip (upper chip above the bottom one) on the first chip, the at least one chip bonding film 2 comprises a first chip bonding film (bottom bonding film 2) and a second chip bonding film (above the bottom chip 4), the first chip 4 is bonded and fixed onto the package substrate 6 via the first chip bonding film 2, and the second chip 4 is bonded and fixed onto the first chip 4 via the second chip bonding film 2.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Tellkamp to further comprise a second chip and a second chip bonding film stacking on the first chip and the first chip bonding film, as that/those taught by Morita, to obtain a multiple chip package, thereby to improve the performance of the structure.
Allowable Subject Matter
13. Claim 4 is allowable.
Claim 4 is 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, since the prior art of record and considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure does not teach or suggest the claimed chip bonding film (in addition to the other limitations in the claim) comprising:
Claim 4:
wherein the adhesive film layer has a thickness of 10 μm to 50 μm, each of the fillers has a size of 100 nm to 10 μm, and each of the magnetic particles has a size of 3 nm to 100 nm and is electrically non-conductive.
Conclusion
14. A shortened statutory period for response to this action is set to expire 3 (three) months and 0 (zero) day from the day of this letter. Failure to respond within the period for response will cause the application to become abandoned (see M.P.E.P 710.02(b)).
A shortened time for reply may be extended up to the maximum six-month period (35 U.S.C. 133). An extension of time fee is normally required to be paid if the reply period is extended. The amount of the fee is dependent upon the length of the extension. Extensions of time are generally not available after an application has been allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dao H. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-1791. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Loke, can be reached on (571)272-1657. The fax numbers for all communication(s) is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (571)272-1633.
/DAO H NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818 May 29, 2026
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