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
Claims 1-18, 24-25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 2/13/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention III/Species in the reply filed on 2/13/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mengel et al. US 2013/0001803 A1 in view of Paneccasio US 20100126872 A1 noting evidentiary reference US 20190135683 A1.
Re claim 19, Mengel et al.
an apparatus comprising: a first heat transfer component (212); a material (204) on a first side of the first heat transfer component; a thermally conductive material (206) filling connected porosity of the deposited and cured porous * (para 31); and a second heat transfer component (202) bonded to the porous organo-silicate material having the filled connected porosity.
Mengel et al. fail to explicitly teach cured porous organo-silicate.
Paneccasio teach cured porous organo-silicate to add a low K material known in the art to the heat transfer stack (para 26 noting evidentiary reference teach that organo silicates are known to be porous US 20190135683 A1 see para 30 claim 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include cured porous organo-silicate as taught by Paneccasio in the Mengel et al. invention in order to advantageously allow for exhibit reduced parasitic capacitance compared to the same thickness of SiO.sub.2 dielectric, enabling increased feature density, faster switching speeds, and lower heat dissipation.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mengel et al. US 2013/0001803 A1 in view of Paneccasio US 20100126872 A1 noting evidentiary reference US 20190135683 A1 and Lionti US 20200378001 A1.
Re claim 20, Mengel et al. , as modified, fail to explicitly teach overburden.
Lionti teach overburden of the thermally conductive material between the first and second heat transfer components to protect pores or organo silicate (para 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include overburden as taught by Lionti in the Mengel et al. , as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for porous material processing in electronic applications (para 5).
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mengel et al. US 2013/0001803 A1 in view of Paneccasio US 20100126872 A1 noting evidentiary reference US 20190135683 A1 and Lionti US 20200378001 A1 and Lee US 20250014965 A1.
Re claim 21, Mengel et al. , as modified, fail to explicitly teach a finned heat sink.
Lee teach a wherein the first heat transfer component comprises a finned heat sink (120) and wherein the second heat transfer component (170) comprises a heat spreader to mount two components for spreading heat on opposites sides of a thermal transfer material.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a finned heat sink as taught by Lee in the Mengel et al. , as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for providing efficient transfer of heat away from certain areas such as electronic components or other surfaces that are subject to heat.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mengel et al. US 2013/0001803 A1 in view of Paneccasio US 20100126872 A1 noting evidentiary reference US 20190135683 A1 and Lionti US 20200378001 A1 and Lee US 20250014965 A1.
Re claim 22, Mengel et al. , as modified, fail to explicitly teach other thermally conductive material.
Lionti teach other thermally conductive material filling connected porosity of the other porous organo-silicate material to proctect the pores of the material (para 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include overburden as taught by Lionti in the Mengel et al. , as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for porous material processing in electronic applications (para 5).
Mengel et al. , as modified, fail to explicitly teach a placement.
Lee teach wherein a first side of the second heat transfer (170) component faces the first side of the first heat transfer component (120, stacked sides face each other), further comprising: other cured porous organo-silicate material (110) on a second side of the second heat transfer component;; and an additional component (150, 140) bonded to the other porous organo-silicate material having the filled connected porosity (noting in the instant combination , the “porous organo-silicate material” is placed in the structure of the secondary reference in place of 110, noting two 110 which represent placement of the “the porous organo-silicate material” and the “other cured porous organo-silicate material”) to mount two components for spreading heat on opposites sides of a thermal transfer material.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include a placement as taught by Lee in the Mengel et al. , as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for providing efficient transfer of heat away from certain areas such as electronic components or other surfaces that are subject to heat.
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mengel et al. US 2013/0001803 A1 in view of Paneccasio US 20100126872 A1 noting evidentiary reference US 20190135683 A1 and OTSUKA US 20230135684 A1.
Re claim 23, Mengel et al. , as modified, fail to explicitly teach porosity of at least 9%.
OTSUKA teach wherein the cured porous organo-silicate material has an interconnected porosity of at least 9% to change interconnectedness of a material with voids ( Para 46).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include porosity of at least 9% as taught by OTSUKAin the Mengel et al. , as modified, invention in order to advantageously allow for porous material alterations for different heat exchange paths (para 23).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20140367356 A1, US 20120329273 A1, US 2022/0013406 Al.
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/GORDON A JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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