DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsuura et al. JP 2003-037135 A (Applicant supplied translation).
Regarding claim 1, Matsuura discloses:
A semiconductor device (Fig. 6), comprising:
a plating film (301);
a semiconductor element (10) provided on an upper side of the plating film; and
a spacer (13) including a first wire bump (12) and providing a gap between the plating film and the semiconductor element, wherein
a lower surface of the first wire bump does not have contact with the plating film, or a part of the lower surface of the first wire bump located on an outer side of an outer surrounding part of the plating film does not have contact with the plating film.
Regarding claim 5, Matsuura discloses:
further comprising a multilayer plating film (5, 302) provided on the plating film, wherein the lower surface of the first wire bump does not have contact with the plating film, but has contact with the multilayer plating film.
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.
Claim 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuura, as in claim 1, in view of Hagihara US 2011/0147927 A.
Regarding claim 9, Matsuura does not disclose:
the plating film is a non-electrolytic plating film including nickel and phosphorus, and a concentration of phosphorus is equal to or larger than 5 wt%.
Hagihara discloses a publication from a similar field of endeavor in which:
the plating film (2) is a non-electrolytic plating film including nickel and phosphorus, and a concentration of phosphorus is equal to or larger than 5 wt% (para 0054) (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to employ the material taught by Hagihara for the similar electrode pad of Matsuura since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.In re Lesbin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 6-8 and 10 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to teach or clearly suggest the limitations of claim 2 stating “further comprising a conductive member provided on a lower side of the plating film, wherein the lower surface of the first wire bump does not have contact with the plating film, but has contact with the conductive member through a through hole provided to the plating film”; of claim 6 stating “further comprising an insulating film provided on the plating film, wherein the lower surface of the first wire bump does not have contact with the plating film, but has contact with the insulating film”; of claim 7 stating “wherein the part of the lower surface of the first wire bump does not have contact with the plating film, and a remaining part of the lower surface of the first wire bump has contact with the plating film”; of claim 8 stating “wherein the spacer further includes a second wire bump connected to the first wire bump via a wire, the lower surface of the first wire bump is located on an outer side of the outer surrounding part of the plating film, and does not have contact with the plating film, and the lower surface of the second wire bump has contact with the plating film”; and of claim 10 stating “wherein the first wire bump is formed after the second wire bump is formed”. In light of these limitations, the prior art fails to anticipate or make obvious the claimed invention.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERROL V FERNANDES whose telephone number is (571)270-7433. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-5:30.
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/ERROL V FERNANDES/Primary Examiner, AU 2893
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