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 .
This office action is in response to the application filed on 6/21/24. Claims 1-7 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) were submitted on 6/21/24 and 3/07/25. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Miyazaki (US PGPub 2021/0098670, hereinafter referred to as “Miyazaki”).
Miyazaki discloses the semiconductor device as claimed. See figures 1-8 and corresponding text, where Miyazaki teaches, in claim 1, a semiconductor light-emitting apparatus comprising:
a package substrate (11);
a semiconductor light-emitting element flip-chip (30) bonded on the package substrate (11);
a frame body (60) provided around the semiconductor light-emitting element (30) on the package substrate (11); and
a sealing member (70) that covers an upper surface of the semiconductor light-emitting element (30) on the package substrate (11), covers an upper surface of the frame body (60), and has translucency at an emission wavelength of the semiconductor light-emitting element (30), wherein the upper surface of the semiconductor light-emitting element (30) has a plurality of corner portions, and a distance from each of the plurality of corner portions to the frame body (60) is smaller than a width of the upper surface of the frame body (figures 1-8; [0046-0058]).
Miyazaki teaches, in claim 2, wherein, in a plan view of the upper surface of the semiconductor light-emitting apparatus, an area occupying a space inward of the frame body is equal to or less than twice an area occupying the upper surface of the semiconductor light-emitting element (figure 1; [0046-0058]) .
Miyazaki teaches, in claim 3, further comprising:
a protective element (40A) bonded on the package substrate (11) and covered by the sealing member (70), wherein, in a plan view of the upper surface of the semiconductor light-emitting apparatus (A10), an area occupying a space inward of the frame body (60) is equal to or less than twice a total area of the upper surface of the semiconductor light-emitting element (30) and an upper surface of the protective element (40A) (figures 1-8; [0046-0058]) .
Miyazaki teaches, in claim 4, further comprising:
a protective element bonded on the package substrate and covered by the sealing member, wherein a distance from the protective element to the frame body is smaller than the width of the upper surface of the frame body, and wherein a distance from the semiconductor light-emitting element to the protective element is smaller than the width of the upper surface of the frame body (figures 1-8; [0046-0058]).
Miyazaki teaches, in claim 5, wherein a gap is provided between the package substrate and the sealing member (figures 1-8; [0046-0058]).
Miyazaki teaches, in claim 7, wherein the sealing member has a dome shape that is convex upward (figures 1-8; [0046-0058]).
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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miyazaki (US PGPub 2021/0098670, hereinafter referred to as “Miyazaki”) as applied to claim 1 above.
Miyazaki discloses the semiconductor device substantially as claimed. See the rejection above.
However, Miyazaki fails to explicitly teaches, in claim 6, wherein a distance from each of the plurality of corner portions to the frame body is equal to or more than 10 μm and equal to or less than 300 μm.
Miyazaki teaches, forming a case having a plurality of corner portions where the inner side surfaces functions as a reflecting surface of light emitted from the light emitting element ([0090-0099]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate wherein a distance from each of the plurality of corner portions to the frame body is equal to or more than 10 μm and equal to or less than 300 μm, in the device of Miyazaki, with the motivation of forming a reflecting surface to reflect light emitted from the light emitting element, thus would result in routine experimentation. In addition, a variable which achieves a recognized result, before the determination of the optimum or workable ranges of said variable might be characterized as routine experimentation, because "obvious to try" is not a valid rationale for an obviousness finding. In KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398 (2007).
Conclusion
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/STANETTA D ISAAC/Examiner, Art Unit 2898 June 26, 2026
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