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 .
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 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species (a), figs. 2, claims 1-3 and 5-20, in the reply filed on 8/3/26 is acknowledged.
Claim 4 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 8/3/26.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-20 are allowed.
Claim 7 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 3 depends from claim 2. Claim 3 recites duplicate limitations already in claim 2.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1, 5 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ke et al., US 20220068839 A1.
Ke anticipates:
1. A method for forming a chip package structure, comprising (see figs. 6-7 and figs. 29, 38-39):
mounting a plurality of semiconductor dies (24, 26) over a plurality of die regions of an interposer substrate (1), wherein adjacent die regions are separated from one another by a gap (30) region of the interposer substrate, and wherein the gap region has a plurality of ends;
forming a plurality of first underfill material layers (31b, 32b in fig. 6; 31c, 32c in fig. 7) over the interposer substrate and adjacent to the plurality of ends of the gap region;
forming a second underfill material layer (33b in fig. 6; 33c in fig. 7) over the interposer substrate and corresponding to the gap region (30), wherein the second underfill material layer is in direct contact with each of the plurality of first underfill material layers, and wherein a Young's modulus of the second underfill material layer is less than a Young's modulus of the plurality of first underfill material layers (e.g. Young’s modulus at para. [0068] – [0069]); and
forming an encapsulating layer (34) over the interposer substrate to surround the plurality of semiconductor dies, the plurality of first underfill material layers, and the second underfill material layer. See Ke at para. [0001] – [0128], figs. 1-40.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: bonding the interposer substrate (1) having the plurality of semiconductor dies with a package substrate (40); and forming a third underfill material layer (44) between the package substrate (40) and the interposer substrate (1) and surrounding the interposer substrate, figs. 6-7.
6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the third underfill material layer (44) is in contact with the sidewalls and the bottom surface of the interposer substrate (1) and a portion of sidewalls of the encapsulating layer (e.g. In figs. 6-7, the third underfill material layer 44 is in contact with encapsulation 34 at the intersection point or through intervening layers.)
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(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ke, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 2:
Ke further teaches:
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the plurality of first underfill material layers is lower than a CTE of the second underfill material layer, para. [0068] – [0069].
Ke is silent:
wherein a total volume of the plurality of first underfill material layers is less than a volume of the second underfill material layer.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form “wherein a total volume of the plurality of first underfill material layers is less than a volume of the second underfill material layer” because Ke teaches or suggests the amount of first underfill material layer (31b, 32b) is less than the amount of second underfill material layer (33b) in fig. 6.
Regarding claim 3:
Ke teaches the limitations as applied to claim 2 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michele Fan whose telephone number is 571-270-7401. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 7:30 am to 4 pm.
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/Michele Fan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
9 October 2026
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