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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Examiner acknowledges the amendment to claim 15 filed on June 19, 2026. The 35 U.S.C. § 112 rejections in the previous Office Action filed on February 19, 2026 are hereby withdrawn.
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.
Claims 15, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hou et al. (US PG-Pub No.: 2014/0252572 A1, hereinafter, “Hou”).
Regarding claim 15, Hou discloses a package (see Hou, FIG, 2e), comprising:
a circuit substrate (30, FIG. 2e) comprising a first substrate side (bottom of 30), a second substrate side (top of 30) opposite the first substrate side (bottom of 30), and a first lateral substrate side (left of 30) that extends between the first substrate side (bottom of 30) and the second substrate side (top of 30);
an electronic device (120, FIG. 2e) comprising a first device side (bottom of 120) facing toward the second substrate side (top of 30), a second device side (top of 120) opposite the first device side (bottom of 120), and a first lateral device side (left of 130) that extends between the first device side (bottom of 120) and the second device side (top of 120);
wherein the electronic device (120) comprises:
a first conductive pattern (left 60, FIG. 2e and labelled in FIG. 2d) comprising a first conductive pattern side (bottom of left 60) facing toward the circuit substrate (30), a second conductive pattern side (top of left 60) opposite the first conductive pattern side (bottom of left 60), and a first lateral conductive pattern side (left of left 60) that extends between the first conductive pattern side (bottom of left 60) and the second conductive pattern side (top of left 60);
a first barrier structure (left 80, FIG. 2e and labelled in FIG. 2d) overlying the first lateral conductive pattern side (left of left 60) and the second conductive pattern side (top of left 60, FIG. 2e);
a second conductive pattern (right 60, FIG. 2e) aside the first conductive pattern (left 60) and comprising a third conductive pattern side (bottom of right 60) facing toward the circuit substrate (30), a fourth conductive pattern side (top of right 60) opposite the third conductive pattern side (bottom of right 60), and a second lateral conductive pattern side (left of right 60) that extends between the third conductive pattern side (bottom of right 60) and the fourth conductive pattern side (top of right 60, FIG. 2e); and
a second barrier structure (right 80, FIG, 2e) overlying the second lateral conductive pattern side (left of right 60); and
an underfill (70, FIG. 2e) disposed between the electronic device (120) and the circuit substrate (30) to laterally encapsulate a plurality of conductive connectors (60+80), wherein the underfill (70) has an inclined sidewall extending outward away from the first lateral device side (bottom of 120) to the second substrate side (top of 30, FIG. 2e).
Regarding claim 17, Hou discloses the package of claim 15, wherein the first conductive pattern side (bottom of left 60) is free of the first barrier structure (in order to meet the limitation, the first barrier structure is 94).
Regarding claim 20, Hou discloses the package of claim 15, further comprising: one or more dies (120 has multiple layers, ¶ [0014]) over the second conductive pattern side of the first conductive pattern (top of left 60) and the fourth conductive pattern side of the second conductive pattern (top of right 60); and an encapsulant (94) encapsulating the one or more dies (120, FIG. 2e).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 are allowed.
Claims 16 and 18-19 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 of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious all the claimed subject of base claim 1, in particular, after the forming the plurality of first traces, forming a protective layer on the plurality of first traces, wherein the protective layer covers top surfaces of the plurality of first traces and extends to cover a top surface of the first dielectric material; forming a second dielectric material on the protective layer; and performing a planarization process to remove a portion of the second dielectric material and a portion of the protective layer until the plurality of first traces are exposed. Therefore, claim 1 is allowable. Accordingly, claims 2-8 are allowable as they depend upon claim 1.
The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious all the claimed subject of base claim 9, in particular, a first pillar structure embedded in the second dielectric material and extending on a top surface of the first dielectric material without penetrating through the top surface of the first dielectric material; a second pillar structure aside the first pillar structure, wherein the second pillar structure penetrates through the first dielectric material and the second dielectric material to be in contact with the conductive pad of the die at the topmost surface; and a protective layer extending between a side surface of the first pillar structure and a side surface of an upper portion of the second pillar structure. Therefore, claim 9 is allowable. Accordingly, claims 10-14 are allowable as they depend upon claim 9.
The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious all the claimed subject of claim 16, in particular, the first barrier structure comprises: a first seed metal contacting the first lateral conductive pattern side and the second conductive pattern side; and a first protective layer overlying an outer surface of the first seed metal, so that the first protective layer completely covers the first lateral conductive pattern side and the second conductive pattern side without covering the first conductive pattern side. Therefore, claim 16 is allowable. Accordingly, claims 18-19 are allowable as they depend upon claim 16.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIA L. CROSS whose telephone number is (571)270-3273. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am-5:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, N. Drew Richards can be reached at 571-272-1736. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/XIA L CROSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892
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