DETAILED ACTION
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.
Response to Amendment/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I and Claims 1-14 in the reply filed on June 08, 2026 is acknowledged. Thus, Claims 15-29 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on June 08, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. As to claim 2, the limitation “wherein individual test pins are attached to individual test pads” does not appear to be compatible with the recited “a solder resist covers individual test pads of the plurality of test pads”. Specifically, the disclosed and claimed solder resist 106 covers the test pads 304, “making the sense lines (e.g., such as the representative sense line 306 of FIG. 3B) inaccessible” in [0047], does not appear to allow the test pins to attach to the test pads as claimed. It is not clear how the test pins are further attached to the test pads when the test pads are covered by the solder resist and thus not accessible as shown in FIG. 6B of the Drawings. It is not clear whether the limitation is supported by the original disclosure. Thus, the limitation renders the claims indefinite and clarification is required.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 8-10, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0151700 A1 to Meyer et al. (“Meyer”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0045379 A1 to Chen (“Chen”). As to claim 1, although Meyer discloses an apparatus including a package comprising: a substrate (302); a plurality of components (402, 410) located on a top surface (302a) of the substrate (302); a plurality of ball pads (306) located on a bottom surface (302b) of the substrate (302); a plurality of balls (310), wherein individual balls (310) of the plurality of balls (310) are attached to individual ball pads (306) of the plurality of ball pads (306); and a plurality of test pads (304, ¶ 0051) located on the bottom surface (302b) of the substrate (302) (See Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 7, ¶ 0020, ¶ 0037, ¶ 0038, ¶ 0039, ¶ 0046, ¶ 0051, ¶ 0053, ¶ 0055, ¶ 0056, ¶ 0057, ¶ 0058, ¶ 0060, ¶ 0061, ¶ 0062, ¶ 0063, ¶ 0065, ¶ 0067, ¶ 0070, ¶ 0076, ¶ 0080, ¶ 0082, ¶ 0090, ¶ 0102, ¶ 0103), Meyer does not further disclose wherein a solder resist covers individual test pads of the plurality of test pads. However, Chen does disclose wherein a solder resist (20) covers individual pads (12B) of the plurality of pads (12B) (See Fig. 1-Fig. 3, ¶ 0010, ¶ 0011, ¶ 0012, ¶ 0013, ¶ 0014). In view of the teachings of Meyer and Chen, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Meyer to have wherein a solder resist covers individual test pads of the plurality of test pads because the exposed test pads not used to exchange signals in an end-user connection are further insulated, isolated, and protected from external detrimental substances such as moisture (See Meyer ¶ 0051 and Chen ¶ 0011, ¶ 0012). As to claim 8, Meyer further discloses wherein each of the plurality of test pads (304) has a generally circular, oval, square, or rectangular shape (See Fig. 3, ¶ 0103). As to claim 9, Meyer further discloses wherein at least one test pad (304) of the plurality of test pads (304) is located between four adjacent balls (310) of the plurality of balls (310) (See Fig. 4, ¶ 0046). As to claim 10, Meyer further discloses wherein individual test pads (304) of the plurality of test pads (304) are connected to one or more sense lines in the package (See Fig. 3, ¶ 0020) (Notes: the performance and speed are tested/”sensed” during the test). As to claim 13, Meyer further discloses wherein the package comprises a System-on-a-chip (SOC) (See ¶ 0070). ` As to claim 14, Meyer further discloses wherein the apparatus is selected from the group consisting of: a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a communications device, a mobile device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a fixed location terminal, a tablet computer, a computer, a wearable device, an Internet of things (IoT) device, a laptop computer, a server, a base station, and a device in an automotive vehicle (See ¶ 0020, ¶ 0080).
Claim(s) 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0151700 A1 to Meyer et al. (“Meyer”) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0045379 A1 to Chen (“Chen”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 8,823,405 B1 to Trimberger (“Trimberger”). The teachings of Meyer and Chen have been discussed above.
As to claim 11, although Meyer and Chen do not further disclose wherein individual test pads of the plurality of test pads are configured to test one or more parameters of a Power Distribution Network (PDN), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention where Meyer in view of Trimberger further discloses wherein individual test pads (304) of the plurality of test pads (304) are configured to test one or more parameters of a Power Distribution Network (PDN) (See Meyer Fig. 3, ¶ 0020 and Trimberger Column 3, lines 49-60, Column 5, lines 53-67, Column 6, lines 1-8) because the PDN provides uniform voltage and power dissipation at various locations of the IC apparatus, where electrical tests are performed to ensure the integrity of the power supply.
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0151700 A1 to Meyer et al. (“Meyer”) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0045379 A1 to Chen (“Chen”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0113115 A1 to Kwon et al. (“Kwon”). The teachings of Meyer and Chen have been discussed above. As to claim 12, although Meyer and Chen do not further disclose wherein individual test pads of the plurality of test pads are configured to be accessed to test one or more parameters of a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention where Meyer in view of Kwon further discloses wherein individual test pads (304) of the plurality of test pads (304) are configured to be accessed to test one or more parameters of a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) (150) (See Meyer Fig. 3, ¶ 0020, ¶ 0053 and Kwon ¶ 0009, ¶ 0038, ¶ 0039, ¶ 0055, ¶ 0089, ¶ 0091) because the PWIC supplies operation voltages to the at least one die with enhanced power characteristics and apparatus is tested in a system-level assembly state.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7438. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12-6.
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/DAVID CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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