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 § 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) 1-7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue (JP 2022002266 A) in view of Morikawa (US 20170287810 A1). References cited on IDS, translation attached.
As to claim 1, Inoue discloses:
A heat dissipation member (Fig. 1-7) comprising:
a copper-diamond composite body 3, 5 in which a plurality of diamond particles 31, 32, 33 are dispersed in a metal matrix containing copper 30 (P26, P53); and
wherein in at least one cross section of the heat dissipation member in a stacking direction, the copper-diamond composite body has
a coarse particle layer 31 containing the diamond particles that are coarse particles having a large particle diameter, and
a fine particle layer 32, 33, 34 containing the diamond particles that are fine particles having a smaller particle diameter than the coarse particles, and
has a structure in which the fine particle layer is disposed closer to a bonding surface side (top side) between the copper-diamond composite body
Inoue does not explicitly disclose:
a metal film that is bonded to at least one surface of the copper-diamond composite body, and
has a structure in which the fine particle layer is disposed closer to a bonding surface side between the copper-diamond composite body and the metal film than the coarse particle layer.
However, Morikawa discloses:
a metal film 30 (par. 0080; Fig. 1) that is bonded to at least one surface of the copper-diamond composite body 20 (par. 0069);
in order to bond a semiconductor element to a surface with high bondability and improved smoothness (par. 0024).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the related art(s) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Inoue as suggested by Morikawa, e.g., providing:
a metal film that is bonded to at least one surface of the copper-diamond composite body, and
has a structure in which the fine particle layer is disposed closer to a bonding surface side between the copper-diamond composite body and the metal film than the coarse particle layer;
in order to bond a semiconductor element to a surface with high bondability and improved smoothness.
Additionally, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined/modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination/modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
As to claim 2, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
wherein when a particle size distribution of the diamond particles is measured using an image particle size distribution measuring device, in a volume particle size distribution of a particle diameter of the diamond particles,
a particle diameter D50 corresponding to a cumulative value of 50% in the coarse particles is more than 100 μm and 300 μm or less (see peaks P11 in Fig. 4. 8; see par. P32-P33; Inoue), and
a particle diameter D50 corresponding to a cumulative value of 50% in the fine particles is 100 μm or less (all fine particles 32-34 have a diameter of 50 μm or less; see Fig. 4, 8, and P32, P33, P53; Inoue).
As to claim 3, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
wherein the copper-diamond composite body (see Fig. 2, 7; Inoue) includes a stacked structure having a first fine particle layer (top layer) and the coarse particle layer (middle layer) in this order in a layer thickness direction, or a stacked structure having a first fine particle layer, the coarse particle layer, and a second fine particle layer (bottom layer) in this order in the layer thickness direction.
As to claim 4, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
wherein a thickness of the fine particle layer is 3 μm or more and 200 μm or less (P32, P53; Inoue).
As to claim 5, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
wherein a flatness of a bonding surface of the copper-diamond composite body to the metal film is 30 μm or less (surface roughness of interface is 1 μm to 5 μm; par. 0092; Morikawa).
As to claim 6, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
wherein a ten-point average height Rz in a bonding surface of the copper-diamond composite body to the metal film is 20 μm or less (surface roughness of interface is 1 μm to 5 μm; par. 0092; Morikawa).
As to claim 7, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
wherein a thermal conductivity of the copper-diamond composite body is 600 W/mK or more (see Fig. 5; P40; Inoue).
As to claim 9, Inoue in view of Morikawa discloses:
An electronic device (Fig. 1, 7; Inoue) comprising: the heat dissipation member according to claim 1; and an electronic component 1 provided over the heat dissipation member.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Inoue (JP 2022002266 A) in view of Morikawa (US 20170287810 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sugimoto (US 20210147739 A1).
As to claim 8, Inoue in view of Morikawa does not explicitly disclose:
wherein when a particle size distribution of the diamond particles is measured using an image particle size distribution measuring device, in a volume particle size distribution of a degree of sphericity of the diamond particles,
a degree of sphericity S50 corresponding to a cumulative value of 50% in the coarse particles is 0.8 or more.
However, Sugimoto discloses:
providing a degree of sphericity S50 in the diamond particles of 0.8 or more (0.8 to an upper limit of 1; see par. 0045, 0047);
in order to increase the packing fraction of the diamond particles (see par. 0045-0047).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sung (US 20040175875 A1), Cho (US 20230183541 A1), and Yoshida (US 20050051891 A1) disclose conventional composite heat spreaders.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB R CRUM whose telephone number is (571)270-7665. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at (571) 270-1985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JACOB R CRUM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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