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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-15 are pending in this application.
Foreign Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made that the information disclosure statement has been received and considered by the examiner. If the applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending applications not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.56 to disclose the same.
Drawings
There are no objections or rejections to the drawings.
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 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 pre-AIA 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 beYou’e fore 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.
Claims 1-3 and 9 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Göblet al. (US Patent Application Publication No 9,530,712) hereinafter referred to as Göbl.
Per Claim 1 Göbl discloses a power semiconductor module device, (see figure 1) comprising
a substrate (2) having a power semiconductor component (3) arranged thereon;
a connecting device (3) with a potting body (8);
a pressure device (5) having external terminal elements (50/52); and
a preformed housing (described in column 5 lines 3-8);
wherein the substrate (2) has an insulant body (20) and substrate conductor tracks (22) arranged thereon; (see figure 1)
wherein the power semiconductor component (3) is arranged on one of these substrate conductor tracks (22) and is electrically conductively connected thereto;
wherein the connecting device (3) is embodied as a film stack having a first electrically conductive film (34), a second electrically conductive film (30), with and an electrically insulating film (32) therebetween; wherein the connecting device (3) is covered, preferably completely, by the potting body (8);
wherein the external terminal elements (50/52) are arranged on the preformed housing (8) (or connected thereto in a positively locking manner) and each has a contact device to an assigned substrate conductor track (22) (as described in column 7 lines 1-5) The examiner notes that the term "on" includes "directly on" (no intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween) and "indirectly on" (intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween). The examiner notes that the term "connected" includes "directly connected" (no intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween) and "indirectly connected " (intermediate materials, elements or space disposed therebetween).
Additionally, claim 1 recites the performance properties of the device(i.e. wherein the pressure device (5) is embodied to exert pressure on the potting body either directly by means of a spring element or indirectly exclusively by way of a metal plate on the potting body). This functional limitation does not distinguish the claimed device over the prior art, since it appears that this limitation can be performed by the prior art structure of Göbl. While features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429,1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997) See MPEP 2114.
Per Claim 2 Göbl discloses the device of claim 1including, (see figure 1) where the electrically conductive films (34) each embody film conductor tracks. (see figure 7c)
Per Claim 3 Göbl discloses the device of claim 1including, (see figure 1) where the potting body (5) is embodied as an epoxy resin. ( see column 7 lines 25-26)
Per Claim 9 Göbl discloses the device of claim 1including, (see figure 1) where a surface of the potting body (8) facing away from the substrate (2) has a contour element (corners)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8, 10-13 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. Claims 14-15 are allowed.
Cited Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicants are directed to consider additional pertinent prior art included on the Notice of References Cited (PTOL 892) attached herewith.
Kroneder (US 2015/0325494) is provided as for teaching an analogous device including power semiconductor module.
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant.
Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMI VALENTINE MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-9786. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eva Montalvo can be reached on (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jami Valentine Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
