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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of KR 10-2024-0068800 filed on 05/27/2024 has been received/retrieved by the office.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/14/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
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 1-5, 8-9, 15-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US2020/0388557A1 hereinafter “Yoo”
Regarding claim 1, Yoo discloses a power module (¶18L1-4: power module) comprising:
an insulating substrate (¶20L1-3: substrate [110]) including a first metal layer (¶20L11-12: metal layer [114]), an insulating layer (¶20L4: an insulator layer [112]), and a second metal layer (¶20L7-8: a second metal layer [116]), wherein
a semiconductor chip (¶35L1-3: semiconductor die [200]) is disposed on the first metal layer (¶35L1-3: disposed on the substrate of the substate assembly) and a heat dissipation portion (¶19L1-3: fins [130]) is formed on the second metal layer (¶19L1-3: fins can be formed as a heatsink that is coupled with the metal layer [116]);
a cooling passage forming a cooling channel (¶38L4: a channel [350]) in the cooling passage (as shown in Fig.5E for example); and
a passage cover (¶38L1: cover [300]) including an opening so that the insulating substrate is inserted in the opening (as shown in Fig.5E for example), and configured to
hermetically seal the cooling channel by being coupled to the second metal layer and the cooling passage, wherein the second metal layer is coupled to the opening with the insulating layer inserted in the opening. (¶53L1-14: the sealing mechanism can be compressed between the ring and the cover to create a liquid-tight seal between the ring and the cover)
Regarding claim 2, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
the passage cover and the second metal layer are made of a same material. (¶37L9-10: covers [300] can be formed from metal; ¶19L2-3: metal layer [116])
Regarding claim 3, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
the insulating substrate is inserted in the opening of the passage cover, and the second metal layer is positioned to be matched to the passage cover in a direction perpendicular to an insertion direction of the insulating substrate. (as shown in Fig.5E for example)
Regarding claim 4, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
an external edge portion of the second metal layer and an internal edge portion of the opening are coupled together by welding with the insulating substrate inserted in the opening of the passage cover. (¶50L4-8: the ring [120] and the plurality of fins [130] can be coupled with the metal later [116] using the approaches described herein (e.g., welding))
Regarding claim 5, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 4, wherein
beads are formed by welding at an interface between the second metal layer and the opening. (¶50L4-8: the ring [120] and the plurality of fins [130] can be coupled with the metal later [116] using the approaches described herein (e.g., welding))(Note: welding beads are formed when welding)
Regarding claim 8, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
the cooling passage forms a sealed space in the cooling passage by coupling the passage cover to the cooling passage and a sealer is disposed at a joint between the cooling passage and the passage cover. (¶53L1-14: the sealing mechanism can be compressed between the ring and the cover to create a liquid-tight seal between the ring and the cover)
Regarding claim 9, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
the heat dissipation portion includes at least one fin extending from the second metal layer toward the cooling passage. (¶19L1-3: a plurality of fins [130])
Regarding claim 15, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
the second metal layer includes a first layer and a second layer the first layer is bonded to the insulating layer (as shown in denoted Fig.5E below), the heat dissipation portion is formed on the second layer (as shown in denoted Fig.5E below), and the first layer and the second layer are bonded to each other through an adhesive. (¶19L1-11: each fin of the plurality of fun can be glued to the metal layer of the substrate)
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Regarding claim 16, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 15,
the insulating substrate is inserted in the opening of the passage cover and the second layer is positioned in the opening of the passage cover and coupled to the passage cover. (as shown in Fig.5E)
Regarding claim 17, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1, wherein
the second metal layer of the insulating substrate and the passage cover are coupled to each other through a connecting member. (¶46L1-14: sealing mechanism [340] can be disposed in a groove of the cover)
Regarding claim 19, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 17, wherein
the connecting member is a portion of the second metal layer or the passage cover. (¶46L1-14: sealing mechanism [340] can be disposed in a groove of the cover)
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.
Claims 6-7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo.
Regarding claim 6, Yoo disclose the power module of claim 5
Yoo does not explicitly disclose:
the beads are formed on the second metal layer toward the cooling passage.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have the welding beads formed towards the cooling passage.
One of ordinary skill in the art would’ve been motivated because the location of the welding beads are merely a design choice, as it depends on where the welding occurs and it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japiske, 86 USPQ 70.
Regarding claim 7, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 4,
Yoo does not explicitly disclose:
the internal edge portion of the opening of the passage cover is greater than or equal to the external diameter of the second metal layer.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to expand the channel [350] to be wider than the substrate width.
One of ordinary skill in the art would’ve been motivated because a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955). Further, in Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984), the Federal Circuit held that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device.
Regarding claim 10, Yoo discloses the power module of claim 1,
Yoo does not explicitly disclose:
the passage cover is made of clad metal formed by stacking and coupling different materials.
Yoo does discloses in ¶37 that the cover can be formed from any appropriate material.
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to have the cover to be made of clad metal.
One of ordinary skill in the art would’ve been motivated because this allows the cover to gain the best properties of each of the different layer of metal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-14 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND R CHAI whose telephone number is (571)270-0576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:00PM.
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/Raymond R Chai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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