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 § 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 1-8 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Speldrich et al. US PG-PUB 2019/0137307 A1 (hereafter Speldrich), prior art of record as indicated on the IDS filed 12 January 2026.
As to claim 1: Speldrich discloses a system (100; see fig. 1 and ¶ 24) comprising:
a support structure (14; see fig. 1 and ¶ 24);
a sensing die (21; see fig. 2 and ¶ 26) disposed on the support structure (see fig. 2); and
a fluid guide (17; see ¶ 24), wherein the fluid guide (17) is supported by the sensing die at a first location and supported by the support structure at a second location and a third location (see figs. 2, 6A, 6B, and 7 as well as details in ¶ 26, 30 regarding the depicted and disclosed disclosures of the guide 17 supported by the die 10 at several locations),
wherein the fluid guide (17) defines a flow path (26; see fig. 6B and ¶ 30) configured to receive a fluid (see ¶ 30), wherein the sensing die (21) comprises a sensing portion (10; see fig. 2 and ¶ 26) configured to measure one or more properties of the fluid in the flow path (see ¶ 30).
As to claim 2: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the support structure (14) comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) (see fig. 1 and ¶ 24).
As to claim 3: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the flow path (26) comprises a bottom surface (not labeled but see the depth at which the flow path 26 is disposed in fig. 6B) is level with the sensing portion (10) of the sensing die (21) (see fig. 2 and ¶ 30).
As to claim 4: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 3, wherein at least a portion of a top surface of an encapsulant (19; see fig. 4 and ¶ 28) is level with the sensing portion (10) of the sensing die (21) (see fig. 4).
As to claim 5: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein at the first location a bottom surface of a wall of the fluid guide (17) is disposed on a support portion of a top surface of the sensing die (21) (see fig. 2 regarding the relative locations of 17 and 21).
As to claim 6: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the fluid guide (17) defines an access area (not labeled but see the openings in fig. 2 disposed on the guide 17 and near the flow path 26), wherein the access area is separated from the flow path (26) by at least a wall of the fluid guide (not labeled but see the solid portions of the guide 17 that separate the flow path 26 from the access area and which are considered to be walls).
As to claim 7: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 6, wherein the access area (not labeled but see the openings in fig. 2 disposed on the guide 17 and near the flow path 26) is separated from the flow path (26) by at least an encapsulant (19) (see figs. 2 and 6B and details in ¶ 26 and 30).
As to claim 8: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 6, further comprising:
an encapsulant (19) disposed on the support structure (14) (see figs. 1 and 2 regarding the relative locations of 19 and 14 as well as details in ¶ 27), wherein the encapsulant (19) is disposed on the support structure (14) such that the encapsulant (19) is in contact with the fluid guide (17) and at least one side wall of the sensing die (21) (see fig. 2 regarding the surface separating the layer defined by the fluid guide 17 which contains the encapsulant 19 and which also has a side wall portion allowing clearance for the sensing die 21 as depicted in fig. 2).
As to claim 11: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of a bottom surface of the fluid guide (17) is separated from a top surface of the support structure (14) by an air gap (see the open recesses in the fluid guide 17 which are open and thus are considered to have air gaps).
As to claim 12: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the flow path (26) is configured to receive the fluid via an inlet portion (16; see fig. 5B) of the fluid guide (17) and discharge the fluid via an outlet portion (18; see fig. 5B) of the fluid guide (see ¶ 29).
As to claim 13: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the support structure (14) comprises one or more electrical connectors and fluid analysis circuitry (14; see ¶ 24, while not explicitly disclosed, one or more electrical connectors must necessarily be present because it connects to the sensing components as further disclosed in ¶ 26), wherein one or more of the one or more electrical connectors connect the sensing die (21) to the fluid analysis circuitry (see fig. 2 and ¶ 26).
As to claim 14: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the one or more properties comprise a flow rate (see ¶ 24).
As to claim 15: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the one or more properties comprise a thermal conductivity (see ¶ 24) or a viscosity.
As to claim 16: Speldrich discloses a system (100; see fig. 1 and ¶ 24) comprising:
a support structure (14; see fig. 1 and ¶ 24);
a sensing die (21; see fig. 2 and ¶ 26) disposed on the support structure (see fig. 2); and
a fluid guide (17; see ¶ 24), wherein the fluid guide (17) is supported by the sensing die at a first location and supported by the support structure at a second location and a third location (see figs. 2, 6A, 6B, and 7 as well as details in ¶ 26, 30 regarding the depicted and disclosed disclosures of the guide 17 supported by the die 10 at several locations),
wherein the fluid guide (17) defines a flow path (26; see fig. 6B and ¶ 30) configured to receive a fluid (see ¶ 30), wherein the sensing die (21) comprises a sensing portion (10; see fig. 2 and ¶ 26) configured to measure one or more properties of the fluid in the flow path (see ¶ 30); and
a housing surrounding the support structure (14), the sensing die (21), and a central portion of the fluid guide (17) (not labeled but see ¶ 32 regarding the disclosed housing).
As to claim 17: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the fluid guide (17) comprises an inlet portion (16; see fig. 5B and ¶ 29) and an outlet portion (18; see fig. 5B and ¶ 29).
As to claim 18: Speldrich discloses the system of claim 17, wherein the inlet portion (16) and the outlet portion (18) protrude outwardly from the housing (see fig. 5B and ¶ 32).
As to claim 19: Speldrich discloses a method of manufacturing (see ¶ 53) comprising:
providing a support structure (14; see fig. 1 and ¶ 24);
disposing a sensing die (21; see fig. 2 and ¶ 26) on the support structure (14) (see fig. 2); and
disposing a fluid guide (17; see ¶ 24) on the support structure (14) (see figs. 1 and 2) and the sensing die (21) (see figs. 6A and 6B as well as details in ¶ 30), wherein the fluid guide (17) is disposed on the support structure (14) (see fig. 1 and ¶ 30) and the sensing die (21) such that the fluid guide (17) is supported by the sensing die (21) at a first location and supported by the support structure at a second location and a third location (see figs. 2, 6A, 6B, and 7 as well as details in ¶ 26, 30 regarding the depicted and disclosed disclosures of the guide 17 supported by the die 10 at several locations), wherein the fluid guide (17) defines a flow path (26; see fig. 6B and ¶ 30) configured to receive a fluid (see ¶ 30), wherein the sensing die (21) comprises a sensing portion (10; see fig. 2 and ¶ 26) configured to measure one or more properties of the fluid in the flow path (see ¶ 30).
As to claim 20: Speldrich discloses the method of manufacturing of claim 19, further comprising:
disposing an encapsulant (19; see fig. 4 and ¶ 28) on the support structure (14) (see fig. 1), wherein the encapsulant (19) is in contact with the fluid guide (17) and at least one side wall of the sensing die (21) (see fig. 2 regarding the surface separating the layer defined by the fluid guide 17 which contains the encapsulant 19 and which also has a side wall portion allowing clearance for the sensing die 21 as depicted in fig. 2).
References Cited but not Relied Upon
As to references cited but not relied upon:
Badarlis et al. US PG-PUB 2016/0290849 A1 discloses a measuring device for conducting a measured medium through the measuring device and which has a sensor for determining a thermophysical property such as thermal conductivity and appears pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 10 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:
As to claim 9: The prior art of record does not disclose or render obvious to the skilled artisan a system wherein at the third location a second support protrusion of the fluid guide is disposed on the top surface of the support structure, when considered in combination with the other limitations recited in the instant claim and with those of parent claim 1.
As to claim 10: The claim depends directly from claim 9 and accordingly is also 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 at least by virtue of its dependency upon an objected to claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M ROYSTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4:30 E.S.T..
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/JOHN M ROYSTON/Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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