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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 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.
Claim (s) 1-4 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Barrow (WO 99/27763).
Regarding claim 1, Barrow discloses an electronic device (Fig.1) comprising: a circuit component (34); a component board (12) having a first surface (top surface 14) on which the circuit component is mounted; a substrate (48) on which the component board is mounted via a plurality of connecting members (46;Fig.1); and a lid member (40) joined to the first surface of the component board to cover the circuit component, wherein the component board (12) has a second surface (bottom surface 16) opposite to the first surface, a plurality of electrodes (30) is arranged on the second surface (16) and connected with the connecting members (46), the connecting members have a deformable connector (46 is solder ball) where a distortion, due to thermal cycle, is larger among the connecting members (46 are solder balls) , the first surface (14) has an opposing region (region where 42 is mounted on 14) opposite to the electrode (30) to which the deformable connector (46) is connected, and the lid member (40) is joined to the opposing region (region where 42 is mounted to 14).
Regarding claim 2, Barrow discloses wherein the electrode to which the deformable connector is connected is provided at least one of positions of four corners of the component board (see Fig.3, an outermost periphery of the component board (see Fig.3), and an external periphery of the circuit component (see Fig.2).
Regarding claim 3, Barrow discloses an adhesive (42; Fig.1) bonding the component board (12) and the lid member (40).
Regarding claim 4, Barrow discloses wherein the lid member is joined to a part of an outermost periphery of the component board (see Fig.1).
Regarding claim 9, Barrow discloses a heat transfer member (44) disposed between the circuit component (34) and the lid member (40), in a state of being compressed by the lid member (see Fig.1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 of this title, 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.
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) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrow as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yee et al. ( DE 102013018601A1; published in 2013; English Translation) hereinafter Yee.
Regarding claim 6, Barrow fails to disclose the substrate is mounted on a base board via a plurality of base connecting members, and at least one of the plurality of base connecting members is provided within an opposing region of the deformable connector.
Yee discloses, in Fig.1, wherein a substrate (110; Fig.1) is mounted on a base board (190) via a plurality of base connecting members (see 180 and connectors below 110), and at least one of the plurality of base connecting members (see 180 and connectors underneath 110) is provided within an opposing region of the deformable connector (142).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Yee with the substrate of Barrow in order to create more circuit connections to perform more circuit operations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 7-8 and 10 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 an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 5, The prior art of record neither anticipates norrenders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole eithertaken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teachwherein the lid member has a first lid and a second lid located on a lower side of the first lid in a direction perpendicular to the first surface, the first lid and the second lid are made of different materials, and the first lid has a linear expansion coefficient smaller than that of the second lid " in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim 1.
Regarding claims 7-8 and 10, The prior art of record neither anticipates norrenders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole eithertaken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach" a housing that houses the component board on which the circuit component is mounted and to which the lid member is joined, and the substrate on which the component board is mounted, wherein the substrate has a front surface on which the component board is mounted, and a back surface on which a base board is mounted via a plurality of base connecting members, a plurality of base electrodes is arranged on the back surface opposing the base board, the base connecting members are connected to the plurality of base electrodes, the housing is bonded to the front surface of the substrate within an opposing region of the base electrode to which a deformable base connector is connected, and the deformable base connector is subject to larger distortion, due to thermal cycle, among the plurality of base connecting members " in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETE LEE whose telephone number is (571) 270-5921. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (2nd & 4th Friday Off). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Timothy Dole can be reached at (571) 272-2229 The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/PETE T LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
Prosecution Insights