11896153 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 6, 2014)

Ex Parte Yokomae et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardJan 6, 2014

11896153 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 6, 2014)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARKOFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 11/896,153 08/30/2007 Toshiyuki Yokomae FUJ-049 3838 32628 7590 01/07/2014 KANESAKA BERNER AND PARTNERS LLP 2318 Mill Road Suite 1400 ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314-2848 EXAMINER SENGDARA, VONGSAVANH ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2829 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 01/07/2014 PAPER Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE _________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD __________ Ex parte TOSHIYUKI YOKOMAE, KATSUMICHI UEYANAGI, EIJI MOCHIZUKI, and YOSHINARI IKEDA __________ Appeal 2011-009005 Application 11/896,153 Technology Center 2800 ___________ Before ADRIENE LEPIANE HANLON, CATHERINE Q. TIMM, and JAMES C. HOUSEL, Administrative Patent Judges. HANLON, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL Appeal 2011-009005 Application 11/896,153 2 A. STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from an Examiner’s decision finally rejecting claims 1, 2, and 9-14. Claims 3-8 are also pending but have been withdrawn from consideration. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. The subject matter on appeal is directed to a semiconductor apparatus. Claims 1 and 2 are the only independent claims on appeal and are reproduced below from the Claims Appendix of the Appeal Brief dated October 5, 2010 (“App. Br.”). The limitations at issue are italicized. 1. A semiconductor apparatus comprising: at least two semiconductor elements; a metallic plate bonded to upper surfaces of the at least two semiconductor elements; and a conductor plate bonded to said metallic plate and serving as an electric current path of the semiconductor apparatus, wherein said conductor plate and said metallic plate are bonded to each other at a part other than a part directly above the at least two semiconductor elements. 2. A semiconductor apparatus comprising: adjacent semiconductor elements; one metallic plate bonded to upper surfaces of the adjacent semiconductor elements; and a conductor plate bonded to said metallic plate and serving as an electric current path of the semiconductor apparatus, wherein said conductor plate and said metallic plate are bonded to each other at a part directly above a midsection between the adjacent semiconductor elements. The claims on appeal stand rejected as follows: Appeal Applica ( by Carn (2 Carney. B T Carney, indepen T of semic [E a 1 WO 2 2011-0090 tion 11/89 1) claim ey;1 and ) claim . DISC he Examin reproduce dent claim C he Examin onductor ]lement 3 nd 34 are b 006/06864 05 6,153 s 1, 2, 10, s 9 and 12 USSION er finds th d below, a s 1 and 2. arney FIG er finds m elements 1 2 is direct onded dir 3 A1 publ 11, 13, an under 35 e semicon nticipates . 11 depict etallic pla 7 and 117 ly bonded ectly or in ished June 3 d 14 unde U.S.C. § 1 ductor app the semic s a semico te 32 is in . In partic to elemen directly to 29, 2006. r 35 U.S.C 03(a) an u aratus dep onductor a nductor ap directly bo ular, the E t 29 and 34 . . . all the . § 102(b) npatentab icted in F pparatus r paratus. nded to up xaminer f and elem surfaces o as anticip le over IG. 11 of ecited in per surfac inds: ent 29 f the at ated es Appeal 2011-009005 Application 11/896,153 4 . . . least two semiconductor elements, and therefore, element 32, the metal plate, is bonded indirectly to the upper surfaces of the at least two semiconductor elements by this reasoning ‒ if A is bonded to B, and B is bonded to C, then A is bonded to C)[.] Ans. 4, 5.2 The Examiner finds this indirect bonding satisfies the limitation of a metallic plate “bonded to” upper surfaces of semiconductor elements 17 and 117 as recited in claims 1 and 2. The Appellants contend that metallic plate 32 is not bonded to upper surfaces of semiconductor elements 17 and 117 as required by claims 1 and 2. Rather, according to the Appellants, metallic plate 32 is bonded via solder 34 to a conductor plate 31, and the conductor plate 31 is connected to the bottom of semiconductor element 117 via attachment layer 119 and to the upper surface of the semiconductor element 17 via the attachment layer 24. App. Br. 4-5. Based on the foregoing, the dispositive issue on appeal is whether the Examiner’s interpretation of the phrase “bonded to” as encompassing an indirect bond in claims 1 and 2 is unreasonably broad. During examination, claims must be given “their broadest reasonable construction consistent with the specification.” In re Icon Health and Fitness, Inc., 496 F.3d 1374, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (emphasis added). The Appellants do not expressly define the phrase “bonded to” in their Specification. However, in each of the Appellants’ disclosed embodiments, the metallic plate and upper surfaces of the semiconductor elements are directly bonded to one another via solder. See, e.g., Spec. p., 7, ll. 12-16 and p. 9, ll. 20-23. Thus, we interpret the phrase “bonded 2 Examiner’s Answer dated December 17, 2010. Appeal 2011-009005 Application 11/896,153 5 to” as requiring a direct bond between the metallic plate and upper surfaces of the semiconductor elements.3 The Examiner does not find that metallic plate 32 is directly bonded to upper surfaces of semiconductor elements 17 and 117. Therefore, the § 102(b) rejection is not sustained. The Examiner does not direct us to any evidence establishing that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to directly bond metallic plate 32 to upper surfaces of semiconductor elements 17 and 117 in the semiconductor apparatus of Carney. Therefore, the § 103(a) rejection is not sustained. C. DECISION The decision of the Examiner is reversed. REVERSED cam 3 Our interpretation of “bonded to” in claims 1 and 2 is consistent with the ordinary meaning of the phrase. See http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bond (last visited Jan. 3, 2014) (“to join (two materials)”). Likewise, our interpretation of “bonded to” is consistent with the definition of “bonded” cited by the Examiner, i.e., “composed of two or more layers of fabric held together by an adhesive.” Ans. 9. “Fabric” is defined as “a cloth made by weaving, knitting, or felting fibers: woolen fabrics,” http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fabric?2=t (last visited Jan. 3, 2014), and thus has some degree of porosity. This porosity permits the movement of adhesive between layers of fabric and results in the direct bonding of fabric layers to one another.