Ex Parte Takiar et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Apr 29, 2016

11965709 (P.T.A.B. Apr. 29, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
111965,709 12/27/2007
64948 7590 05/03/2016
VIERRA MAGEN/SANDISK CORPORATION
575 MARKET STREET
SUITE 3750
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Hem Takiar
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
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
SAND-01310USO 3963
EXAMINER
TRAN, TONY
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2894
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
05/03/2016 ELECTRONIC
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.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
patents@vierramagen.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE
THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Exparte HEM TAKIAR, 1
Shrikar Bhagath, Ming Hsun Lee, and Bonnie Ming-Yan Chan
Appeal2014-007395
Application 11/965, 709
Technology Center 2800
Before BRADLEY R. GARRIS, MARK NAGUMO, and
WESLEY B. DERRICK, Administrative Patent Judges.
NAGUMO, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Hem Takiar, Shrikar Bhagath, Ming Hsun Lee, and
Bonnie Ming-Yan Chan ("Takiar") timely appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a)
from the Final Rejection2 of claims 1--4, 6-24, 27, and 28. 3 We have
jurisdiction. 35 U.S.C. § 6. We affirm.
1 The Real Party in Interest is listed as SanDisk Corporation. (Appeal Brief,
filed 7 April 2014 ("Br."), 3.)
2 Office action mailed 9 September 2013 ("Final Rejection"; cited as "FR").
3 Remaining copending claims 30--48 have been withdrawn from
consideration by the Examiner (FR 1, § 4a) and are not before us.
Appeal2014-007395
Application 11/965, 709
OPfNION
A. Introduction4
The subject matter on appeal relates to methods of encapsulating
semiconductor leadframes, especially thin small outlined packages (TSOP).
The '709 Specification teaches that a leadframe "is a thin layer of metal on
which one or more semiconductor die are mounted." (Spec. 1 [0003].) The
leadframe is said to include electrical leads to connect the semiconductor
dies to a printed circuit board and other external electrical devices. (Id.)
The leadframes are encapsulated with a molding compound.
(Id. at 2 [0005].) According to the Specification, "[i]n conventional
encapsulation processes, each leadframe package is individually
encapsulated." Figure 1, reproduced below, shows a prior art lead frame
strip 20 with individual leadframes 22 encapsulated in molding
compound 32.5
(Prior Ari) 20
/ 28 32
Q11' o.{t Q91'1· °''°' -o~ ·O-QI o-9" o'Q "Ill·~ o~ '°''°'fJ'
~-.: : .•..•.. ·.: ••. -.: ..• : .>.: .-..
. ..........,.....,.... ....... ,.._...........,,.....="-""·· '=" ~. ~ . = ·~" :a. ~·-· :~ -~:. ~. := .. -~~
......---....- . . . . ·.· - .: . . .
'"'"1""'"lrr~ ~""'1"'4r-'"'"" • :: .. . . . . ·.' ,..· : •• ·: : : -·. • : : < -~ : . . : . -.
22
{Fig. 1 shows a prior art leadframe strip}
4 Application 11/965,709, TSOP leadframe strip of multiply encapsulated
packages, filed 27 December 2007. We refer to the '"709 Specification,"
which we cite as "Spec."
5 Throughout this Opinion, for clarity, labels to elements are presented in
bold font, regardless of their presentation in the original document.
2
Appeal2014-007395
Application 11/965, 709
Because each leadframe package is encapsulated around all four sides,
a keepout area 50 must be provided across the width of the strip, as shown in
the cross section along line 3-3, shown in Fig. 3, reproduced below:
(Prior Art)
50 "····
{Fig. 3 shows a cross-section along line 3-3 in Fig. 1, supra.}
In the words of the Specification, "[ t ]his large keep-out area 50 is unused
space and reduces the yield of fabricated leadframe packages from a given
strip 20." (Id. at 3 [0007].)
The claimed invention is said to reduce the keep-out area between
adjacent leadframes by encapsulating an entire row or column of leadframes
(Id. at 4 [0008]) as shown in Fig. 6, reproduced below.
.A .. ..
{Fig. 6 illustrates encapsulation of columns of leadframes}
3
Appeal2014-007395
Application 11/965, 709
Figure 6 shows eight columns 102 of five encapsulated leadframes 104, as
seen more clearly in the cross-section along line 7-7, shown in Fig. 7,
below:
102
.\l 124
{Fig. 7 shows a cross-section along line 7-7 in Fig. 6}
The reduction in the keep-out area is said to allow the internal leads of the
leadframe to be lengthened, which allows a larger semiconductor die to be
affixed to the leadframe; or an extra row or column of leadframe packages
may be added to the strip. (Id. at 4 [0008].)
The orientation of the leadframes is specified in terms of the "pin-out
direction," illustrated in Fig. 6 by double-headed arrow A, which "refers to
the direction along the length or width of strip 100 which is parallel to the
orientation of external leads 114 on strip 100." (Id. at 8 [0029].)
Claim 1 is representative of the dispositive issues and reads:
A method of fabricating a semiconductor leadframe
package, comprising the steps of:
(a) defining a plurality of leadframes on a strip;
(b) mounting one or more semiconductor die on each of
the leadframes defined in said step (a);
( c) encapsulating entire leadframes,
in one of rows or columns of leadframes,
together on the strip,
each row or column of leadframes defined by
an area including
4
Appeal2014-007395
Application 11/965, 709
a length, transverse to a pin-out direction, of all
leadframes together in a row or column and
a width of the row or column,
the area encapsulated in a continuous layer of
molding compound; and
( d) singulating the encapsulated leadframe packages from
the strip.
(Claims App., Br. 14; some indentation, paragraphing, and emphasis added.)
Remaining appealed independent claims 14 and 20 contain similar
continuity-of-molding layer limitations:
claim 14:
( c) encapsulating entire leadframes together in a continuous
block of molding compound [Claims App., Br. 16; emphasis
added];
claim 20:
( c) ... each entire encapsulated row or column encapsulated
in a continuous len