Appeal No. 95-2500
Application No. 07/984,147
Although the admitted prior art, Hodge and Komatsu, the
primary references, disclose embedding a heat spreader in the
plastic housing of an electronic package containing a
microelectronic device, the examiner recognizes that none of
the references teaches the presently claimed composite heat
spreader. To establish the obviousness of using a composite
heat spreader of the type claimed in the electronic packages
of the primary references, the examiner relies upon the
disclosure of such composite heat spreaders in Gernitis,
Hascoe and Alvarez. However, as properly urged by appellants,
neither of Gernitis, Hascoe or Alvarez teaches or suggests
encapsulating the composite heat spreader in the plastic
housing of an electronic package. Indeed, neither Gernitis,
Hascoe or Alvarez suggests embedding the composite structure
in the plastic material of any device.
In support of the nonobviousness of the claimed
invention, appellants advance the following argument at page 3
of the Supplement Reply Brief:
Each of the three additional references
[Gernitis, Hascoe and Alvarez] identify that a
semiconductor material or a ceramic material is
bonded to a surface of a composite heat spreader and
that by a rule of mixtures, the surface has a
coefficient of thermal expansion proportional to the
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