Copper-based leadframe sheets were immersed in two kinds of hot alkaline solutions to form brown-oxide or black-oxide layer on the surface. The oxide-coated leadframe sheets were molded with epoxy molding compound (EMC). After post mold curing, the oxide-coated EMC-leadframe joints were machined to form sandwiched double-cantilever beam (SDCB) specimens. The SDCB specimens were used to measure the fracture toughness of the EMC/leadframe interfaces under quasi-Mode I loading conditions. Fracture surfaces were analyzed by various equipment to investigate failure path. The present paper deals with the failure path, and the cause of the failure path formation with an adhesion model will be treated in the succeeding paper.