DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/21/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3 and 5-13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Drawings
The drawings received on 12/22/2025 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 5-9, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2016/0217917 A1)in view of Nakamura et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2015/0035634 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Jeong teaches a thin-film power inductor 100 (FIGs. 1-4), comprising a magnet 50, a first port electrode 85 and or 86, and a second port electrode 81 and or 82 (FIG. 2), wherein the first port electrode and the second port electrode are disposed on an outer surface (e.g. left and right side surfaces in W axis direction, FIG. 2) of the magnet separately;
wherein the magnet comprises n (n being interpreted as 2) first sub-structures (upper and lower structures of dotted line, annotated FIG. 4) that are stacked, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 2, wherein each of the n first sub-structures comprises a first upper functional layer 50a and 50a1, a first upper coil 61 and 63, a first insulating layer 21 and 22, a first lower coil 62 and 64, and a first lower functional layer 50b and 50b1 that are stacked in sequence;
wherein the first upper coil and the first lower coil each comprise a first end 61’ and 62’ and a second end 63’ and 64’, the first end of the first upper coil and the first end of the first lower coil are exposed to a same surface of the magnet and are both electrically connected to the first port electrode, and the second end of the first upper coil and the second end of the first lower coil are exposed to a same surface of the magnet and are both electrically connected to the second port electrode; and
wherein among the n first sub-structures, a first upper functional layer 50a1 of an (i+1)-th first sub-structure (structure below the dotted line) and a first lower functional layer 50b of an i-th first sub-structure (structure above the dotted line) adjacent to the first upper functional layer of the (i+1)-th first sub-structure are made of a same material and manufactured using a same manufacturing process, and i (i being interpreted as 1) is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-1 (paras. [0020], [0031]-[0033], [0063-0065] and [0073]).
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Jeong does not expressly teach
each of the n first sub-structures comprises a first upper functional layer, a first upper coil, a first upper adhesive layer, a first insulating layer, a first lower adhesive layer, a first lower coil, and a first lower functional layer that are stacked in sequence.
Nakamura et al., hereinafter referred to as “Nakamura,” teaches a thin-film power inductor (FIGs. 1A-2),
wherein the n first sub-structure 100 comprises a first upper functional layer 110a (annotated FIG. 2), a first upper coil 33A, a first upper adhesive layer 21, a first insulating layer 10, a first lower adhesive layer 22, a first lower coil 37A, and a first lower functional layer 110b that are stacked in sequence (paras. [0019] and [0036]).
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It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to add the adhesive layer as taught by Nakamura to the thin-film power inductor of Jeong to improve mechanical bonding between the coils and the insulating layers.
With respect to claim 5, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 1, wherein each two coils are coupled to each other and have a same shape (Jeong, para. [0033]).
With respect to claim 6, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 1, wherein the thin-film power inductor is a common-mode power inductor or a differential-mode power inductor (Jeong, para. [0003]).
With respect to claim 7, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 6, wherein
in a case where the thin-film power inductor is the common-mode power inductor, the each two coils are designed in a same direction (Jeong, paras. [0003] and [0033]). The thin-film inductor of Jeong would have this functionality to provide the required magnetic path for the claimed limitations.
With respect to claim 8, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 6, wherein
in a case where the thin-film power inductor is the differential-mode power inductor, the each two coils are designed in opposite directions (Jeong, paras. [0003] and [0033]). The thin-film inductor of Jeong would have this functionality to provide the required magnetic path for the claimed limitations.
With respect to claim 9, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 1, wherein functional layers of the thin-film power inductor are made of a magnetic material (Jeong, para. [0020]).
With respect to claim 11, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 1, wherein coils of the thin-film power inductor are made of a metal or a metal alloy (Jeong, para. [0061]).
With respect to claim 12, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 11, wherein coils of the thin-film power inductor are made of a metal or a metal alloy with low resistivity (Jeong, para. [0061]).
Claims 3, 10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong in view of Nakamura, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Arai et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2022/0037083 A1).
With respect to claim 3, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 1. Jeong in view of Nakamura does not expressly teach the magnet further comprises one second sub-structure, and the n first sub-structures and the second sub-structure are stacked;
wherein the second sub-structure comprises a second functional layer, a second coil, a second adhesive layer, and a second insulating layer that are stacked in sequence; and
wherein the second coil comprises a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the second coil, the first end of the first upper coil, and the first end of the first lower coil are exposed to a same surface of the magnet and are all electrically connected to the first port electrode, and
wherein the second end of the second coil, the second end of the first upper coil, and the second end of the first lower coil are exposed to a same surface of the magnet and are all electrically connected to the second port electrode.
Arai et al., hereinafter referred to as “Arai,” teaches a thin-film power inductor 2 (Fig. 14), wherein the magnet 10 comprises one second sub-structure (structure for conductors 25A and 25B), wherein the n first sub-structures (structure for 25C) and the second sub-structure are stacked;
wherein the second sub-structure comprises a second functional layer (layer similar to layers 11e as seen in Fig. 8), a second coil 25C, a second adhesive layer 11d, and a second insulating layer 11c that are stacked in sequence; and
wherein the second coil comprises a first end 125B1 and a second end 125B2 (para. [0138]). The combination of Arai to the thin-film power inductor of Maeda would result in “the first end of the second coil, the first end of the first upper coil, and the first end of the first lower coil are exposed to a same surface of the magnet and are all electrically connected to the first port electrode, and
wherein the second end of the second coil, the second end of the first upper coil, and the second end of the first lower coil are exposed to a same surface of the magnet and are all electrically connected to the second port electrode” as claimed. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to add the second sub-structure as taught by Arai to the thin-film power inductor of Jeong in view of Nakamura to reduce resistance.
With respect to claim 10, Jeong in view of Nakamura teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 9. Jeong in view of Nakamura does not expressly teach the magnetic material is a soft magnetic alloy.
Arai teaches a thin-film power inductor 2 (Fig. 1), wherein the magnetic material is a soft magnetic alloy (para. [0093]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the soft magnetic alloy as taught by Arai to the thin-film power inductor of Jeong in view of Nakamura to provide the desired permeability to meet design requirements.
With respect to claim 13, Jeong in view of Nakamura and Arai teaches the thin-film power inductor according to claim 10, wherein the soft magnetic alloy is a magnetic material with high saturation flux density, low coercive force, and high magnetic permeability (Arai, para. [0093]).
Conclusion
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/MANG TIN BIK LIAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837