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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicants submission filed on January 15, 2026 has been entered.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1 through 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In Claim 1, it is unclear what is meant by the phrase of “except the resin…into the through hole” (line 17). The phrase would seem to contradict the term of “entirely” (line 6) as it raises confusion as how the resin could “entirely” be removed, yet there is an exception.
In order to avoid the above rejection, the examiner provides at least one suggestion as follows:
removing the at least one resin sheet from the first plating film formed on the entire surface of the respective one of the metal foils [
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1, 2, and 7, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Japanese Patent Publication, JP 2001-2982571 (hereinafter “JP’257”) in view of U.S. Patent 4,791,248 to Oldenettel (hereinafter “Oldenettel”).
Claim 1: JP’257 discloses a method for manufacturing a wiring substrate, comprising:
preparing a substrate comprising an insulating layer (e.g. 1) and a plurality of metal foils (e.g. 2) laminated on a plurality of sides of the insulating layer, respectively (e.g. Fig. 6);
forming a through hole (e.g. 6) in the substrate such that the through hole penetrates through the insulating layer and metal foils of the substrate (e.g. Fig. 8);
forming a first plating film (e.g. 7) on the substrate such that the first plating film is formed on an entire surface of each of the metal foils and an inner wall of the through hole (e.g. Fig. 9, ¶ [0043]);
pressing an insulating material (e.g. 10) of resin that is extruded into the through hole that fills a space surrounded by the first plating film inside the through hole in the substrate (e.g. Fig. 10, ¶¶ [0016], [0045]);
wherein the first plating film is formed on the respective one of the metal foils such that no resin sheet or no resin material is formed on the first plating film except the resin extruded into the through hole (e.g. Fig. 10);
forming a second plating film (e.g. 17) on the substrate such that the second plating film covers a surface of the resin in the through hole (e.g. Fig. 16, ¶ [0049]).
Claim 2: JP’257 discloses the method for manufacturing a wiring substrate according to claim 1, further comprising:
applying a release film (e.g. 4) on the insulating layer before the insulating material that covers the first plating film formed on the respective one of the metal foils; and
forming an opening (e.g. 6) in the release film such that the opening exposes the through hole before the laminating of the at least one resin sheet.
Claim 7: JP’257 discloses the method for manufacturing a wiring substrate according to claim 2, wherein the forming of the opening in the release film includes applying laser processing upon the release film such that the opening is formed in the release film (e.g. ¶ [0042]).
JP’257 does not mention that the insulating material made of resin is formed by laminating at least one resin sheet on the first plating film such that the at least one resin sheet covers the first plating film;
pressing the at least one resin sheet such that resin is extruded from the at least one resin sheet into the through hole; and
removing the at least one resin sheet, except the resin extruded from the at least one resin sheet into the through hole.
Oldenettel discloses a process of how to form or press an insulating material from a resin sheet into a through hole to manufacture a wiring substrate.
Oldenettel discloses laminating at least one resin sheet (e.g. 22, Fig. 1) on a first metal film (e.g. 14) such that the at least one resin sheet covers the first metal film;
pressing the at least one resin sheet such that resin is extruded from the at least one resin sheet into the through hole; and
removing the at least one resin sheet (by peeling), except the resin extruded from the at least one resin sheet into the through hole (e.g. Fig. 3, col. 3, lines 43-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the resin sheet into the through hole of JP’257 by laminating at least one resin sheet in the manner and steps taught by Oldenettel, to achieve the very same purpose of forming an insulating resin in a through hole of an art-recognized equivalent wiring substrate.
Response to Arguments
Applicants arguments filed as part of the submission have been fully considered, but have not been deemed to be found as persuasive.
Within the insulating material of JP’257, it is shown above that the insulating material is a resin (e.g. ¶ [0016]) where the resin is formed specifically into the through hole. The applicants arguments in regards to the merits of En and Yamaguchi are now moot, as these references are no longer applied in the above rejections. The steps of laminating, pressing and removing are now relied upon in Oldenettel, as the combination of JP’257 and Oldenettel meet all of the limitations of Claims 1, 2 and 7 for the reasons expressed in the above rejections.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 through 6 and 8 through 20, would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to A. DEXTER TUGBANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4570. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JESSICA HAN can be reached at (571) 272-2078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A. DEXTER TUGBANG/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2896
1 The interpretation of JP’257 was taken from an English Translation, a copy of which was provided in the previous office action.