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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I, Figures 1-2 and Claims 1-3 in the reply filed on 7/25/2025 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tomonari et al. [US 20140167903 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Tomonari et al. discloses a common-mode device, comprising:
- an iron core comprising a first flange, a second flange, and a central column sandwiched between the first and second flanges, where the central column has a first side face and a second side face [figure 1]; and
- a plurality of coils comprising a first coil [W1] and a second coil [W2] wound around the central column for a plurality of layers along a direction from the first flange towards the second flange;
wherein, within a first layer and along the first side face of the central column, there are sequentially arranged at least a first round [1, 2, 3] of the first coil [W1], a second round [4] of the first coil [W1], a first round [4] of the second coil [W2], a third round of the first coil, a second round of the second coil, a first gap [S1], a third round of the second coil, a fourth round [5] of the first coil [W1], and a plurality of fifth rounds [6,7, 8] of the first coil; within the first layer and along the second side face of the central column, there are sequentially arranged a plurality of sixth rounds [8, 7, 6] of the first coil [W1], a seventh round [5] of the first coil [W1], a fourth round [5] of the second coil [W2], a second gap [figure 7], a fifth round [5] of the second coil [W2], an eighth round [4] of the first coil [W1], and a plurality of ninth rounds [3, 2, 1] of the first coil [W1]; and within a second layer surrounding the first layer, there are a plurality of sixth rounds [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8] of the second coil [W2].
Tomonari et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for a third round of the first coil, a second round of the second coil arranged on the first layer along the first side face of the central column.
Tomonari et al. disclose, in other embodiment of figures 16-17, the first and second coils arrangement in the first layer with a third round [5] of the first coil [W1], a second round [5] of the second coil [W2] arranged with a gap/space [SS1] there in between and within the second layer srrouding the first layer, there are a plurality of rounds [1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12] of the second coil [W2].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include a third round of the first coil, a second round of the second coil in Tomonari et al. of Figure 7, as suggested by Tomonari et al. of Figures 16-17, for the purpose of enhancing different inductances and/or magnetic and/or distributing capacitance and suppressing imbalance in impedances between the first and second coil [summary of theinvention].
Regarding claim 2, Tomonari et al. disclose the central column has an I-shape [figure 1]
Regarding claim 2, Tomonari et al. discloses the first flange, the second flange, and the central column of the iron core are integrally formed [figure 1].
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837