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 Group I, claims 1-8 and 12-18, in the reply filed on December 23, 2025 is acknowledged.
Note that Applicant cancelled the non-elected claims.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: “boy” in line 2 should be “body.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 13, 15, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takeuchi et al. (JP 2018/153533).
Regarding claim 1, Takeuchi discloses an AlN sintered body comprising AlN whiskers having a fibrous AlN single crystal [0001 & 0008]. Note that the AlN sintered body corresponds to the claimed ceramic substrate.
Regarding claim 2, while the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed thermal conductivity and fracture toughness, given the reference discloses a ceramic substrate comprising the same material and the same shape and type of particle, it is expected that the disclosed and claimed substrates will have similar properties regarding thermal conductivity and fracture toughness, see above discussion and MPEP 2112.01 “If the composition is physically the same, it must have the same properties.”
Regarding claim 3, the reference discloses the single crystal as hexagonal, which corresponds to the hexagonal wurtzite structure [0059]. While the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed ratio of plane peak intensity, given the disclosed substrate comprises the same material, same particle shape and same crystalline structure as the claimed substrate, it is expected that the disclosed and claimed substrates will have similar properties regarding the ratio of plane peak intensity, see above discussion and MPEP 2112.01 “If the composition is physically the same, it must have the same properties.”
Regarding claim 13, the reference discloses that the sintered body includes AlN polycrystalline particles [0012].
Regarding claim 15, while the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed ratio of plane peak intensity, given the disclosed substrate comprises the same material, same particle shape and same crystalline structure as the claimed substrate, it is expected that the disclosed and claimed substrates will have similar properties regarding the ratio of plane peak intensity, see above discussion and MPEP 2112.01 “If the composition is physically the same, it must have the same properties.”
Regarding claims 17 and 18, the reference discloses the sintered body as a plate shape with the single crystals orthogonal and along the surface of the sintered body, see Fig. 1 and [0025].
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.
Claims 4, 7, 8, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi et al. (JP 2018/153533).
Regarding claims 4 and 7, Takeuchi discloses an oxygen containing layer covering the AlN crystal in order to prevent penetration of oxygen molecules and water molecules [0008 & 0031]. The layer is sufficiently thin so the volume ratio of the AlN single crystal in the AlN whisker is sufficiently large [0031]. Since the oxygen containing layer having low thermal conductivity is thin, the AlN whisker is superior in thermal conductivity [0032]. While the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed wt% of oxygen, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to control the thickness, thereby the mass, of the oxygen containing layer in order to prevent penetration of oxygen and water molecules while still allowing for high thermal conductivity. Wherein the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art, absent a showing of criticality; see MPEP 2144.05 II. The reference further discloses the single crystal as hexagonal, which corresponds to the hexagonal wurtzite structure [0059].
Regarding claim 8, the reference discloses a plurality of whiskers included in the sintered body with the diameter of the whiskers as 0.1 microns or more and 50 microns or less, see Fig. 1 [0027]. Additionally, the reference discloses an oxygen containing layer covering the AlN crystal in order to prevent penetration of oxygen molecules and water molecules [0008 & 0031]. The reference further discloses the single crystal as hexagonal, which corresponds to the hexagonal wurtzite structure [0059]. Note that based on the disclosed diameter, the reference is considered to render the claimed vol% with whiskers having a diameter of less than 1 micron; see MPEP 2144.05 I regarding overlapping ranges.
Regarding claim 12, the reference discloses the length of the whisker as 1 micron or more and 5 cm or less, which overlaps the claimed range [0027]; see MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 14, while the reference fails to disclose the size of the AlN polycrystalline particles, the reference does disclose other insulating particles (ZrO2) as having a diameter from 1 micron or more and 100 microns or less [0012, 0025 & 0026]. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention that the insulating AlN particles could also have the disclosed diameter as a suitable size for the one or more types of insulating particles covering the AlN whiskers; see MPEP 2144.05 I regarding overlapping ranges.
Claims 5 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi et al. (JP 2018/153533) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sugiura et al. (US 4,863,658).
Takeuchi discloses the ceramic substrate of claim 1 wherein the substrate may be used as an insulating substrate for electronic devices, see above discussion and [0001]. The reference, however, fails to disclose the claimed roughness and a metal layer provided on the surface of the substrate.
Sugiura discloses an aluminum nitride ceramic substrate wherein the plates are enabled to acquire improved adhesiveness to a metal film or foil when they are subjected to a heat treatment adapted to reduce the roughness to below 10 microns, see abstract. Additionally, the reference discloses the substrate are used for various parts such as substrates for power transistor modules, see col. 1 lines 15-20.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention for the substrate of Takeuchi to have the roughness of Sugiura in order to improve adhesiveness of the substrate to a metal film or foil; see MPEP 2144.05 I regarding overlapping ranges. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to provide a metal film or foil on the substrate of Takeuchi for the purpose of the formation of a conductor pattern; see Sugiura col. 1 lines 61-68.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeuchi et al. (JP 2018/153533) as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Fukunaga et al. (US 2015/0353355).
Takeuchi discloses the ceramic substrate of claim 1 comprising one or more insulating particles covering the AlN whiskers wherein the insulating particles may be AlN particles, see above discussion and [0008]. The reference, however, fails to disclose the particles as single crystals.
Fukunaga discloses large size single crystal particles as having higher heat conductivity than a polycrystal [0008].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention for the AlN particles of Takeuchi to be single crystals in order to provide higher heat conductivity.
Conclusion
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/LAURA A AUER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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