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 Specie I, Figures 1-6, Claims 1-4, 7, 13, 15-16 and 20 in the reply filed on 9/19/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 13 and 20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Munekazu et al. [JP 2005-251933 A].
Regarding claims 1, 13 and 20, Munekazu et al. discloses a coil component [1, figures 1-6b] comprising:
a core [2] including a core body [8], a first flange [7] at a first end of the core body, and a second flange [7] at a second end of the core body, wherein the core body has symmetry with respect to a plane extending orthogonally to the axis and passing through the center of the core body [figure 6b];
a first outer electrode [4A] on the first flange;
a second outer electrode [4B] on the second flange; and
a wire [3] wound around the core body and electrically connected to the first outer electrode and to the second outer electrode, wherein the core body has a peripheral face extending in a peripheral direction about an axis of the core body, and
in a section containing the axis of the core body, a distance between at least a part of the peripheral face and the axis is smaller on a side near a center of the core body in a direction of the axis than on a side near each of the first end and the second end of the core body while a distance between the wire and the axis is smaller on the side near the center of the core body in the direction of the axis than on the side near each of the first end and the second end of the core body, wherein the core body has symmetry with respect to a plane extending orthogonally to the axis and passing through the center of the core body [figure 6b].
Regarding claims 2-3, Munekazu et al. discloses the peripheral face of the core body is configured of a plurality of faces [figures 6a-6b] arranged side by side in the peripheral direction about the axis of the core body, and a distance between at least one of the faces and the axis is smaller on the side near the center of the core body in the direction of the axis than on the side near each of the first end and the second end of the core body, wherein the at least one of the faces includes a first inclined portion a distance of which from the axis continuously decreases from the side near the first end toward the side near the center, and a second inclined portion a distance of which from the axis continuously decreases from the side near the second end toward the side near the center [figure 6b].
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) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Munekazu et al.
Regarding claim 4, Munekazu et al. discloses the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion are each flat, and an inclination angle of each of the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion with respect to a straight line parallel to the axis at an angle of less than 40 degrees.
Munekazu et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the specific angles from greater than 0 degree to 30 degree.
The specific angle of the inclined portion would have been an obvious matter of design consideration for the purpose of facilitating assembling/wounding the coil.
Claims 7 and 15-16 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Munekazu et al. in view of Shunichi [JP 02-224306 A].
Regarding claims 7 and 15-16, Munekazu et al., in other embodiment of figures 8 a-b, discloses the core body portion including a plurality of faces that has inclined portion [figure 8b]
Munekazu et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for each of the faces includes the first inclined portion and the second inclined portion.
Shunichi discloses a magnetic core [2, figure 3] for an inductor, wherein the magnetic core having a core body portion [2a] having a plurality of faces that include inclined portions decreases from one end of flanges to center of the core body portion.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the different faces with inclined portion of Shunichi in Munekazu et al. for the purpose of facilitating different inductances and/or magnetic fields/fluxes.
The specific angles would have been an obvious design consideration for the purpose of facilitating manufacturing/assembling and/or wounding the coil on the magnetic core.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837