DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Amendment filed on 26 August 2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 3-6 and 11-13 are now pending in the application.
Amendments to the claims 6 and 14-17 to overcome the rejections under U.S.C 112(b) and U.S.C 112(d) have been fully considered and the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and U.S.C 112(d) of claims 6 and 14-17 have been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 26 August 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to Applicant’s argument on Page 7, “Based on the above comparison, amended claim 1 at least differs from Wei by the following limitations:
- “forming a metal transition layer on a surface of the metal process layer facing away from the insulating layer by means of magnetron sputtering”” the Examiner respectfully submits that Wei teaches forming a metal transition layer…by means of magnetron sputtering. Wei teaches in para [0052] that “functional layer is composed of a first composite copper layer and a second composite copper layer”, and in para. [0180], “a roll material with the functional layer obtained in S2 was placed in a vacuum chamber…and the magnetron sputtering was used to coat a surface of the functional layer on the film”. Though, Wei does not explicitly teach forming a metal functional layer…by means of wet electroplating, from the teachings of Wei in para. [0161], “a protective layer is formed on a surface of the functional layer on the base layer obtained in step 2 by one from the group consisting of a PVD process, a galvanic plating process” and from para. [0164] that “the protective layer is a metallic material layer”, one of ordinary skill in the art would have known that forming a metal functional layer by means of electroplating would improve the manufacturing efficiency as Wei disclosed in para. [0165]. Therefore, from the teachings of a preparation method for a composite conductive film of Wei in Fig. 1, the recited preparation method of a composite conductive film as currently claimed in claim 1, lines 3-7 is insufficient to define over the prior art reference Wei.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 5, “an insulating layer;” in line 4, “a metal process layer” in line 5, “a metal transition layer” in line 6, “a metal functional layer” in line 8 should read:
-- the insulating layer; --
-- the metal process layer --
-- the metal transition layer --
-- the metal functional layer -- respectively.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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, 3-5 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei (WO 2020093375, see US 20220021003 for English Translation) in view of Lee (US 20090169773).
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Annotated Fig. 1, Wei.
Regarding claim 1, Wei teaches, a preparation method (para. [0050], 0187]) for a composite conductive film (film formed by the present disclosure is conductive on both sides, para. [0064]), comprising:
forming a metal process layer (first composite copper layer B1, see annotated Fig. 1) on at least one surface of an insulating layer (base layer P, Fig. 1, made of one or more materials from the group consisting of OPP, PET, PI, PS, PPS, CPP, PEN, PVC, SPS, PEEK, PES, PPSU, and non-woven fabric, para. [0038]) by means of evaporation deposition (first composite copper layer may be formed by one from the group consisting of a PVD process, para. [0059], see the Note below), wet electroplating or chemical plating;
forming a metal transition layer (second composite copper layer B2, Fig. 1) on a surface of the metal process layer facing away from the insulating layer by means of magnetron sputtering (functional layer is composed of a first composite copper layer and a second composite copper layer, para. [0052], a roll material with the functional layer obtained in S2 was placed in a vacuum chamber…and the magnetron sputtering was used to coat a surface of the functional layer on the film, para. [0180]); and
forming a metal functional layer (metallic material protective layer C, Fig. 1) on a surface of the metal transition layer facing away from the metal process layer (a protective layer is formed on a surface of the functional layer on the base layer obtained in step 2 by one from the group consisting of a PVD process, a galvanic plating process, para. [0161]).
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Annotated Fig. 1d, Lee.
Though, Wei teaches in para. [0161] that, “a protective layer is formed on a surface of the functional layer on the base layer obtained in step 2 by one from the group consisting of a PVD process, a galvanic plating process”, Wei does not explicitly teach forming the metal functional layer by wet electroplating. However, Lee teaches a method of fabricating a composite conducting film in Figs. 1a to 1f (see annotated Fig. 1d of Lee above), including forming a metal process layer 120d on an insulating layer 110a in Fig. 1a, forming a metal transition layer 130d on the surface of the metal process layer 120d, and forming a metal functional layer 140d on the surface of the metal transition layer 130d, in which, a metal functional layer on a surface of the metal transition layer by means of wet electroplating (the third metal layer 140d may be formed through electroplating, para. [0045]). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Lee in para. [0045], it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of forming a metal functional layer C of Wei in Fig. 1 and to form the metal functional layer by an electroplating process as Lee taught in para. [0045] so that it enables achieving the highest manufacturing efficiency and a low process cost as Wei disclosed in para. [0165].
Note: PVD process is an evaporation deposition process. If applicant disagrees, see, Rahimpour et.al., Palladium membranes applications in reaction systems for hydrogen separation and purification: A review, Chemical Engineering & Processing 121, pages 24-49, 2017.
Regarding claim 3, modified Wei does not teach, preprocessing the insulating layer to make the insulating layer have a moisture content less than 1000 ppm. However, Lee further teaches, the preparation method according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to said forming the metal process layer, preprocessing the insulating layer to make the insulating layer have a moisture content less than 1000 ppm (film 110a or 110b may be formed of a polymer material having a water absorbency of 0.01-3.5%, para. [0025], which is less than 1000 ppm, see, dks-engineering.com).
Therefore, in view of the teachings of Lee, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of forming a conductive film of Wei and to replace the insulating layer P with an insulating layer 110a of Lee having a moisture content between 0.01-3.5% by heating the insulating layer so that it enables preventing the infiltration of metal layers into the insulating layer, that adversely affects the operation of a conducting film. Moreover, there is no indication in the instant invention that any surprising results were derived, or that any special steps were devised in order to use the old technique of Lee with the well-known method of Wei. Such a combination would have been done by one of ordinary skill in the art without any need for experimentation and with reasonable expectations of success.
Regarding claim 4, Lee further teaches, the preparation method according to claim 3, wherein the preprocessing is performed by baking (heating a mixture of HNA and HBA at a temperature of about 2000 C). Please also refer to the rationale for combination regarding claim 3, as it is applicable to claim 4 in the same manner.
Regarding claim 5, Wei in view of Lee teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 1. Wei further teaches, a composite conductive film obtained by the preparation method for the composite conductive film according to claim 1, the composite conductive film comprising:
an insulating layer (base layer P, see annotated Fig. 1, para. [0038]);
a metal process layer (first composite copper layer B1, see annotated Fig. 1) disposed on at least one surface of an insulating layer;
a metal transition layer (second composite copper layer B2, Fig. 1) disposed on a surface of the metal process layer facing away from the insulating layer and
a metal functional layer (metallic material protective layer C, Fig. 1) on a surface of the metal transition layer facing away from the metal process layer,
wherein the metal process layer (first composite copper layer B1), the metal transition layer (second composite copper layer B2) are all copper layers, and
wherein the metal functional layer (metallic material protective layer C) has a thickness between 300 nm and 1500 nm (protective layer may be provided at an outer side of the functional layer and may be formed by repeating a coating process 1 to 20 times…protective layer may have a thickness of 2 nm to 100 nm, para. [0036-0037]).
Wei does not teach a copper metal functional layer. However, Lee further teaches, forming the copper metal functional layer (the third metal layers 140d may include a highly-conductive metal such as gold or copper, para. [0049]). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Lee, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of forming a conductive film of Wei and to replace the metallic protective layer C with a copper protective layer as Lee taught in Fig. 1d so that it enables forming a highly conductive composite layer.
Regarding claim 11, Wei in view of Lee teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 5. Wei further teaches, the composite conductive film according to claim 5, wherein the metal process layer has a thickness between 2 nm and 100 nm (first composite copper layer may have a thickness of 15 nm to 1,500 nm, para. [0013]), and the metal transition layer has a thickness between 5 nm to 50 nm (second composite copper layer may have a thickness of 15 nm to 1,500 nm, para. [0015]).
Regarding claim 12, Wei in view of Lee teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 5. Wei further teaches, the composite conductive film according to claim 5, further comprising a bonding layer (bonding layer A, Fig. 1, bonding layer is formed on a base layer, para. [0099]) disposed between the insulating layer and the metal process layer, wherein
the bonding layer has a thickness between 2 nm and 40 nm (metallic material layer may have a thickness of 3 nm to 30 nm, para. [0130]); and
the bonding layer is a metal material layer comprising one or more of a Ti metal layer, a W metal layer, a Cr metal layer, a Ni metal layer, a Cu metal layer, or an alloy layer thereof (bonding layer…a metal for the metallic material layer may be one from the group consisting of Cr, Ni alloy, and Cr alloy, para. [0117]).
Regarding claim 13, Wei in view of Lee teaches the recited limitations with respect to claim 5. Wei further teaches, the composite conductive film according to claim 5, further comprising a protective layer (non-metallic protective layer C2, see modified Fig. 23 below) disposed on a surface of the metal functional layer facing away from the metal transition layer, wherein the protective layer has a thickness between 0.1 nm and 100 nm (protective layer may have a thickness of 2 nm to 100 nm, para. [0140]); and the protective layer is a conductive non-metallic protective layer (protective layer may also be a non-metallic material layer, para. [0138]) or an inert metal protective layer.
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Modified Fig. 23, Wei.
From the teachings of Wei in Fig. 23 and para. [0138], protective layer may also be a non-metallic material layer, one of ordinary skill in the art would have thought that including a non-metallic protective layer would improve the process of preparing the conductive film by identical processes. Therefore, in view of the teachings of Fig. 23, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of preparing the composite conductive film of Wei in Fig. 1 and to include a non-metallic protective layer C2 as taught by Wei in Fig. 23 so that it enables forming a protecting layer by an identical coating process. Doing so would enable forming an organic protective layer on a surface of the functional layer, having strong chemical stability and excellent corrosion resistance as Wei disclosed in para. [0149]. Moreover, there is no indication in the instant invention that any surprising results were derived, or that any special steps were devised in order to coat a protective layer C2, with the well-known method of Wei. Such a combination would have been done by one of ordinary skill in the art without any need for experimentation and with reasonable expectations of success.
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Lee as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Ichiryu (US 20140151085).
Regarding claim 6, modified Wei does not teach a light transmittance density of the film. However, Ichiryu teaches a composite electrode, in which, the composite conductive film according to claim 5, wherein the composite conductive film has a light transmittance density greater than 60% (film has an average light transmittance of 80% or higher, para. [0041]). Therefore, in view of the teachings of Ichiryu, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the method of preparing the conductive film of Wei and to include a light transmittance density of more than 60% as taught by Ichiryu so that it enables forming a transparent conductive composite film.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSE K. ABRAHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-1087. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SUNIL K. SINGH can be reached at (571) 272-3460. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSE K ABRAHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 3729
/JEFFREY T CARLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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