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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1, 3 – 7, and 9 - 10 have been considered, and have found to be persuasive. Please find the new ground(s) of rejection below.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3 – 7, and 9 - 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Yoshikawa et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0143761).
Regarding claim 1, Yoshikawa discloses a solder composition containing Sn (Abstract, claim 1), comprising: 2.5% by mass or more and 3.5% by mass or less of Cu (0.1% to 2.0% of Cu is disclosed; Abstract, claim 1); 0.1% by mass or more and 0.5% by mass or less of Ni (0.01% to 0.4% of Ni is disclosed; Abstract, claim 1); 0.01% by mass or more and 0.5% by mass or less of P (0.001% to 0.08% of P is disclosed; Abstract, claim 1), and more than 0.01% by mass and 0.5% by mass or less of Ge (0.001% to 0.08% of Ge is disclosed; Abstract, claim 1), wherein the solder composition substantially does not include Sb (lead-free solder alloy, paragraph [0010]; Sb is not included in the alloy composition, Abstract and claim 1) and Co (Co is not included in the alloy composition disclosed in the Abstract, and optional in the solder alloy composition disclosed in claim 1). Yoshikawa does not specifically disclose 2.5% by mass or more and 3.5% by mass or less of Cu (but, 0.1% to 2.0% of Cu is disclosed; Abstract, claim 1). However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made for the solder composition to include at least 2.5% by mass of Cu, since it has been held that where 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. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (CCPA 1955).
Further, a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges do not overlap but are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties (Titanium Metals Corp. v. Banner, 778 F.2d 775, 227 USPQ 773 (Fed. Cir. 1985))
Regarding claim 3, Yoshikawa discloses 0.001% by mass or more and 0.5% by mass or less of Ga (claim 1).
Regarding claim 4, Yoshikawa discloses a solder portion containing the solder composition according to claim 1 (paragraph [0011]).
Regarding claim 5, Yoshikawa discloses a terminal electrode, wherein the terminal electrode includes a connection portion to which a lead portion of a wire is connected, and the lead portion is electrically connected to the connection portion by the solder portion (paragraph [0011]).
Regarding claim 6, Yoshikawa discloses wherein the lead portion of the wire is entangled into the connection portion (paragraph [0011]).
Regarding claim 7, Yoshikawa discloses wherein the terminal electrode further includes a mounting portion, and the connection portion is disposed on a side opposite to a mounting side in comparison to the mounting portion (paragraph [0011]).
Regarding claim 9, Yoshikawa discloses wherein the solder composition contains from more than 0.1% by mass to 0.5% by mass or less of Ni (Abstract, claim 1).
Regarding claim 10, Yoshikawa discloses the solder composition further comprising: more than 0.015% by mass and 0.1% by mass or less of Ge (Abstract, claim 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TREMESHA W BURNS whose telephone number is (571)270-3391. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am - 4:30 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Thompson can be reached at (571) 272-2342. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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TREMESHA W. BURNS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
/TREMESHA W BURNS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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