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 of Group I, Species I, FIG. 1 and claims 1-15 and 17-20 in the reply filed on 11/13/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/01/2022 and 06/12/2023 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “external electrode is insulated from the dummy portion” as recited in claim 5 and the “external electrode is in contact with at least a portion of the dummy portion” as claimed in claim 15 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohkubo et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2016/0155556 A1) in view of Lim (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2013/0093556 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Ohkubo et al., hereinafter referred to as “Ohkubo,” teaches a coil component 1 (FIGs. 1-8) comprising:
a body 10 including a first surface (upper or lower surface) and first to fourth side surfaces (front, back, left and right surfaces) respectively connected to the first surface;
a substrate 11 disposed in the body;
a coil portion 13 disposed on the substrate;
a lead-out portion 15A disposed in the body and connected to the coil portion; and
wherein the body includes four corners 10a-10d (annotated Fig. 1 below), at each of which two adjacent side surfaces of the first to fourth side surfaces are in contact with each other (paras. [0035]-[0037]).
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Ohkubo does not expressly teach
a dummy portion spaced apart from the lead-out portion,
the dummy portion includes first to fourth dummy patterns respectively disposed outside the coil portion and extending toward the four corners of the body.
Lim teaches a coil component (FIGs. 1-4) comprising:
a dummy portion 41 and or 42 spaced apart from the lead-out portion (end of conductive pattern 31),
the dummy portion includes first to fourth dummy patterns (e.g., patterns 42a-42d, annotated FIG. 3) respectively disposed outside the coil portion 31 and extending toward the four corners (ridges) of the body 10 (paras. [0068] and [0071]).
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It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the dummy portion including the dummy patterns as taught by Lim to the coil component of Ohkubo to provide a coil component with excellent corner coverage and adhesive strength (para. [0010]).
With respect to claim 2, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 1, wherein the substrate supports each of the coil portion and the dummy portion (Ohkubo, para. [0036], Lim, para. [0068]). The combination would result in the claimed limitation.
With respect to claim 3, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 2, wherein a portion (portion on which the coil portion is disposed) of the substrate supporting the coil portion and a portion (portion on which the dummy portion is disposed) of the substrate supporting the dummy portion are integrally formed with each other (Ohkubo, para. [0036], Lim, para. [0068]). The combination would result in the claimed limitation.
With respect to claim 4, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 3, wherein the dummy portion is spaced apart (space between the coil and the dummy patterns) from the coil portion (Ohkubo, para. [0036], Lim, para. [0123]).
With respect to claim 6, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the lead-out portion extends to each of the first and third side surfaces of the body, opposing each other (Ohkubo, para. [0037]).
With respect to claim 7, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 1, wherein the dummy portion is spaced apart from the coil portion (Lim, para. [0123]).
With respect to claim 9, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of the substrate is exposed to a space (space between dummy patterns and the coil) where the dummy portion and the coil portion are spaced apart from each other (Ohkubo, para. [0036], Lim, para. [0123]).
With respect to claim 10, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 1, further comprising an insulating layer 40 covering at least a portion of the coil portion (Ohkubo, para. [0050]).
With respect to claim 12, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 1, further comprising an external electrode having first and second external electrodes 30A and 30B disposed on the first surface of the body, while being spaced apart from each other (Ohkubo, para. [0056]).
With respect to claim 13, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 12, wherein the external electrode is disposed on each of the first and third side surfaces of the body, opposing each other, and is in contact with at least a portion of the lead-out portion (Ohkubo, para. [0056]).
With respect to claim 15, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 1, wherein the external electrode is in contact with at least a portion of the dummy portion (Lim, para. [0123]).
With respect to claim 17, Ohkubo taches a coil component 1 (Figs. 1-8) comprising:
a body 12;
a substrate 11 disposed in the body;
a coil 13 portion disposed on the substrate;
a lead-out portion 15A disposed in the body and connected to the coil portion (paras. [0035]-[0037]).
Ohkubo does not expressly teach
a dummy portion disposed in the body and including first to fourth dummy patterns each being spaced apart from the coil portion.
Lim teaches a coil component (FIGs. 1-4) comprising:
a dummy portion 41 and or 42 disposed in the body and including first to fourth dummy patterns (e.g., patterns 42a-42d, annotated FIG. 3 above) each being spaced apart from the coil portion 31 (paras. [0068] and [0071]).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the dummy portion including the dummy patterns as taught by Lim to the coil component of Ohkubo to provide a coil component with excellent corner coverage and adhesive strength (para. [0010]).
Claims 5, 8 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okubo in view of Lim, as applied to claims 3, 7 and 12 above, and further in view of Moon et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2016/0086714 A1).
With respect to claims 5 and 8, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claims 3 and 7 respectively, further comprising an external electrode 30A and or 30B disposed on each of the first and third side surfaces of the body, opposing each other (Ohkubo, para. [0056]). Ohkubo in view of Lim does not expressly teach the external electrode is insulated from the dummy portion.
Moon et al., hereinafter referred to as “Moon,” teaches a coil component 100 (FIGs. 1-4), wherein the protective layer 60 covers the entire body 50 except at the lead-out portion (para. [0060]). Therefore, the combination the protective layer as taught by Moon to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim would result in “the external electrode is insulated from the dummy portion” as claimed. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the protective layer as taught by Moon to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim to improve insulation between different elements of the coil component.
With respect to claim 14, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 12. Ohkubo in view of Lim does not expressly teach the external electrode is insulated from the dummy portion.
Moon teaches a coil component 100 (FIGs. 1-4), wherein the protective layer 60 covers the entire body 50 except at the lead-out portion (para. [0060]). Therefore, the combination the protective layer as taught by Moon to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim would result in “the external electrode is insulated from the dummy portion” as claimed. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the protective layer as taught by Moon to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim to improve insulation between different elements of the coil component.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okubo in view of Lim, as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Hur et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2019/0180929 A1).
With respect to claim 11, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 10. Ohkubo in view of Lim does not expressly teach at least a portion of the insulating layer extends to each of the substrate and the dummy portion
Hur et al., hereinafter referred to as “Hur,” teaches a coil component 100 (FIG. 2), wherein at least a portion of the insulating layer 14 extends to each of the substrate and the coil portion 13 (para. [0037]). The combination of the insulating layer 14 of Hur to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim would result in the claimed limitation because the insulating layer 14 in Hur covers all the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 12. Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the insulating layer as taught by Hur to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim to improve insulation among different elements of the coil component.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okubo in view of Lim, as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Oh et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2018/0286560 A1).
With respect to claim 18, Ohkubo in view of Lim teaches the coil component of claim 17, wherein the body includes a first surface (upper or lower surface) and first to fourth side surfaces (front, back, left and right surfaces) respectively connected to the first surface,
the body further includes four corners 10a-10d (Ohkubo, annotated FIG. 1 above), at each of which two adjacent side surfaces of the first to fourth side surfaces are in contact with each other,
each of the first to fourth dummy patterns extends toward a respective one of the four corners (Okubo, para. [0036]). Ohkubo in view of Lim does not expressly teach each of the first to fourth dummy patterns extends in a diagonal direction.
Oh et al., hereinafter referred to as “Oh,” teaches a coil component (FIG. 2), wherein dummy patterns 50 extends in a diagonal direction (para. [0039]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the dummy patterns as taught by Oh to the coil component of Ohkubo in view of Lim to prevent the coil portion from exposing externally (para. [0039]).
With respect to claim 19, Ohkubo in view of Lim and Oh teaches the coil component of claim 18, wherein each of the first to fourth dummy patterns extends to be in contact with two adjacent side surfaces among the first to fourth side surfaces (Lim, para. [0086], Oh, para. [0039]).
With respect to claim 20, Ohkubo in view of Lim and Oh teaches the coil component of claim 19, further comprising first and second external electrodes 30A and 30B respectively disposed on the first and third side surfaces of the body, opposing each other, and connected to the lead-out portion, and
at least a portion of each of the first to fourth dummy patterns is in contact with the first external electrode or the second external electrode (Ohkubo, para. [0056], Lim, para. [0123] and Oh, para. [0039]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANGTIN LIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 0800-1700.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shawki S. Ismail can be reached at 571-272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG TIN BIK LIAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837