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 .
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)(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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kang et al. (US 2014/0102767 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kang discloses a method for manufacturing a flexible circuit board, comprising: providing a non-flexible substrate (11); disposing a first seed layer (12-2*) on the non-flexible substrate (fig. 2A; pars. 0054-0056); disposing a first conductive layer (22) on the first seed layer (fig. 2C; pars. 0063-0064); disposing a second seed layer (140) on the first conductive layer (fig. 2E; pars. 0071-0072); removing the non-flexible substrate (fig. 2I; pars. 0083-0085); and forming a first flexible substrate (183; all resins naturally have some degree of flexibility, which is a materials property) under the first seed layer after removing the non-flexible substrate, wherein the first flexible substrate has an opening (at 72) exposing the first seed layer (fig. 2L; pars. 0093-0095).
*Note: though element (12-2) of Kang is not expressly described as a “first seed layer” it is disposed as claimed. Further, the subsequent “first conductive layer” (22) is formed on seed layer (12-2) by an “electrolytic copper plating method”, and thus it is clear that the layer (12-2) is in fact a seed layer.
Regarding claim 2, Kang discloses the method for manufacturing the flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: disposing an insulating layer (120) on the non-flexible substrate and the first conductive layer before disposing the second seed layer on the first conductive layer, wherein the insulating layer has an opening exposing the first conductive layer, and after the second seed layer is disposed on the first conductive layer, the second seed layer contacts the first conductive layer through the opening (fig. 2D; pars. 0065-0070).
Regarding claim 3, Kang discloses the method for manufacturing the flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: disposing a second conductive layer (42) on the second seed layer (fig. 2F; par. 00073); and disposing a second flexible substrate (160) on an insulating layer and the second conductive layer, wherein the second flexible substrate has an opening exposing the second conductive layer (fig. 2H; pars. 0078-0081).
Regarding claim 4, Kang discloses the method for manufacturing the flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 3, further comprising: removing (fig. 2K) at least a part of the first seed layer before forming the first flexible substrate (the step in fig. 2K is temporally before the step of forming the first flexible substrate in fig. 2L).
Regarding claim 5, Kang discloses the method for manufacturing the flexible circuit board as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first flexible substrate is also under the insulating layer (fig. 2L).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the references as they are currently being used in the instant rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the concurrently mailed PTO-892, as all of those cited references are considered to be pertinent to the claimed invention. For example, Lin et al. (US 11,164,852 B2) is held to be of particular relevance to the claimed invention.
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 Jeffrey T Carley whose telephone number is (571)270-5609. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sunil 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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/JEFFREY T CARLEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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