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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/26/2026 has been entered.
Claim Status
Claim 13 is amended, support is found in p. 0018 of the specification. Claim 21 is canceled. Claims 13-20 and 22-29 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see p. 6-10, filed 05/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 13-29 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Das (U.S. Pat. No. 9,902,695) in view of Du (CN 105504686) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made over Ohigashi (WO 2017170643 A1) in view of Du (CN 105504686).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 13-20 and 22-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohigashi et al (WO 2017170643 A1; references made to the English machine translation) in further view of Du et al (CN 105504686 A; references made to the English machine translation).
Regarding claims 13 and 14; Ohigashi is directed towards a thermosetting resin composition for application in printed circuit boards comprising, for example, a thermosetting resin, a benzoxazine compound, and an inorganic filler [p. 0027, 0030]. Ohigashi teaches the thermosetting resin may include, for example, at least one of maleimide compounds, epoxy resins, and cyanate resins. These can be used individually or in combination of two or more types [p. 0031].
Regarding the cyanate resin, Ohigashi teaches the cyanate resin is a resin having a cyanate group (-O-CN) in its molecule, and a resin having two or more cyanate groups in its molecule can be used [p. 0092].
Regarding the maleimide compounds, Ohigashi teaches 1,6'-bismaleimide-(2,2,4-trimethyl)hexane and imide-extended bismaleimides are particularly preferred. Examples of imido-extended bismaleimides include the maleimide compound represented by the following formula (a1), the maleimide compound represented by the following formula (a2), and the maleimide compound represented by the following formula (a3) [p. 0054].
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Ohigashi teaches the composition may comprise a coupling agent wherein examples include vinyltriethoxysilane [p. 0135-0137].
Ohigashi teaches the thermosetting resin composition may comprise inorganic filler, wherein Ohigashi teaches that the inorganic filler is not particularly limited, and two or more types of inorganic filler may be used [p. 0122-0124].
Ohigashi teaches that the thermosetting composition can be cured to prepare a printed wiring board [p. 0175]. Ohigashi teaches a circuit pattern may be formed on the circuit board via flash etching [p. 0180, 0201].
Although Ohigashi is open to the use of additional inorganic additives and teaches the use of the resins in PCB applications, Ohigashi is silent with respect to laser direct sintering (LDS) additives.
Du is directed toward the field of laminate technology, and relates to a thermosetting resin composition, as well as a prepreg containing the composition, a laminate, and a circuit carrier [p. 0002]. The thermosetting resin composition of Du comprises a thermosetting resin, a laser direct molding additive, an inorganic filler, and a silane coupling agents [p. 0011].
Du teaches printed circuit boards (PCBs) are carrier boards for secondary packaging of electronic components and are one of the most important components in the electronics industry [p. 0004].
Du further teaches the conductive lines of conventional PCBs are manufactured using etching, which has many disadvantages such as high material consumption, many production processes, large waste liquid discharge, and heavy environmental pressure [p. 0004].
In contrast, Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) is a technology that uses a laser to irradiate a digitized pattern onto the surface of a polymer material, and then directly metallizes the irradiated area to ultimately form a pattern on the polymer material surface. The LDS process is simple, produces less pollution, and compared to etching, it provides stronger adhesion to the conductors, allowing for more flexible circuit design and modifications [p. 0004].
Du teaches the laser direct forming additive is incorporated into the thermosetting resin composition, wherein the laser direct forming additive is a highly thermally stable, non-conductive, spinel-based oxide, which is stable and insoluble in aqueous acidic or alkaline metallizing electrolytes [p. 0014]. Du exemplifies thermosetting resin compositions wherein the laser direct molding additive is copper chromium oxide spinel (CuCr2O4¬) or copper phosphate spinel [p. 0095, example 15, example 1].
In light of Du’s teaching that laser direct sintering is an advantageous method of preparing PCBs compared to conventional etching, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate a laser direct molding additive in the resin composition of Ohigashi (comprising at least one of maleimide compounds, epoxy resins, and cyanate resins, vinyltriethoxysilane, and inorganic filler(s)) in order to prepare a PCB as Ohigashi teaches the resin can be used in blends with any filler known in the art. Furthermore, the thermosetting resin composition of Du is similar to the resin of Ohigashi, therefore a skilled artisan would have a reasonable expectation of success in the incorporation of laser direct molding additives into the resin composition of Ohigashi.
Regarding claim 15; Du exemplifies thermosetting resin compositions wherein the laser direct molding additive is copper phosphate [p. 0077, example 1]. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed that thermosetting resin compositions prepared with a copper phosphate laser direct molding additive would have a hexavalent chromium content of less than 100 ppm.
Regarding claims 16; Du is silent with respect to the hexavalent chromium content of the laser direct forming additive. However, as Du uses exclusively Cr(III) species and the laser direct forming additive is taught to as thermally stable as well as stable to metallizing electrolytes, a skilled artisan would reasonably expect the resin composition prepared with Cr(III) laser direct forming additives would have a hexavalent chromium content less than 100 ppm (which also includes 0).
Regarding claims 17-19; Du exemplifies the use of copper chromium oxide spinel (Hunan Kohler Pigment Co., Ltd.), which does not appear to be surface treated [p. 0066]. Du teaches that, preferably, the laser direct forming additive is added by incorporating it into the thermosetting resin composition, coating it on the surface of the filler, or coating it with the filler to add it to the thermosetting resin composition, wherein the filler is the inorganic filler [p. 0011, 0017]. In light of this, the teachings of Du appear to obviously embrace embodiments wherein the laser direct structuring additive is not surface-treated.
Regarding claims 22-27; Ohigashi teaches the cured resin film of formed from the thermosetting resin composition can be suitably used in large-area printed circuit boards used to manufacture multiple semiconductor packages in a single batch [p. 0027, 0183].
Regarding claims 28-29; Ohigashi teaches an embodiment wherein a metal layer is formed, for example, on the surface of a metal foil that has been treated with a chemical solution or plasma, or an insulating layer formed from the cured resin film by a SAP (semi-additive process) method. For example, After applying an electroless metal plating film onto a metal foil or insulating layers the non-circuit formation area is protected with a plating resist, an electrolytic metal plating layer is applied by electrolytic plating, and a metal layer is formed by removing the plating resist and patterning the electrolytic metal plating film by flash etching [p. 0178, 0180]. However, in light of the teachings of Du, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to prepare cured resin composition of Ogashi comprising an LDS additive and irradiate the portions of it that are to be metallized in order to obtain a circuit carrier, as Du teaches that laser direct sintering is an advantageous method of preparing PCBs compared to conventional etching.
Conclusion
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/HOLLEY GRACE HESTER/ Examiner, Art Unit 1766
/RANDY P GULAKOWSKI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1766
