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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 01/03/2023 and 12/03/2025 have been considered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species I, Figs. 1-3, claims 1-11 and 20-24, without travers in the Applicant’s response on 04/08/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 12-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
In this Office Action, claims 12-19 are withdrawn and claims 1-11 and 20-24 are examined.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jeong, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0351318.
Regarding Claim 1, Jeong teaches, a coil component (Fig. 2), comprising:
a body (101);
a coil (103) disposed within the body;
a first insulating layer (104) covering at least a portion of the coil;
an external electrode (111, 112) disposed on one surface of the body and connected to the coil at the one surface of the body; and
a magnetic layer (105) disposed on the first insulating layer, covering at least a portion of the first insulating layer and spaced apart from the surface of the body,
wherein the external electrode is spaced apart (id.) from the magnetic layer. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Regarding Claims 2 and similarly claim 3, Jeong further teaches, wherein a material of the magnetic layer has magnetic permeability higher than magnetic permeability of a material of the body (“a magnetic material contained in the magnetic flux controlling part 105 may have a saturation magnetic flux density higher than that of the magnetic material contained in the body region 101” [0026] comprises a higher magnetic permeability). (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0026]).
Regarding Claim 4, Jeong further teaches, wherein the magnetic layer includes at least one of nickel (Ni), iron (Fe) (“Fe” [0026]), silicon (Si), chromium (Cr), or aluminum (Al). (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0026]).
Regarding Claim 5, Jeong further teaches, wherein at least a portion of the magnetic layer is in contact with the first insulating layer. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Regarding Claim 6, Jeong further teaches, wherein the body includes a core disposed in a central region of an innermost turn of the coil. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Regarding Claims 7 and similarly claims 8 and 9, Jeong further teaches, wherein the body includes a core disposed in a central region of an innermost turn of the coil. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Regarding Claim 10, Jeong further teaches, wherein the coil includes first and second coil patterns (103) disposed on opposing surfaces of the substrate (102), a via (not shown) penetrating through the substrate and connecting the first and second coil patterns to each other (id.), and first and second lead-out portions (T) extending from outermost turns of the first and second coil patterns, respectively, and wherein the external electrode includes first and second external electrodes connected to the first and second lead-out portions (id.), respectively. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 11 and 20-24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong, as applied to claim 10 and 20, respectively, in view of Jeon et al. (hereinafter Jeon), U.S Patent Application Publication 2021/0027933.
Regarding Claim 11, Jeong is silent on the magnetic layer exposing at least a portion of the first insulating layer disposed on the first and second lead-out portions. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Jeong does not explicitly teach, wherein the magnetic layer exposes at least a portion of the first insulating layer disposed on the first and second lead-out portions.
However, Jeon (Fig. 2) teaches, wherein the magnetic layer (110) exposes at least a portion of the first insulating layer (not shown) (“an additional insulating structure may be interposed between the coil pattern 103 and the magnetic particles” [0038]) disposed on the first and second lead-out portions (L). (Jeon: Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 9, para. [0037], [0038], [0040], [0042]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the magnetic layer of Jeong to include the magnetic layer exposing a portion of the first insulating layer of Jeon, the motivation being in “thereby contributing to the improvement of magnetic properties of the encapsulant 101” [0044], and “in order not to expose the metal thin plate 110 to an exterior of the encapsulant 101” [0045]. (Jeon: Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 9, para. [0044], [0045]). Therefore, the limitations of Claim 11 would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 20, Jeong teaches, (except where italicized), a coil component (Fig. 2), comprising:
a body (101) having first and second surfaces (top and bottom) opposing each other in a thickness direction;
a coil (103) disposed within the body and including a coil pattern and a lead-out portion (T) at one end of the coil pattern;
an external electrode (111, 112) disposed on the body and connected to the lead-out portion of the coil; and
a first insulating layer (104) covering a portion of the lead-out portion and a portion of the coil pattern,
wherein, in a region between the first or second surface of the body and the first insulating layer covering the portion of the coil pattern in the thickness direction, a material (105) included in a region adjacent to the coil pattern has magnetic permeability higher than magnetic permeability of a material included in a region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body (“a magnetic material contained in the magnetic flux controlling part 105 may have a saturation magnetic flux density higher than that of the magnetic material contained in the body region 101” [0026] comprises a higher magnetic permeability), and
wherein, in a region between the first or second surface of the body and the first insulating layer covering the portion of the lead-out portion in the thickness direction, a material included in a region adjacent to the coil pattern has magnetic permeability substantially equal to magnetic permeability of a material included in a region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021], [0026]).
Jeong does not explicitly teach, wherein, in a region between the first or second surface of the body and the first insulating layer covering the portion of the lead-out portion in the thickness direction, a material included in a region adjacent to the coil pattern has magnetic permeability substantially equal to magnetic permeability of a material included in a region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body.
However, Jeon (Fig. 2) teaches, wherein, in a region between the first or second surface (top and bottom) of the body and the first insulating layer (not shown) (“an additional insulating structure may be interposed between the coil pattern 103 and the magnetic particles” [0038]) covering the portion of the lead-out portion in the thickness direction, a material (101) included in a region adjacent to the coil pattern has magnetic permeability substantially equal to magnetic permeability of a material included in a region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body. (Jeon: Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 9, para. [0037], [0038], [0040], [0042]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the material (105) included in a region adjacent to the coil pattern having magnetic permeability higher than magnetic permeability of a material included in a region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body of Jeong to include the material (101) included in a region adjacent to the coil pattern having magnetic permeability substantially equal to magnetic permeability of a material included in a region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body of Jeon, the motivation being in “thereby contributing to the improvement of magnetic properties of the encapsulant 101” [0044], and “in order not to expose the metal thin plate 110 to an exterior of the encapsulant 101” [0045]. (Jeon: Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 9, para. [0044], [0045]). Therefore, the limitations of Claim 20 would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 21, the combination of Jeong in view of Jeon further teaches, wherein, in the region between the first or second surface of the body and the first insulating layer covering the portion of the coil pattern in the thickness direction, the material included in the region adjacent to the coil pattern has a saturation magnetization value larger than a saturation magnetization value of the material included in the region adjacent to the first or second surface of the body (“a magnetic material contained in the magnetic flux controlling part 105 may have a saturation magnetic flux density higher than that of the magnetic material contained in the body region 101” [0026]). (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0026]).
Regarding Claim 22, the combination of Jeong in view of Jeon further teaches, wherein the body includes a core disposed in a central region of an innermost turn of the coil. (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Regarding Claim 23 and similarly claim 24, the combination of Jeong in view of Jeon further teaches, further comprising:
a substrate (102) disposed within the body;
wherein the coil is disposed on at least one surface of the substrate (id.). (Jeong: Figs. 1-3, para. [0019]-[0021]).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jeong (20160351313) and Park et al. (US 20180308612).
Conclusion
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/MALCOLM BARNES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
5/20/2026
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