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 without traverse of Group I, claims 1-12, in the reply filed on April 23, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 13-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on April 23, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2012/0172194).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a method for manufacturing a dielectric ceramic comprising a ferroelectric compound represented by the formula Ba1-xA1xTi1-yB1yO3, wherein A1 is at least one element selected from Pb, Sr, Bi, Ca, Mg, Na, K, and rare-earth elements; B1 is at least one element selected from Zr, Nb, Ta, W, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, and Mg; and 0≤x<1 and 0≤y<1, see abstract and [0036]. Note that based on the formula the reference is considered to render obvious the claimed base material with A1 corresponding to Mg and B1 corresponding to W and Mn.
Claims 2 and 3 define the product by how the product was made, obtained by main-firing. Thus claims 2 and 3 are product-by-process claims. For purposes of examination, product-by-process claims are not limited to the manipulation of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps. See MPEP 2113. In the present case, the recited steps imply a structure with the claimed composition. The reference suggests such a product.
Regarding claim 4, the reference discloses the dielectric has a perovskite structure, see abstract.
Regarding claim 6, Park discloses a method for manufacturing a dielectric ceramic comprising a ferroelectric compound represented by the formula Ba1-xA1xTi1-yB1yO3, wherein A1 is at least one element selected from Pb, Sr, Bi, Ca, Mg, Na, K, and rare-earth elements; B1 is at least one element selected from Zr, Nb, Ta, W, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, and Mg; and 0≤x<1 and 0≤y<1, see abstract and [0036]. Note that based on the formula the reference is considered to render obvious the claimed base material with A1 corresponding to Mg and B1 corresponding to W and Mn. The reference further discloses the dielectric ceramic has increased crystallinity, which corresponds to a dielectric grain [0008].
Regarding claim 7, the reference discloses the grain does not have a core-shell structure, see entire document.
Regarding claim 10, while the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed content, given the reference renders obvious the claimed chemical formula, it is expected the amount of Mg and WO3 would be similar to the amount claimed; see MPEP 2112.01 II and 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 11, the reference discloses the dielectric has a perovskite structure, see abstract.
Claims 5, 8, 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 2012/0172194) as applied to claims 1 and 6 above, and further in view of Chang et al. (US 6,649,554).
Regarding claims 5 and 12, while Park discloses the claimed composition, the reference fails to disclose a multi-layer ceramic capacitor comprising the dielectric composition.
Chang discloses a multi-layer ceramic capacitor comprising a dielectric composition, see abstract.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention for the composition of Park to be used in a multi-layer ceramic capacitor as a known use for dielectric compositions.
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Park fails to disclose the composition as homogenous and as having the claimed standard deviation of Ti concentration.
Chang discloses a dielectric composition with increased homogeneity in order to prevent irregular voltage resistance and poor reliability, see abstract and col. 2 lines 8-11.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention for the dielectric composition of Park to be homogenous in order to improve reliability. While the references do not specifically disclose the claimed Ti deviation, it would have been obvious to limit the Ti concentration deviation in order to increase homogeneity and improve reliability.
Conclusion
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/LAURA A AUER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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