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 with traverse of Species 7, Figure 11 in the reply filed on 11/24/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that claims 1, 5 and 8-12 readable on Species 7, Figure 7. This is not found persuasive because claims 8-12 depend on non-elected claims 2-4 and 6-7. Claims 1 and 5 will be examined herewith.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masahiko [JP 11-297531A] in view of Otsubo et al. [US 2016/0372246 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Masahiko discloses a coil component [60, figure 13] comprising:
- a body [11] having external terminals [13a, 13b] mounted at both ends thereof; and
- a coil structure [12] arranged inside the body, wherein the coil structure including a coil portion and extended conductors or end portions [61, 62] connected to the coil portion, wherein the coil portions electrically connected to the external electrodes.
Masahiko further discloses the extended conductors [61, 62] formed of a plurality of via conductors [figure 13].
Masahiko disclose the instant claimed invention except for the specific of the coil portion and the arrangement of the coil portion relative to the extended portions.
Otsubo et al. discloses a coil component [1, or 10, Figures 1, 16-17 and 37] comprising:
- a magnetic body [2];
- a coil embedded in the magnetic body [figure 1];
- an external electrode [5] on at least a bottom surface of the magnetic body and electrically connected to the coil; and
- an extended conductor [3] in which one end [3] is connected to the coil inside the magnetic body and another end [3] is connected to the external electrode on the bottom surface of the magnetic body, the external electrode including a first external electrode [5, figures 16-17] and a second external electrode [5, figures 16-17], the extended conductor including a first extended conductor having one end connected to a start end of the coil and another end connected to the first external electrode, and a second extended conductor having one end connected to a terminal end of the coil and another end connected to the second external electrode [figures 1 and 16-17], the coil being present only on a plane including the start end and the terminal end, the coil and the first extended conductor not overlapping each other except for a portion where the coil and the first extended conductor are connected [figure 1], when a surface on which the coil is present is viewed from a direction extending from the one end to the other end of the first extended conductor, and the coil and the second extended conductor not overlapping each other except for a portion where the coil and the second extended conductor are connected, when the surface on which the coil is present is viewed from a direction extending from the one end to the other end of the second extended conductor [figures 1 and 16-17].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the coil portion and extended portions arrangement of Otsubo et al. in Masahiko for the purpose of facilitating different surface mounting and/or arrangement.
Regarding claim 5, Otsubo et al. discloses the coil includes a plurality of coils which are inside the magnetic body [figure 37].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 5 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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