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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Takayuki et al. [JP 2017-216428 A].
Regarding claim 1, Takayuki et al. discloses a multilayer coil component [figures 1-2] comprising:
- an element body [10, 11, 12] that includes a pair of end surfaces opposite each other in a first direction, a mounting surface and a main surface opposite each other in a second direction, and a pair of side surfaces opposite each other in a third direction;
- a pair of terminal electrodes [31, 32] disposed on the mounting surface of the element body to be separated from each other in the first direction;
- a coil [20] that is disposed in the element body and electrically connected to the pair of terminal electrodes; and
- connecting conductors [23, 231, 232] respectively electrically connecting one end portion and the other end portion of the coil to the pair of terminal electrodes, wherein the coil includes first wiring portions [22] disposed on the main surface side, second wiring portions [22] disposed on the mounting surface side, and connecting portions [21] that extend in the second direction and connect the first wiring portions to the second wiring portions [figures 1-2], the connecting conductors respectively connect the connecting portions that respectively constitute the one end portion and the other end portion of the coil to the terminal electrodes [figures 1-2], and lengths of the connecting conductors in the first direction are longer than lengths of the connecting portions connected to the connecting conductors in the first direction and are equal to or less than lengths of the terminal electrodes in the first direction [figures 1-2].
Regarding claim 4, Takayuki et al. discloses the lengths of the connecting conductors in the third direction are equal to lengths of the connecting portions in the third direction [figures 1-2].
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takayuki et al. in view of Kazunori et al. [KP 2007173644 A].
Regarding claim 2, Takayuki et al. further discloses the first and second wiring portions having overlapping region(s) with the connecting portions with different portions [figure 2].
Takayuki et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the specific inclined of one of the portions.
Kazunori et al. discloses a multilayer inductor component [figures 1-4] comprising:
- a body including a plurality of layers [figures 2-4]; and
- a coil arranged in the body, wherein the coil including a plurality of first conductors [11], a plurality of second conductors [21] and a plurality of connecting conductors [12].
Kazunori et al. further discloses the second conductors formed of three portions [figure 1] wherein one of the portions having an inclined arrangement [figure 1].
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 inclined design of the secondary conductors of Takayuki et al., as suggested by Kazunori et al., for the purpose of improving manufacturing and/or enhancing inductance [abstract].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record do not teach or disclose, in the claimed combination thereof, linking conductors disposed at the same positions as the second wiring portions in the second direction between the connecting conductors and the connecting portions electrically connected to the connecting conductors, wherein lengths of the linking conductors in the first direction are equal to or less than the lengths of the connecting conductors in the first direction and are equal to or greater than the lengths of the connecting portions in the first direction.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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