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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/01/2023 and 11/13/2025 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation ""wherein the coating film formed by coating, exposure, and development, or pattern printing contains..."" according to claim 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 1 makes no mention of a coating film, nor discussion of coating, exposure, and development, or pattern printing. These limitations are generally disclosed in claim 5 though “coating film” itself does not appear. For the purposes of examination, claim 6 will be treated as if dependent from claim 5.
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.
(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.
Claims 1,3,5, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Kamei et al (US 8664535 B2).
Regarding Claim 1, 3, and 5-8, Kamei discloses a wired circuit board and methods of making such, where the wired board includes a first insulating layer, a first wire formed on the first insulating layer, a second insulating layer formed on the first insulating layer so as to cover the first wire, and a second wire place opposite to the second wire in a thickness direction and formed in a smaller width than that of the first wire (Abstract).
The board and method of making are generally disclosed from Column 2 Line 50 to Column 7 Line 42.
In the Examples (Column 7 Line 43-Column 8 Line 57), which make reference to Figs 1 and 2, a metal supporting board made of steel foil (metal supporting layer) was prepared, after which a first varnish of photosensitive polyamic acid was coated on the entire upper surface of the board – then dried, exposed to light, developed, and cured by heating to form a polyimide insulating layer of 10 microns in thickness. Subsequently, first wires and terminals were formed by depositing a chromium thin film and copper thin film successively before treating the assembly with a plating resist in a pattern reverse to the pattern of the first wires – electrolytic copper plating was performed to treat exposed wiring portions. The remaining plating resist was stripped by chemical etching (Fig 2(c)). After this, a varnish of photosensitive polyamic acid was coated onto the entire upper surface of the insulating base layer (first insulating layer) and to cover the first wires. After this, the coating was dried, exposed to light, developed, and further cured by heating so as to form an intermediate insulating layer (second insulating layer) as per figure 2d. Further, second wires were formed by an additive method as per the formation of the first wiring (figure 2e). A further top layer coating of polyimide varnish (third layer) is then applied as over the first and second layers to coat the entire upper surface of the assembly and the second wiring.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamei et al (US 8664535 B2).
Regarding Claims 1 and 3-8, Kamei discloses a wired circuit board and methods of making such, where the wired board includes a first insulating layer, a first wire formed on the first insulating layer, a second insulating layer formed on the first insulating layer so as to cover the first wire, and a second wire place opposite to the second wire in a thickness direction and formed in a smaller width than that of the first wire (Abstract).
The board and method of making are generally disclosed from Column 2 Line 50 to Column 7 Line 42 and in the Figures 1-6.
The wired board of Kamei includes a metal supporting board 2, with an insulating base layer 3 formed thereupon. The board also bears first wires 4 formed on the insulating layer 3, an intermediate insulating layer 5 formed atop the wires 4 and base insulating layer 3, second wires 6 formed on the intermediate insulating layer 5, and an insulating cover layer 7 formed on the intermediate insulating layer 5 so as to cover the wires 6.
The supporting board is made of metal foil or is a metal plate ranging in 10-30 microns in thickness. The insulating base layer 2 is formed on the entire upper surface in a widthwise direction, and is 1-10 microns thick.
The first wires 4 are formed on the surface of the insulating base layer 3 in a parallel arrangement and formed in rectangular shapes when viewed in cross-section, and are between 1-50 microns in thickness.
The intermediate insulating layer 5 is formed atop the first wires 4 and base insulating layer 3, so that the wires are covered. Second wires 6 are formed atop the layer 5, so that they are above and opposite to the first wires.
The top insulating layer 7 is formed atop the intermediate layer 5 and the second wires. The insulating material used in forming the insulating layers is preferably a photosensitive synthetic resin, such as a photosensitive polyimide – which in the examples is formed by using a photosensitive polyamic acid that is cured into polyimide after film formation. The insulating layer may be formed by coating a varnish onto the surface of the board (or, for intermediate or top layers, onto underlying layers/wires) and then heating to cure. Alternatively, a patterning method wherein a photosensitive varnish is coated, dried, exposed to light, developed, and then cured is also contemplated. Further, forming the synthetic resin into a film and then sticking it to the surface of the metal support/underlying layer with an adhesive is also contemplated (claim 4).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamei et al (US 8664535 B2) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tamura et al (US 20100224391 A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Kamei discloses the limitations of the claim as discussed above regarding claim 1. However, Kamei does not teach that the film of the second insulating layer is compressively bonded to the first insulating layer and the first conductive layer (wiring). Rather, Kamei discusses heat-curing the layers which would bond the,, or using an adhesive sheet.
This limitation is met by Tamura.
Tamura discloses a suspension board with circuit patterns thereupon, where the board includes a metal supporting board, an insulating base layer formed on the metal supporting board, a conductive pattern formed on the based insulating layer, and a second insulating layer formed on the insulating base layer so as to cover the conductive pattern (Abstract).
The board of Tamura is generally discussed from [0007]-[0154], wherein the insulating base layer is formed from polyimide using a solution of photosensitive polyamic acid (polyimide precursor) resin to form a coating on the board, then exposing it to light, developing it, and curing by heating to imidize the resin ([0065]). The insulating cover layer which is formed atop the base layer and the circuit pattern, may be formed of a photosensitive polyamic acid resin and similarly patterned as per the base insulating layer – or alternatively may be formed onto a sheet in advance and pressure-bonded onto the base insulating layer and circuit pattern ([0073]-[0077]).
Kamei and Tamura both recite circuit boards having base insulating layers, circuit pattern(s) thereatop, and another insulating layer further atop the base and circuit layers – wherein both Kamei and Tamura discuss photosensitive polyamic acids as film-forming compositions for insulating layer manufacture and both reference pre-forming a sheet of the material for bonding to the board and layers thereupon.
A person having ordinary skill in the art would consider the application of a pressure bonding step as taught by Tamura to be an application of a known method (the pressure bonding) to a known product (the preformed polyamic acid sheet) with the expectation that such method would be successful. Such success would also be considered likely as both film compositions are polyamic acid and the structural similarities thereof would abet similar properties such as compression bonding.
Conclusion
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/A.P.T./Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/JONATHAN JOHNSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1734