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 § 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) 1-3, 7-9, 14, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (U.S. Patent 9,269,673) in view of Harakawa et al. (U.S.2001/0041267).
As to claim 1, Lin discloses a module (1) as shown in figures 1A-1B comprising:
a substrate (100) having main surfaces (101, 102);
a component (110a, 110b, or 110c) mounted on at least one of the main surfaces
(101) of the substrate (100);
a sealing resin (120) on a surface of the substrate to embed the component
(110); and a shielding film (130) containing Cu (130a, 130b, column 4, line 65 to column 5, line 8) as a main component and covering a top surface and at least one side surface of the sealing resin (120),
wherein a surface of the shielding film is directly covered by a first Ni layer (130c, NiFe), and a surface of the first Ni layer (130c) is covered by a second Ni layer (130d, NiV).
Lin does not specifically disclose the first Ni layer containing Ni-B or Ni-N as a main component, and the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the first Ni layer containing Ni-B or Ni-N as a main component, and the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component in order to provide complementary roles to maximize corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Further, Harakawa teaches a plating process comprising a ceramic substrate (19) as shown in figure 8 comprising the first Ni layer containing Ni-B (62) is covered by the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component (63), para-0060.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filling date to have a teaching of Harakawa employed in the module of Lin in order to provide excellent complementary roles to maximize corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness.
As to claim 7, Lin discloses a module (1) as shown in figures 1A-1B comprising:
a ceramic body (100);
a shielding film (130) containing Cu (130a, 130b, column 4, line 65+) as a main
component and covering a top surface and at least one side surface of the sealing resin (120),
wherein a surface of the shielding film is directly covered by a first Ni layer (130c, NiFe), and a surface of the first Ni layer (130c) is covered by a second Ni layer (130d, NiV).
Lin does not specifically disclose the first Ni layer containing Ni-B or Ni-N as a main component, and the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have the first Ni layer containing Ni-B or Ni-N as a main component, and the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component in order to provide complementary roles to maximize corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Further, Harakawa teaches a plating process comprising a ceramic substrate (19) as shown in figure 8 comprising the first Ni layer containing Ni-B (62) is covered by the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component (63), para-0060.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filling date to have a teaching of Harakawa employed in the module of Lin in order to provide excellent complementary roles to maximize corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness.
Regarding claims 2, 8, Lin as modified by Harakawa discloses a surface of an
edge where the top surface and the side surface of the sealing resin (120) are connected to each other is covered by the shielding film (130a, 130b), and a surface of the shielding film covering the surface of the edge is directly covered by the first Ni layer (130c).
Regarding claims 3, 9, 14, 16, Lin as modified by Harakawa discloses a thickness of the second Ni layer (130d) is equal to or greater than a thickness of the first Ni layer (130c).
Claim(s) 13, and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (U.S. Patent 9,269,673) in view of Harakawa et al. (U.S.2001/0041267), and further in view of Lin et al. (U.S. Patent 9,871,005).
Regarding claims 13, and 18-19, Lin as modified by Harakawa discloses all of
the limitations except for the electronic component used as an LC filter.
Lin ('005) teaches the electronic component is used as an LC filter (11a-11c, column 8, lines 58-65).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filling date to have a teaching of Lin ('005) employed in the module of Lin and Harakawa in order to provide an electronic circuit designed to selectively pass some frequencies of an electrical signal while blocking or attenuating others, effectively shaping the signal's frequency content.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/25/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant agues.
The combination of Lin in view of Harakawa does not teach or render obvious "a surface of the shielding film is directly covered by a first Ni layer containing Ni-B and the second Ni layer containing Ni-P as a main component," as recited by the claims 1 and 7.
After carefully review, examiner respectively disagrees. First, the plating process or method to deposit on an object is known in the art, second Lin discloses the first and second nickel layers comprised NiFe and NiV respectively, and third, Harakawa teaches the plating process on the object (the substrate) having the first Ni layer containing Ni-B and the second Ni layer containing Ni-N as a main component.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to have a teaching of Harakawa employed in the module of Lin in order to provide excellent complementary roles to maximize corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness.
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/TUAN T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848