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, Figures 1-12 in the reply filed on 4/22/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that claim 1 is generic to Species 1-2 and claims 1-4 read on elected figures 1-12. This is found persuasive and claims 1-4 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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirukawa et al. [WO 2021/100424 A1] in view of Kuniaki [JP 2013-172241 A].
Regarding claims 1 and 4, Hirukawa et al. discloses a multilayer inductor [3, figure 6] comprising:
- an element body having a multilayer structure in which a plurality of insulating layers are laminated and having a mounting surface parallel to the insulating layers [figure 6];
- a pair of terminal electrodes [21, 22] provided on the mounting surface of the element body; and
- a coil conductor [figures 6-7] provided in the element body, the coil conductor having a coil axis parallel to the mounting surface and having both end portions exposed from the mounting surface and electrically connected to the pair of terminal electrodes [figures 6-7], wherein the coil conductor includes an outer peripheral coil portions [331, 332, 333, 334] wound or arranged on an outer peripheral side and an inner peripheral coil portions [431, 432, 433, 434] wound or arranged on an inner peripheral side when viewed from an extending direction of the coil axis, and the outer peripheral coil portions and the inner peripheral coil portions are alternately wound in the coil conductor [figures 6-7], wherein the coil conductor includes a plurality of tiers of turn portions [figures 6-7] arranged along the coil axis, and at least some of the tiers of the turn portions are located in a plane perpendicular to the coil axis [figures 6-7] and include a first coil portion constituting a part of the outer peripheral coil portions [331, 332, 333, 334] and a second coil portion constituting a part of the inner peripheral coil portions [431, 432, 433, 434], and wherein the coil conductor further includes a connection portion [lead out ends show in figures 6-7] linearly extending between the end portions of the first coil portions or between the end portions of the second coil portions of adjacent tiers of the turn portions and connecting the end portions to each other [figures 6-7], wherein each of both end portions of the coil conductor extends from the outer peripheral coil portions and reaches the mounting surface [figures 6-7].
Hirukawa et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for wherein the end portions of the first coil portions and the end portions of the second coil portions of adjacent tiers of the turn portions are shifted from each other in a direction parallel to the mounting surface when viewed from the extending direction of the coil axis.
Kuniaki discloses a multilayer device [figures 12-13] comprising:
- a body including a plurality of layers [40A-41]; and
- a coil structure including inner and outer coil portions [figures 12-13], where the inner and outer coil portions including a plurality of conductors and connecting portions [51H, 52H, 53H, 54H, 51J, 52J, 53J, 54J] with the conductors and the connecting portions arranged at a shifted [or inclined] position [figures 12-13].
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 shifted arrangement of the conductors in Hirukawa et al., as suggested by Kuniaki, for the purpose of ensuring a desired inductance without increasing the loss and stray capacitance [abstract].
Regarding claim 2, Hirukawa et al. discloses the coil conductor has three or more tiers of turn portions [330, 430 of 301-302-303-304] and has a plurality of connection portions [331, 333, 431, 433] connecting the end portions of the first coil portions or the end portions of the second coil portions of adjacent tiers of the turn portions [figure 7].
Regarding claim 3, the specific shift amount of connecting portions would have been an obvious design consideration for the purpose of facilitating the desire inductance and/or capacitance.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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