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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 10/14/2024 has been considered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Invention I, claims 1-15, without traverse in the Applicant’s response on 05/27/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 16-29 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
In this Office Action, claims 16-29 are withdrawn and claims 1-15 are examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 9-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 9-12 and 14, the phrase “or both“ is not well defined since the phrase is ambiguous or redundant.
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.
Claims 1 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dalmia, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0291787.
Regarding Claim 1, Dalmia teaches, a three-dimensional (3D) inductor (Fig. 5), comprising:
a plurality of first leads (516) on a first side of the inductor;
one or more second leads (516) on a second side of the inductor opposite the first side;
one or more upper wires (514), each upper wire electrically coupling an upper surface of a second lead with an upper surface of a first lead (id.);
one or more lower wires (518), each lower wire electrically coupling a lower surface of one first lead with a lower surface of one second lead (id.);
an upper mold (not shown, “dielectric overmold” [0062]) encapsulating the plurality of first leads at least partially (id.), encapsulating the plurality of second leads at least partially (id.), and encapsulating the one or more upper wires (id.); and
a lower mold (not shown, “dielectric overmold” [0062]) encapsulating the one or more lower wires,
wherein the plurality of first leads (516), the one or more second leads (516), the one or more upper wires (514), and the one or more lower wires (518) are configured to form one or more loops of the 3D inductor. (Dalmia: Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19, 20, para. [0038], [0060]-[0062], [0122], [0126]).
Regarding Claims 15, Dalmia further teaches, wherein the 3D inductor is incorporated into an apparatus selected from the group consisting of a music player, a video player, an entertainment unit, a navigation device, a communications device (“Ethernet devices and other communication devices” [0004]), a mobile device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant, a fixed location terminal, a tablet computer, a computer, a wearable device, an Internet of things (IoT) device, a laptop computer, a server, and a device in an automotive vehicle. (Dalmia: Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19, 20, para. [0004]).
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 2-6, 9-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dalmia, as applied to claim 1, in view of Dalmia (second embodiment, Fig. 15).
Regarding Claim 2, Dalmia is silent on including the first and second terminal on the upper mold and electrically coupled to an upper surface of a first of the plurality first leads and the last of the plurality of second leads. (Dalmia: Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19, 20, para. [0038], [0060]-[0062], [0122], [0126]).
Dalmia does not explicitly teach, further comprising:
a first terminal on the upper mold and electrically coupled to an upper surface of a first of the plurality first leads; and
a second terminal on the upper mold and electrically coupled to an upper surface of a last of the plurality first leads or to an upper surface of a last of the plurality of second leads.
However, Dalmia (second embodiment) (Fig. 15) teaches, further comprising:
a first terminal (1826) on the upper mold (1824) and electrically coupled to an upper surface of a first of the plurality first leads (1806); and
a second terminal (1826) on the upper mold and electrically coupled to an upper surface of a last of the plurality first leads or to an upper surface of a last of the plurality of second leads (1806), (Dalmia further discloses “wire bonds may be used in place of or in addition to the lower conductive layers 1816” [0122], thus disclosing a 3D inductor). (Dalmia (second embodiment): Figs. 15, 19 and 20, para. [0119], [0122], [0123]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the transformer coil of Dalmia to include the first and second terminal on the upper mold and electrically coupled to an upper surface of a first of the plurality first leads and the last of the plurality of second leads of Dalmia (second embodiment), the motivation being “conductive access to the device 1800 is provided by conductive terminals 1826 that extend through the overmold layer 1824” [0045]. (Dalmia (second embodiment): Figs. 15, 19 and 20, para. [0123]). Therefore, the limitations of Claim 2 would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 3 and similarly claims 4-6, the combination of Dalmia in view of Dalmia (second embodiment) further teaches (Dalmia, Figs. 5 and 6), wherein a number of first leads (516) is N, N = 2 or higher,
wherein a number of second leads (516) is M = N,
wherein a number of upper wires is N-1, each upper wire electrically coupling an upper surface of a second lead (k) to an upper surface of a first lead (k+1), k=1...N-1 (id.), and
wherein a number of lower wires is M, each lower wire electrically coupling a lower surface of a first lead (j) to a lower surface of a second lead (j), j=1... M (id.). (Dalmia: Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19, 20, para. [0038], [0042], [0060]-[0062], [0122], [0126]).
Regarding Claim 9 and similarly claim 14, the combination of Dalmia in view of Dalmia (second embodiment) further teaches (Dalmia, Figs. 5 and 6), wherein the first terminal is formed from any one or more of a copper, silver, and aluminum, wherein the second terminal is formed from any one or more of a copper, silver, and aluminum, or both, since these are obvious design choices from a finite group of materials for a terminal. (Dalmia: Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6, 15, 16, 19, 20, para. [0038], [0060]-[0062], [0122], [0126]).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Dalmia in view of Dalmia (second embodiment) further teaches (Dalmia (second embodiment, Fig. 15), wherein the upper mold is formed from a first magnetic molding compound, wherein the lower mold is formed from a second magnetic molding compound, or both (“Upper and lower high permeability layers 1924, 1926 may be deposited outside of the substrate 1902 on the upper and lower surfaces 1908, 1910, respectively. The layers 1924, 1926 may be formed from a flexible dielectric material that is mixed with or includes one or more high permeability materials, similar to the material 1914 in the cavity 1912” [0131]), the motivation being to increase the effective permeability of the device. (Dalmia (second embodiment): Fig. 15, para. [0131]).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Dalmia in view of Dalmia (second embodiment) further teaches (Dalmia (second embodiment, Fig. 15), wherein the first magnetic molding compound is any one or more of polymer bonded compound, ferrite-bonded compound, isotropic neodymium bonded compound, anisotropic isotropic neodymium-bonded compound, and samarium-cobalt bonded compound, wherein the second magnetic molding compound is any one or more of polymer bonded compound, ferrite-bonded compound, isotropic neodymium bonded compound, anisotropic isotropic neodymium-bonded compound, and samarium-cobalt bonded compound, or both (“the ferrite body 1904 may be at least partially surrounded by an epoxy material that is mixed with high permeability powders, such as nanopowders of cobalt, nickel, manganese, chromium, iron, and the like” [0130], “a ferrite material, such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, chromium, iron, and the like” [0132]), the motivation being to increase the effective permeability of the device. (Dalmia (second embodiment): Fig. 15, para. [0130], [0131]).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Terao (JPH09106915A), Yoshida (JPS60194508A) and Kummerl et al. (US 20130154148).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 8, 12 and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if any of claims 7, 8 and 12 is rewritten in independent form including all of the limitation of the base claims and any intervening claims.
Claim 7 recites, inter alia, “…wherein the first terminal comprises: a first side plate formed on a side surface of the upper mold, a lower part of the first side plate being in contact with the upper surface of the first of the plurality of first leads; and a first pad formed on an upper surface of the upper mold and connected with the first side plate”. (Emphasis added).
Claim 8 recites, inter alia, “…wherein the second terminal comprises: a second side plate formed on a side surface of the upper mold, a lower part of the second side plate being in contact with the upper surface of the last of the plurality of first leads or with the upper surface of the last of the plurality of second leads; and a second pad formed on an upper surface of the upper mold and connected with the second side plate”. (Emphasis added).
Claim 12 recites, inter alia, “…wherein the plurality of first leads comprises a plurality of first upper leads and a plurality of first lower leads, each first upper lead being on a corresponding first lower lead, upper surfaces of the plurality of first upper leads being the upper surfaces of the plurality of first leads, and lower surfaces of the plurality of first lower leads being the lower surfaces of the first leads, wherein the plurality second leads comprises a plurality of second upper leads and a plurality of second lower leads, each second upper lead being on a corresponding second lower lead, upper surfaces of the plurality of second upper leads being the upper surfaces of the plurality of second leads, and lower surfaces of the plurality of second lower leads being the lower surfaces of the second leads, or both”. (Emphasis added).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MALCOLM BARNES whose telephone number is (408)918-7512. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00 pm (PST).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shawki Ismail can be reached on 571-272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MALCOLM BARNES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
7/03/2026
Prosecution Insights