Attorney Docket Number: 21GR20441US01/50649-01906
Filing Date: 06/09/2023
Claimed Priority Date: 06/16/2022 (FR 2205899)
Inventors: Petit et al.
Examiner: Shamita S. Hanumasagar
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 12/03/2025.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for a rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Amendment Status
The amendment filed on 12/03/2025 in reply to the previous Office action mailed on 09/04/2025 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1-8, 11-18, and 22-25.
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.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Newly added and previously unpresented claim 22 recites the limitation “wherein a second end of said at least one metal region is in contact with at least one of: the cover or a first thermally-conductive layer that is, itself, in contact with the cover. Newly added and previously unpresented claim 23, dependent on claim 22, subsequently recites the limitation “wherein the first thermally-conductive layer is electrically-insulating”. In the instance that only “the cover” is chosen to apply to claim 22, no “first thermally-conductive layer” would be present to provide antecedent basis for “the first thermally-conductive layer” recited in dependent claim 23. Moreover, no other parental claim for claim 23 recites “a first thermally-conductive layer” in accordance with the limitations of claim 23. Accordingly, there is insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation “wherein the first thermally-conductive layer is electrically-insulating” in claim 23.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8, 11-18, 22, and 24-25 are allowed.
Claims 23 is objected to but would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the 35 U.S.C. § 112 rejections put forth in this Office action. No new matter should be added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to the claims, in accordance with the previous Office action mailed on 09/04/2025, have overcome the claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102 and 35 U.S.C. § 103 as previously formulated in the Office action mailed on 09/04/2025. Accordingly, all previous claim rejections are hereby also withdrawn. However, the amendments filed on 12/03/2025 include newly added and previously unpresented claims that necessitate new grounds of rejection.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the newly added claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, this action is made final. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire three months from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within two months of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the three-month shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than six months from the mailing date of this final action.
Papers related to this application may be submitted directly to Art Unit 2814 by facsimile transmission. Papers should be faxed to Art Unit 2814 via the Art Unit 2814 Fax Center. The faxing of such papers must conform to the notice published in the Official Gazette, 1096 OG 30 (15 November 1989). The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center number is (571) 273-8300. The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center is to be used only for papers related to Art Unit 2814 applications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shamita Hanumasagar at (703) 756-1521 and between the hours of 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Thursday or by e-mail via Shamita.Hanumasagar@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Wael Fahmy, can be reached on (571) 272-1705.
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/Shamita S. Hanumasagar/Examiner, Art Unit 2814
/WAEL M FAHMY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2814