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 without traverse of Group I, claims 1-6 and 8 in the reply filed on 2/13/2026 is acknowledged.
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 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii et al. [JP 2018-190828 A] in view of Kasumata et al. [JP 2020-136582 A].
Regarding claim 1, Fujii et al. discloses a coil component [10] comprising:
- a magnetic element body [11, 12] made of resin containing conductive magnetic powder [ferrite or metal magnetic powder made of a permalloy-based material];
- a coil part [20] obtained by alternately stacking a plurality of conductor layers and a plurality of interlayer insulating layers, the plurality of conductor layers including a coil conductor pattern embedded in the magnetic element body and an electrode pattern exposed from the magnetic element body; and
- an external terminal [E1, E2] provided on the electrode pattern.
Fujii et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for a protective insulating layer covering the magnetic element body in such a manner as to expose the external terminal therethrough.
Katsumata et al. discloses a coil component [20, figures 3-5] comprising:
- a coil structure [C1, C2] arranged in a magnetic resin molded body [21 and 40],
- external electrodes [E1, E2] arranged on the molded body; and
- insulating coating layer formed on the magnetic resin molder body [40] to ensured insulation with external electrodes exposed for external connection [figure 1].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include insulation layer on the magnetic body of Fujii et al., as suggested by Katsumata et al., for the purpose of providing insulation for the magnetic body of the device.
Regarding claim 4, Katsumata et al. discloses a surface of the external terminal and a part of a surface of the protective insulating layer in a vicinity around the external terminal are flush with each other [figure 1].
Regarding claim 5, conductive paste is known material use for external electrode terminals.
Regarding claim 6, Fujii et al. further discloses the external terminal is exposed to one surface of the coil component that is perpendicular to a stacking direction of the conductor layers and interlayer insulating layers [40, 43, 44] and formed over an entire width of the one surface in the stacking direction [figure 6].
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii et al. in view of Katsumata et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ito et al. [WO 2012053439 A1].
Fuji et al. in view of Katsumata et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the protective insulating layer covers an entire surface of the magnetic element body.
Ito et al. discloses a coil component [30, figures 10a, 10b] comprising:
- a magnetic body [15, 16];
- a coil structure [12, 13] arranged inside the magnetic body;
- an insulating coating layer [19] formed on entire surface of the magnetic body [figure 10a]; and
- external electrodes [17a, 17b] arranged on the magnetic body [figure 10b].
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to cover entire of the magnetic body of Fujii et al. with insulating coating layer, as suggested by Ito, for the purpose of improving insulation.
Claim(s) 3 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujii et al. in view of Katsumata et al. and Ito et al., as applied to claims 1-2 above, and further in view of Ohkubo et al. [US 11,961,652 B2].
Regarding claims 3 and 8, Fujii et al., as modified, disclose the instant claimed invention except for the magnetic body having unevenness surface.
Ohkubo et al. discloses a coil component [1, figure 2] comprising:
- an element body [10] having unevenness surface due to magnetic powder and resin [summary of invention];
- a coil structure [20] arranged inside the element body;
- an insulating layer [45] cover the element body; and
- external electrodes [40A, 40B] arranged on the element body.
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 element body and insulating layer arrangement of Ohkubo et al. in Fujii et al. for the purpose of smoothened the magnetic body.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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