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) submitted on April 7, 2023, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar et al. (US 2005/0045374 A1) in view of Sugawara et al. (JP 2002171033 A) and CHUO et al.(US 2019/0067847 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Kumar et al. discloses a flexible substrate(abstract, claim 1) which is composed of a polyimide material having a fixed size(para 0037, and I am taking the limitation as “fixed size” to mean fixed in size at a resting state, since this limitation is not clearly defined), and on which a circuit pattern is formed(fig 2A, 142); one or more mounting pad parts formed to cause electronic parts to be mounted to the flexible substrate(fig 2A, 144a, 144b); a wiring pattern configured to electrically connect a first mounting pad part and a second mounting pad part which are adjacent to each other from the flexible substrate(fig 2A), wherein the wiring pattern is configured in such a shape that both end portions form a shape like the Arabic numeral 2 on the whole in between the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part, and each of both the end portions in the shape like the Arabic numeral 2 is bent and extends two times in different directions from each other in a streamline form, thereby being connected to each of the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part(If in fig 2A, wiring pattern 142 is divided in half, each half of the wiring pattern has two bends which extend in different directions and generally looks like an Arabic 2) .
Kumar et al. does not disclose a hollow part formed to make a space vacant in such a manner as to perform cutting along an outer circumferential line of the circuit pattern composed of the mounting pad parts and the wiring pattern from the flexible substrate. However, CHUO et al. discloses a hollow part formed to make a space vacant in such a manner as to perform cutting along an outer circumferential line of the circuit pattern composed of the mounting pad parts and the wiring pattern from the flexible substrate(fig 1, 5, stating this allows for contact surfaces to separately and individually contact points so as to eliminate… undesired starching of the substrate para 0024).
Regarding claim 4, Kumar et al. discloses wherein the flexible substrate is composed in a double-sided flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) type which shows that copper foil is formed to cause electronic parts to be mounted to a front surface and a back surface(para 0031, para 0037).
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyce et al. (US 20100330338 A1) in view of Sugawara et al. (JP 2002171033 A) and Li (US 7429177 B2)
Regarding Claim 1 – Boyce teaches a stretchable substrate (Boyce [Abstract] states “A flexible and stretchable patterned substrate”), comprising: a flexible substrate which is composed of a polyimide material (Figs 6A-D; PCB 84; Boyce [0038] states “The PCB 84 substrate material is Kapton (polyimide)”) having a fixed size, and on which a circuit pattern is formed (Figs 5A-D; 66/70/72/76; Boyce [0031] states “To construct the traces, both additive and subtractive methods can be employed” and Boyce [0034] states “The board 72 is then etched… the required pattern 76 can be imparted… using laser or die cutting” therefore fixed size is inherent); one or more mounting pad parts formed to cause electronic parts to be mounted to the flexible substrate (Figs 4A-B; Boyce [0032] states “a solder/flux mixture is applied to the pads on the PCB… to form a solid conductive bond between the PCB and chip” and Boyce [0029] states “This device 54 includes two light emitting diodes (LEDs) 60 connected with conductive silver ink interconnects 56”); a wiring pattern configured to electrically connect a first mounting pad part and a second mounting pad part (Fig 4A-B; Boyce [0024] states “connecting them via conductive interconnects (conductive traces, signal pathways…)” and Boyce [0029] quoted above); and a hollow part formed to make a space vacant in such a manner as to perform cutting along an outer circumferential line of the circuit pattern composed of the mounting pad parts and the wiring pattern from the flexible substrate (Figs 2A-2F; Boyce [0026] states “the patterns can be formed by slits, cuts, through-holes…”; Boyce [0033] states “laser-cutting, stamping, die-cutting… registered (so as not to cut through traces or components)”; Boyce [0034] quoted above; and Boyce [0035] states “only the substrate needs to be cut”).
Boyce fails to disclose two mounting pad parts which are adjacent to each other from the flexible substrate; wherein the wiring pattern is configured in such a shape that both end portions form a shape like the Arabic numeral 2 on the whole in between the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part, and each of both the end portions in the shape like the Arabic numeral 2 is bent and extends two times in different directions from each other in a streamline form, thereby being connected to each of the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part.
Sugawara teaches two mounting pad parts which are adjacent to each other from the flexible substrate (Fig 1; Sugawara [0011] states “connector terminal portions 1a and 1b are portions to be connected… flexible printed circuit board connecting portion 1c… connects between the connector terminal portions”); wherein the wiring pattern is configured in such a shape that… on the whole in between the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part (Fig 1; Sugawara [0015] states “the shape of the flexible printed circuit board connecting portion 1c is shown as a Z shape”; Sugawara [0019-0020] states “when they are bent in a U shape, It has a twisted orbit… the bending ratio is smaller… cracks can be prevented”).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce with two mounting pad parts which are adjacent to each other from the flexible substrate; wherein the wiring pattern is configured in such a shape that… on the whole in between the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part as taught by Sugawara to get the benefit of reducing bending stress and bending ratio in the inter-pad connecting portion, thereby preventing cracks (Sugawara [0017-0021]), in view of the recognized cracking problem in FPCBs when they are repeatedly bent (Sugawara [0005-0007]).
Li teaches the wiring pattern… both end portions form a shape like the Arabic numeral 2… and each of both the end portions in the shape like the Arabic numeral 2 is bent and extends two times in different directions from each other in a streamline form, thereby being connected to each of the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part (Fig 2; 212/213/214;Li (Detailed Description para 11) states “each of the opposite edges of the junction portion 214 has a gently curving, generally S-shaped configuration… two arcuate bends arranged end-to-end” and Fig 1; Li (para 10) sates “the fingers 213 function as connection pads. The line portion 212… connects with the finger 213 via the junction portion 214”).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce with the wiring pattern… both end portions form a shape like the Arabic numeral 2… and each of both the end portions in the shape like the Arabic numeral 2 is bent and extends two times in different directions from each other in a streamline form, thereby being connected to each of the first mounting pad part and the second mounting pad part as taught by Li because Li (Detailed description para 11) states “less liable to fracture or break when the FPC board 2 is bent or folded”.
Regarding Claim 3 – Boyce in view of Sugawara and Li teaches the stretchable substrate of claim 1, wherein the hollow part is configured in such a manner as to cut the outer circumferential line set to be suitable for a position of the circuit pattern using a punching jig in which the blade for cutting the outer circumferential line of the circuit pattern is formed (Figs 2A-F; Boyce [0026, 0033, 0034, and 0035] quoted above).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyce et al. (US 20100330338 A1) in view of Sugawara et al. (JP 2002171033 A) and Li (US 7429177 B2) in further view of Tan (US 20060225914 A1)
Regarding Claim 4 – Boyce in view of Sugawara and Li teaches the stretchable substrate of claim 1, but fails to disclose wherein the flexible substrate is composed in a double-sided flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) type which shows that copper foil is formed to cause electronic parts to be mounted to a front surface and a back surface.
Tan teaches the flexible substrate is composed in a double-sided flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) type which shows that copper foil is formed to cause electronic parts to be mounted to a front surface and a back surface (Fig 2A; Tan [0019] states “a flexible printed circuit board 20 includes a flexible substrate 11, a first conductive foil layer 13a [lower surface]… an second conductive foil layer 13 [upper surface]”; Tan [0022] states “The second and first conductive foil layers 13, 13a are made from a roiled copper or an electrolytic copper”; and Tan [0026] states “The first and second conductive foil layers are etched to form a foil pattern”).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce in view of Sugawara and Li with the flexible substrate is composed in a double-sided flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) type which shows that copper foil is formed to cause electronic parts to be mounted to a front surface and a back surface as taught by Tan to get the benefit of increasing the number of pins while remaining suitable in flexibility and achieving better flexibility with a larger layout area (Tan [0020, 0027, 0028]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyce et al. (US 20100330338 A1) in view of Sugawara et al. (JP 2002171033 A) and Li (US 7429177 B2) in further view of Rosenfeld (US 9620985 B2)
Regarding Claim 5 – Boyce in view of Sugawara and Li teaches the stretchable substrate of claim 1, including mounting pad parts on the flexible substrate (Figs 4A-B; Boyce [0032]), however fails to disclose wherein a coil configured to receive wireless power is included in any one of the mounting pad parts or the plurality of mounting pad parts located on the front surface or the back surface of the flexible substrate.
Rosenfeld teaches a coil configured to receive wireless power on a flexible substrate (Fig 1; Rosenfeld [Description para 13] states “The device 102 may be configured to receive a charge from a charging device 104 having a transmitting coil 106”; Fig 2A [para 15] states “The wireless power receiving unit 200 includes a first receiving coil 202, and a second receiving coil 204… Both receiving coils 202 and 204 are connected to a receiving circuit 208”; Figs 3A-3B; [para 25] states “the second receiving coil 304 may be formed on a flexible printed circuit board”; and Fig 4; [para 29] states “a vertically disposed transmitting coil 402 may couple to the second receiving coil 204”). When mounted on the mounting pad parts taught by Boyce in view of Sugawara and Li and placed on either the front or back surface, the limitation is met.
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce in view of Sugawara and Li with a coil configured to receive wireless power is included in any one of the mounting pad parts or the plurality of mounting pad parts located on the front surface or the back surface of the flexible substrate as taught by Rosenfeld to get the benefit of enabling inductive charging (para 13 quoted above) and multiple charging options (Fig 5; [para 30] states “The aspects described herein enable a user at least two surface options when charging a device”).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyce et al. (US 20100330338 A1) in view of Sugawara et al. (JP 2002171033 A) and Li (US 7429177 B2) and Tan (US 20060225914 A1) in further view of Majidi et al. (US 20200413533 A1) and Jiang et al. (US 20150342050 A1)
Regarding Claim 6 – Boyce in view of Sugawara, Li, and Tan teaches the stretchable substrate of claim 4, but fails to disclose wherein light-emitting diode (LED) elements are installed in an array form on the mounting pad parts formed on the front surface of the flexible substrate, and the flexible substrate is composed of LED operation devices intended for making the LEDs work as the electronic parts operating based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and a battery are mounted to the mounting pad parts formed on the back surface, wherein the battery comprises battery array in which the plurality of batteries each disposed in the plurality of mounting pad parts are furnished.
Majidi teaches wherein light-emitting diode (LED) elements are installed in an array form on the mounting pad parts formed on the front surface of the flexible substrate (Fig 15; 300; Majidi [0038, 0042] teaches LED modules on the device the device that includes “an RGB LED module” and sensors/LEDs “facing outwards”), and the flexible substrate is composed of LED operation devices intended for making the LEDs work as the electronic parts operating based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) (Fig 15; 300; Majidi [0038] states “processor with Bluetooth low energy (BLE)… responsible for… control of the… RGB LED module”) and a battery are mounted to the mounting pad parts formed on the back surface (Fig 4/15; 300; Majidi [0036-0038, 0045] teaches the flexible PCB “contains a Bluetooth transceiver and is powered with a coin cell battery” bonded onto the same stretchable substrate).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce in view of Sugawara, Li, and Tan with light-emitting diode (LED) elements are installed in an array form on the mounting pad parts formed on the front surface of the flexible substrate, and the flexible substrate is composed of LED operation devices intended for making the LEDs work as the electronic parts operating based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and a battery are mounted to the mounting pad parts formed on the back surface as taught by Majidi to get the benefit of a wireless, body-worn system that drives LEDs under BLE control (Fig 4/15; Majidi [0038] quoted above and [0045] states “The wearable system is lightweight (less than 5 grams) and thin enough to fit under an examination glove”) with a coin cell battery on the same flexible substrate.
Jiang teaches wherein the battery comprises battery array in which the plurality of batteries each disposed in the plurality of mounting pad parts are furnished (Figs 1-2; Jiang [0032] states “a plurality of functional bodies 12… each functional body 12 can comprise a substrate 16… and at least one device 18 attached thereto or formed integrally with the substrate”; Figs 5-6; Jiang [0042] states “the functional device 18 and the substrate can be aligned and brought together… flip-chip bonding… to couple the device to the substrate”; Fig 5a; Jiang [0054] states “battery arrays… can be fabricated and bonded with origami patterns… to improve the capacity of batteries… a three dimensional (3-D) battery… folded to form a compact structure”).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce in view of Sugawara, Li, and Tan with the battery comprises battery array in which the plurality of batteries each disposed in the plurality of mounting pad parts are furnished as taught by Jiang to obtain increased energy capacity (Jiang [0054] quoted above) while keeping the system compact by folding multiple battery modules closer together (Jiang [0053] states “the folding process brings the functional bodies closer together, effectively making the overall product more compact”).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyce et al. (US 20100330338 A1) in view of Sugawara et al. (JP 2002171033 A) and Li (US 7429177 B2) and Rosenfeld (US 9620985 B2) in further view of Majidi et al. (US 20200413533 A1) and Jiang et al. (US 20150342050 A1)
Regarding Claim 6 – Boyce in view of Sugawara, Li, and Rosenfeld teaches the stretchable substrate of claim 5, but fails to disclose wherein light-emitting diode (LED) elements are installed in an array form on the mounting pad parts formed on the front surface of the flexible substrate, and the flexible substrate is composed of LED operation devices intended for making the LEDs work as the electronic parts operating based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and a battery are mounted to the mounting pad parts formed on the back surface, wherein the battery comprises battery array in which the plurality of batteries each disposed in the plurality of mounting pad parts are furnished.
Majidi teaches wherein light-emitting diode (LED) elements are installed in an array form on the mounting pad parts formed on the front surface of the flexible substrate (Fig 15; 300; Majidi [0038, 0042] teaches LED modules on the device the device that includes “an RGB LED module” and sensors/LEDs “facing outwards”), and the flexible substrate is composed of LED operation devices intended for making the LEDs work as the electronic parts operating based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) (Fig 15; 300; Majidi [0038] states “processor with Bluetooth low energy (BLE)… responsible for… control of the… RGB LED module”) and a battery are mounted to the mounting pad parts formed on the back surface (Fig 4/15; 300; Majidi [0036-0038, 0045] teaches the flexible PCB “contains a Bluetooth transceiver and is powered with a coin cell battery” bonded onto the same stretchable substrate).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce in view of Sugawara, Li, and Rosenfeld with light-emitting diode (LED) elements are installed in an array form on the mounting pad parts formed on the front surface of the flexible substrate, and the flexible substrate is composed of LED operation devices intended for making the LEDs work as the electronic parts operating based on Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and a battery are mounted to the mounting pad parts formed on the back surface as taught by Majidi to get the benefit of a wireless, body-worn system that drives LEDs under BLE control (Fig 4/15; Majidi [0038] quoted above and [0045] states “The wearable system is lightweight (less than 5 grams) and thin enough to fit under an examination glove”) with a coin cell battery on the same flexible substrate.
Jiang teaches wherein the battery comprises battery array in which the plurality of batteries each disposed in the plurality of mounting pad parts are furnished (Figs 1-2; Jiang [0032] states “a plurality of functional bodies 12… each functional body 12 can comprise a substrate 16… and at least one device 18 attached thereto or formed integrally with the substrate”; Figs 5-6; Jiang [0042] states “the functional device 18 and the substrate can be aligned and brought together… flip-chip bonding… to couple the device to the substrate”; Fig 5a; Jiang [0054] states “battery arrays… can be fabricated and bonded with origami patterns… to improve the capacity of batteries… a three dimensional (3-D) battery… folded to form a compact structure”).
It would have been obvious for a person with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided the stretchable substrate of Boyce in view of Sugawara, Li, and Rosenfeld with the battery comprises battery array in which the plurality of batteries each disposed in the plurality of mounting pad parts are furnished as taught by Jiang to obtain increased energy capacity (Jiang [0054] quoted above) while keeping the system compact by folding multiple battery modules closer together (Jiang [0053] states “the folding process brings the functional bodies closer together, effectively making the overall product more compact”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/ADITYA SHARMA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847