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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/14/2026 has been entered.
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 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Magera et al. (US PG. Pub. 2008/0121420) in view of Yamaguchi et al. (US PG. Pub. 2006/0194031).
Regarding claim 1 – Magera teaches a printed wiring board (figs. 1-3) comprising: a base (110 [paragraph 0025] Magera states, “insulating dielectric core 110”) having a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface) positioned opposite to the first surface (see fig. 3), wherein a through hole (140 [paragraph 0023] Magera states, “aperture 140”) reaching the second surface (bottom surface) from the first surface (top surface) is formed in the base (110), wherein a first opening (upper opening) being an open end of the through hole (140) is formed in the first surface (top surface) of the base (110), wherein a second opening (lower opening) being an open end of the through hole (140) is formed in the second surface (bottom surface) of the base (110), the printed wiring board further comprising a conductor layer (350/340 [paragraph 0023] Magera states, “copper 340, 350 is also plated on the walls of the mechanically drilled aperture 140”) disposed at least inside the through hole (140), the conductor layer (350/340) extending from the first surface (top surface) to the second surface (bottom surface), wherein the base (110) includes a first protrusion (see protrusion that narrows the through hole 140 at the first surface) protruding from an edge portion of the first opening (see annotated figure 3 below), wherein the first opening (upper opening adjacent to the protrusion) has a first opening width in a first cross section passing through the first protrusion and a center of the first opening and taken along a thickness direction of the base (see annotated figure 3 below), wherein the second opening (opening at the second surface) has a second opening width in the first cross section, wherein the first opening width is smaller than the second opening width (claimed structure shown in annotated figure 3 below), wherein the first protrusion includes a first conductor layer (130 [paragraph 0025] Magera states, “metal foil 120, 130 such as copper”), and wherein the first conductor layer (130) extends to a region adjacent to, but not beyond, the first opening at the first surface (top surface) of the base (110; claimed structure shown in figure 3 and annotated figure 3 below).
Magera fails to teach a first conductor layer including a material differing from a material of the conductor layer.
Yamaguchi teaches a printed wiring board (fig. 7D [title] Yamaguchi states, “wiring substrate”) having a first conductor layer (25 [paragraph 0047 & 0030 & 0029] Yamaguchi states, “plating foundation layer 25…The first plating foundation layer 2 and the second plating foundation layer 9 formed using the insulating resin particles containing metal particulates become insulating resin layers containing metal particulates…the metal particulates to be contained in the insulating resin particles are preferably composed of Cu, Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ni or the like”) and a conductor layer (28 [paragraph 0051 & claim 6] Yamaguchi states, “metal plating layers 28…the metal plating layer is composed of Cu, Ag, Au, or an alloy containing these”) wherein the first conductor layer (25) including a material differing from a material of the conductor layer (28; each of these layers are made of different materials as discussed above).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the printed wiring board having a first conductor layer on the first protrusion but not extending beyond the first opening and a conductor layer extending from the first to second surface of the base within the through hole as taught by Magera with the first conductor layer includes a material different from a material of the conductor layer as taught by Yamaguchi because Yamaguchi states, “The metal particulates existing in the insulating resin layer serves as plating catalysts” [paragraph 0030]. This plating catalyst will allow faster processing, enhanced conductivity, superior corrosion resistance, thereby improving the reliability regarding the completed wirings/circuits.
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Regarding claim 5 - Magera in view of Yamaguchi teach the printed wiring board according to claim 3, wherein the material of the first conductive layer (Yamaguchi; fig. 7D, 25) include nickel or chromium ([paragraph 0047 & 0030 & 0029] Yamaguchi states, “plating foundation layer 25…The first plating foundation layer 2 and the second plating foundation layer 9 formed using the insulating resin particles containing metal particulates become insulating resin layers containing metal particulates…the metal particulates to be contained in the insulating resin particles are preferably composed of Cu, Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, Ni or the like”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 13 and 14 are 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 5 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN T SAWYER whose telephone number is (571)270-5469. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 am - 5pm.
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/STEVEN T SAWYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847