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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Imamura et al. (US 2019/0031566).
Regarding claim 1, Imamura discloses a large-sized silicon nitride sintered substrate, see abstract. The reference further discloses that in order to suppress the substrate to be formed from being curved or waved, a weight plate is placed on a top surface of the greensheet formed for producing the silicon nitride substrate [0076-0083], see Figures 7-10. While the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed thermal conductivity ratio, it is expected the disclosed silicon nitride substrate will have the same thermal conductivity variation (i.e. the claimed ratio) given the disclosed and claimed substrates are formed using the same or similar method (i.e. molding Si powder into greensheets, placing a weight on the greensheet to prevent it from being curved or waved after sintering, stacking the greensheets in a vertical frame, and nitriding the Si powder); see Imamura [0066-0091] and Applicant’s specification [0047-0052]. See also MPEP 2112.01 I: “Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established.”
Regarding claim 2, the reference discloses the substrate has a main surface of a shape larger than a square having a side of a length of 120 mm or than a rectangle of 150 mm x 170 mm [0019]. Note that the ranges in Imamura are considered to disclose the claimed range with “sufficient specificity” so as to anticipate the claimed range; see MPEP 2131.03 II.
Regarding claims 3 and 4, while the reference does not specifically disclose the claimed thermal conductivity values, given the reference discloses a substrate of the same or similar composition produced by the same or similar method, it is expected the disclosed silicon nitride substrate will have the same properties regarding thermal conductivity values; see above discussion and MPEP 2112.01 I and II.
Conclusion
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/LAURA A AUER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783