Claims 1-3, 6-9, and 11-21 are currently pending with claims 4, 5, and 10 being canceled. Claims 3, and 11-20 have been withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. Claims 1, 2, 6-9 and 21 are rejected.
The 112 rejection has been withdrawn in view of the amendment and response filed on 1/15/2026.
The 102 rejection over Ogura has been overcome in view of the amendment filed on 1/15/2026. However, the rejection over Ogura in view of Purinton has been maintained.
The rejection over Blackwell has been maintained.
New ground of rejection is made in view of newly discovered reference to Kattannek et al. (US 2009/0081444).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2008/0314636 to Ogura (hereinafter “Ogura”) in view of US 5,805,424 to Purinton (hereinafter “Purinton”).
As to claims 1 and 2, Ogura discloses a multilayer shielded wire comprising an insulating film of polyethylene 14 having a plurality of through holes and two conductor layers of metal foil 13, 15 on both surfaces of the insulating film (figure 2). The through holes are filled with metal rods, metal particles or conductive pigments 22 (paragraph 54). The metal rod provides an electrically conductive path between the two conductor layers (paragraph 54). The metal rod reads on the claimed metallic link.
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Ogura does not explicitly disclose the through hole being a micropore partially filled by the metal rod such that each through hole comprises a void that extend through the first and second sides of the insulating film, the void extending through the thickness of the insulating film
Purinton, however, discloses a microelectronic assembly comprising first and second chips 61, 62 interconnected by a first nanoporous anisotropically conductive film 63 having at least some of its pores filled with a metal (figure 10; column 9, lines 30-40). The chips are interconnected with substrate 64 by a second nanoporous anisotropically conductive film 65 (figure 10). The pores of the nanoporous film have an average pore diameter of 1 nm to 10 microns (column 3, lines 1-10). In particular, the pores are filled with 5-micron diameter metal fibrils (figure 2, and column 7, lines 65-67). The anisotropically conductive film reads on the claimed microporous film due to the presence of the pores having a diameter of at least 5 microns.
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The nanoporous anisotropically conductive film includes a number of partially-filled pores, completely-filled pores and unfilled pores (column 9, lines 45-50; column 10, lines 1-10; figure 13).
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Ogura and Purinton are from analogous arts because they both relate to connection of conductor layers using a non-conductive film having metal-filled through-pores. Therefore, the teachings in one reference will be relevant to the other. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have considered the disclosure of Purinton regarding partially filled pores and a microporous non-conductive film, in conjunction with disclosure of Ogura.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute a nanoporous anisotropically conductive film having partially filled pores disclosed in Purinton for the insulating film disclosed in Ogura motivated by the desire to allow the film to exhibit better compressibility and lower modulus of elasticity than a non-porous film having the same composition.
As to claim 6, Ogura discloses that the metal rod conductively bridges the two conductors together (figure 2, and paragraph 54).
As to claims 7 and 8, Ogura discloses that the metal rod is configured such that the insulating film is electrically conductive through a thickness thereof (figure 2, and paragraph 54).
As to claim 9, Ogura discloses that the conductor layer is made of copper (paragraph 80).
Response to Arguments
Applicant alleges that neither Ogura nor Purinton discloses or suggests metallic links extending through the micropores of the polymer core, wherein the micropores are partially filled by the metallic link such that each micropore includes a void that extends through the first and second sides of the polymer core such that the void extends through the thickness of the polymer core.
The examiner respectfully disagrees.
The combined disclosures of Ogura and Purinton result in a multilayer shielded wire where an insulating film is nanoporous anisotropically conductive film including a number of partially-filled pores, completely-filled pores and unfilled pores (column 9, lines 45-50; column 10, lines 1-10; figure 13).
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The partially filled pores read on the claimed micropores that are partially filled by the metallic link such that each micropore includes a void that extends through the first and second sides of the polymer core such that the void extends through the thickness of the polymer core.
Accordingly, the rejection over Ogura in view of Purinton has been maintained.
Claims 1, 2, and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over US 5,288,541 to Blackwell et al. (hereinafter “Blackwell”).
Blackwell discloses a device comprising a porous film 10 having opposite first and second surfaces and a plurality of through holes 50 extending through the first and second surfaces, wherein the inner wall of the through hole and both sides of the porous film are coated with a seed layer comprising a Cr layer 20, 230 with a thickness of 100 to 500 Angstroms and a Cu layer 25, 240 with a thickness of 3000 to 10,000 Angstroms (figure 1d; and column 7, lines 40-45). The though hole has a diameter of 75 to 1500 microns (column 7, lines 55-60). The porous film thus reads on the claimed microporous polymer core with through-holes extending through the thickness of the porous film. The combined thickness of the Cr and Cu layers is 6125 Angstroms or 0.6125 microns which is smaller than the diameter of the through hole (75 to 1500 microns). Hence, the through hole is partially filled by the seed layer to form a hollow structure corresponding to the claimed void extending through the thickness of the porous film. The seed layer disposed on the inner wall of the through holes reads on the claimed metallic link. The seed layer coated on the inner wall of the through hole would inherently provide an electrically conductive path between the first and second seed layers disposed on the both surfaces of the porous film due to the presence of Cr and Cu.
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As to claim 2, Blackwell discloses that the seed layer is coated on the inner wall of the through hole, corresponding to the claimed metallic link.
As to claims 6, Blackwell discloses that the inner wall of the through hole and both sides of the porous film are coated with a seed layer comprising a Cr layer 20, 230 with a thickness of 100 to 500 Angstroms and a Cu layer 25, 240 with a thickness of 3000 to 10,000 Angstroms (figure 1d and column 7, lines 40-45). The seed layer coated on the inner wall of the through hole conductively bridges the first and second seed layers on both surfaces of the porous film.
As to claim 7, Blackwell discloses that the inner wall of the through hole and both sides of the porous film are coated with a seed layer comprising a Cr layer 20, 230 with a thickness of 100 to 500 Angstroms and a Cu layer 25, 240 with a thickness of 3000 to 10,000 Angstroms (figure 1d and column 7, lines 40-45). The seed layer disposed on the inner wall of the through hole would render the porous film electrically conductive through the thickness thereof due to the presence of Cu and Cr.
As to claim 8, Blackwell discloses that the porous film is a microporous film due to the presence of the through holes therein with a diameter ranging from 75 to 1500 microns (column 7, lines 55-60).
As to claim 9, Blackwell discloses that the inner wall of the through hole and both sides of the porous film are coated with a seed layer comprising a Cr layer 20, 230 with a thickness of 100 to 500 Angstroms, and a Cu layer 25, 240 with a thickness of 3000 to 10,000 Angstroms (figure 1d and column 7, lines 40-45). The seed layer comprises copper.
Response to Arguments
Applicant alleges that Blackwell fails to disclose metallic links extending through the micropores of the polymer core, wherein the micropores are partially filled by the metallic link such that each micropore includes a void that extends through the first and second sides of the polymer core such that the void extends through the thickness of the polymer core.
The examiner respectfully disagrees.
As previously discussed, Blackwell discloses that the inner wall of the through hole and both sides of the porous film are coated with a seed layer comprising a Cr layer 20, 230 with a thickness of 100 to 500 Angstroms, and a Cu layer 25, 240 with a thickness of 3000 to 10,000 Angstroms (figure 1d; and column 7, lines 40-45). The though hole has a diameter of 75 to 1500 microns (column 7, lines 55-60). The porous film reads on the claimed microporous polymer core with the through holes extending through the thickness of the porous film.
The combined thickness of the Cr and Cu layers is 6125 Angstroms or 0.6125 microns which is smaller than the diameter of the through hole (75 to 1500 microns). Hence, the through hole is partially filled by the seed layer to form a hollow structure corresponding to the claimed void extending through the thickness of the porous film. The seed layer disposed on the inner wall of the through hole read on the claimed metallic link. Accordingly, the rejection over Blackwell has been maintained.
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Claims 1, 2, 6-9, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over US 2009/0081444 to Kattannek et al. (hereinafter “Kattannek”).
Kattannek discloses a porous metal foam body obtained through applying one or more layers of molten metal to an open-pore non-metallic substrate and allowing the molten metal to at least partially penetrate into the open pores of the non-metallic substrate (abstract). The open-pore non-metallic substrate can be removed thermally or chemically (paragraph 22); however, it can remain in the final product of the porous metal foam body (examples 1-3). The molten metal is comprised of copper (paragraph 11). The open-pore non-metallic substrate is a polyurethane foam having a thickness of 20 mm, and pores/inch of 5-150 ppi or an average pore size of 0.169 to 5.08 mm or 169 to 5080 microns (paragraph 13). The open pore indicates that the micropores intersect each other and form a network of interconnected chambers within the thickness of the polyurethane foam.
Pore size (mm) = 25.4/ppi
Kattannek discloses that the abundance of pores completely provided with a metallized surface gradually decreases towards the interior of the volume of the porous metal foam body such that almost all pores accessible to the molten metal can be successfully provided with a metallized surface (paragraph 10). The molten metal that fills the open pores reads on the claimed metallic link.
The open-pore foam body has an entire surface covered with a metallic layer (paragraph 14). As shown in paragraph 10, Kattannek discloses:
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The passage indicates that the abundance of metallized surfaces decreases towards the interior of the foam body, implying that the pores allow the molten metal to access and coat surfaces throughout the thickness of the foam body. The open pores must have voids extending through the thickness of the foam body so as to facilitate the metallization process. Hence, the metallic layer provided inside the open pores and on the exterior surface of the foam body would inherently create electrically conductive pathways between the first and the second surfaces of the foam body due to the inclusion of copper.
As to claim 2, Kattannek discloses a porous metal foam body obtained through applying one or more layers of molten metal to an open-pore non-metallic substrate and allowing the molten metal to at least partially penetrate into the open pores of the non-metallic substrate (abstract). The open-pore non-metallic substrate is a polyurethane foam having a thickness of 20 mm, and pores/inch of 5-150 ppi or an average pore size of 0.169 to 5.08 mm or 169 to 5080 microns (paragraph 13).
As to claims 6 and 7, Kattannek discloses that the open-pore foam body has an entire surface covered with a metallic layer (paragraph 14). The abundance of metallized surfaces decreases towards the interior of the foam body (paragraph 10), implying that the pores allow the molten metal to access and coat surfaces throughout the thickness of the foam body. The open pores must have voids extending through the thickness of the foam body so as to facilitate the metallization process. Hence, the metallic layer provided inside the open pores and on the exterior surface of the foam body would inherently create electrically conductive pathways between the first and the second surfaces of the foam body due to the inclusion of copper.
As to claim 8, Kattannek discloses that the open-pore non-metallic substrate is a polyurethane foam having a thickness of 20 mm, and pores/inch of 5-150 ppi or an average pore size of 0.169 to 5.08 mm or 169 to 5080 microns (paragraph 13; and example 1). The open-pore non-metallic substrate reads on the claimed polymeric film.
As to claim 9, Kattannek discloses that the molten metal is comprised of copper (paragraph 11).
As to claim 21, Kattannek discloses that the open-pore non-metallic substrate is a polyurethane foam having a thickness of 20 mm, and pores/inch of 5-150 ppi or an average pore size of 0.169 to 5.08 mm or 169 to 5080 microns (paragraph 13). The open pore indicates that the micropores intersect each other and form a network of interconnected chambers within the thickness of the polyurethane foam.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hai Vo whose telephone number is (571)272-1485. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm with every other Friday off.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alicia Chevalier can be reached at 571-272-1490. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Hai Vo/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788