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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 11/01/2023 has been considered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species I (Figs. 1-7), claims 1-5, 7-12 and 14-16, without travers in the Applicant’s response on 08/21/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 6 and 13 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
In this Office Action, claims 6 and 13 are withdrawn and claims 1-5, 7-12 and 14-16 are examined.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to for poor grammar, in the clause “wherein at least a portion of the first withdrawal portion extend to the first recess, and at least a portion of the second withdrawal portion and second recesses...”. Examiner interprets the clause to mean “wherein at least a portion of the first withdrawal portion extend to the first recess, and at least a portion of the second withdrawal portion extend to the second recess”.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1,3-5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et. al. (hereinafter Park), U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0381170, in view of Lim et al. (hereinafter Lim), U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0035404.
Regarding Claim 1, Park teaches (except where italicized), a coil component (Fig. 4) comprising:
a body (10) including a core (110), and a first surface and a second surface (left, right sides, L-direction, Fig. 1) opposing each other in a first direction, a third surface and a fourth surface (front, rear sides, W-direction, Fig. 1) opposing each other in a second direction, and a fifth surface and a sixth surface (top, bottom sides, T-direction, Fig 1) opposing each other in a third direction, wherein first and second recesses are formed on the third surface and the fourth surface (id.), respectively;
a coil (210, 220) disposed inside the body, and including a winding portion (211-214) forming at least one turn using [the] core as an axis, and first and second withdrawal portions (231-234) extending to at least one of a first recess or a second recess (R1, R2); and
a first external electrode (100, 200) disposed on the fifth surface of the body, extending to the first (R1) and second recesses, and connected to the first withdrawal portion (231, 232); and
a second external electrode (300, 400) disposed on the fifth surface of the body, extending to the first and second (R2) recesses and connected to the second withdrawal portion (233, 234). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Park does not explicitly teach, a first external electrode disposed on the fifth surface of the body, extending to the first and second recesses, and connected to the first withdrawal portion; and
a second external electrode disposed on the fifth surface of the body, extending to the first and second recesses and connected to the second withdrawal portion.
However, Lim teaches (Fig. 4), a first external electrode (300, 500) disposed on the fifth surface (bottom) of the body, extending to the first (R) and second recesses (R), and connected to the first withdrawal portion (241); and
a second external electrode (400, 500) disposed on the fifth surface (bottom) of the body, extending to the first and second recesses (R) and connected to the second withdrawal portion (242). (Lim: Figs. 1-7, 9 and 10, para. [0042], [0056] [0064]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the coil component of Park to include the external electrodes disposed on the fifth surface of the body, extending to the first and second recesses, and connected to the withdrawal portions of Lim, the motivation being so that “the first connection portion 310 disposed in a region among internal walls and lower surfaces of the recesses R in which the first lead-out portion 231 is exposed and may thus be in contact with and connected to the first lead-out portion 231, and the first pad portion 320 extends from the first connection portion 310 to the sixth surface 106 of the body 100” [0078]. (Lim: Figs. 1-7, 9 and 10, para. [0078]). Therefore, the limitation of Claim 1 would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein at least a portion of the first withdrawal portion (231, 232) extend to the first recess (R1), and at least a portion of the second withdrawal portion (233, 234) and second [recess] (R2). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein each of the first and second external electrodes includes an extension portion disposed on the fifth surface of the body (Park, Fig. 1) and a connection portion connected to the extension portion and disposed on internal surfaces of the first and second recesses (id.), the first withdrawal portion is in contact with the connection portion of the first external electrode disposed at the first recess (id.), and the second withdrawal portion is in contact with the connection portion of the second external electrode disposed at the second recess (id.). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein at least portion of the first withdrawal portion extends to the first recess (id.). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein the withdrawal portion is disposed to be biased to one of the third surface and the fourth surface of the body, and the withdrawal portion does not form a turn using the core as an axis (id.). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein the withdrawal portion is connected to the winding portion in the first direction of the body (id.). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein the withdrawal portion is connected to the winding portion in the second direction of the body (id., using the broadest reasonable interpretation of ‘connected’). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, further comprising: a first insulating layer (610, Fig. 4) disposed on the body and the first and second external electrodes, wherein the first insulating layer is disposed along internal surfaces of the first and second recesses (id.), and covers connection portions of the first and second external electrodes (id.), and exposes extension portions of each of the first and second external electrodes (id.). (Park: Figs. 4, 6 and 7, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, further comprising: a support substrate (251) included in the body, wherein the coil is formed on at least one surface of the support substrate (id.). (Park: Figs. 4, 6 and 7, para. [0034]).
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein the first and second withdrawal portions (231-234) are disposed on one surface of the support substrate opposing the fifth surface of the body and are spaced apart from each other (id.), and the coil further comprises: a first winding portion disposed on one surface of the support substrate (id.) and being contact with the first withdrawal portion (id.), and spaced apart from the second withdrawal portion (id.), and a second winding portion (id.) disposed on the other surface opposing to the one surface of the support substrate, and a via (221, 222) penetrating through the support substrate to connect the first winding portion to the second winding portion (id.). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Park in view of Lim further teaches, wherein the coil further comprises: a first auxiliary withdrawal portion (241-244) disposed on the other surface of the support substrate, and being contact with the second winding portion and connected to the second withdrawal portion (id.). (Park: Figs. 1-4, 6-8, 10 and 11, para. [0034], [0037], [0047], [0054], [0057]).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yang et al. (US 20210057138) and Kim et al. (US 20210366641).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 9 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if any of claims 2, 9 and 11 is rewritten in independent form including all of the limitation of the base claims and any intervening claims.
Claim 2 recites, inter alia, “…wherein the first and second external electrodes are spaced apart from each other in the first direction of the body”. (Emphasis added).
Claim 9 recites, inter alia, “…wherein the withdrawal portion is parallel to the first surface of the body, and extends by a surface passing through a center of the core”. (Emphasis added).
Claim 11 recites, inter alia, “…wherein the withdrawal portion is substantially parallel to the third surface of the body, and extends by a surface passing through a center of the core”. (Emphasis added).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MALCOLM BARNES whose telephone number is (408)918-7512. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00 pm (PST).
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/MALCOLM BARNES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
10/12/2026
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