DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Elections/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I and Species 1 (Claims 1-14) in the reply filed on 06/29/2026 is acknowledged. However, since applicant did not distinctly indicate whether election is with or without traverse and did not point out any supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.03(a) and 818.03(c)).
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.
Claims 1, and 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Terauchi (US 20200176170 A1).
Regarding Claim 1:
Terauchi teaches that an electronic component, comprising:
an element body (100, Fig. 1B; para 0036-0045) including multiple flat plate-shaped magnetic thin strips (10, i.e. green sheet see para 0044) including
a magnetic material (see para 0039) of a sintered body, the multiple magnetic thin strips being laminated in a lamination direction (i.e. H direction in Fig. 1A) orthogonal to a main face of one of the magnetic thin strips; and
a wiring line (30, Fig. 1B) extending along the main face inside the element body.
Regarding Claim 5:
As applied to claim 1, Terauchi teaches that the magnetic thin strip includes at least one of Fe, Ni, an alloy including an Fe element and an Si element (see para 0039), {an alloy including the Fe element and an Ni element, and an alloy including the Fe element and a Co element.}
Regarding Claim 6:
As applied to claim 1, Terauchi teaches that in the magnetic thin strip, multiple magnetic metal particles are bonded via an insulative substance (i.e. resin, see para 0039).
Regarding Claim 7:
As applied to claim 6, Terauchi teaches that the insulative substance includes an O element (i.e. oxide; see para 0039).
Regarding Claim 8:
As applied to claim 6, Terauchi teaches that the insulative substance includes an Si element ( see para 0039).
Regarding Claim 9:
As applied to claim 6, Terauchi teaches that the insulative substance includes a Cr element (i.e. oxide; see para 0039).
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.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Terauchi in view of Washida (US 20200013729 A1).
Regarding Claim 12:
As applied to claim 1, Terauchi teaches the magnetic and nonmagnetic layer except the element body includes an interlayer nonmagnetic portion including a nonmagnetic material of a sintered body between the magnetic thin strips adjacent to each
other in the lamination direction of the multiple magnetic thin strips.
However, Washida taught in para 0026 that nonmagnetic layer 23 is disposed between the first magnetic layer 21 and the second magnetic layer 22.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have the element body includes an interlayer nonmagnetic portion including a nonmagnetic material of a sintered body between the magnetic thin strips adjacent to each other in the lamination direction of the multiple magnetic thin strips to provide better insulation between two adjacent magnetic strips.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 14, 10-11 and 13 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 recites, wherein when "M" and "N" are positive integers, at least one of "M" and "N" is two or more, and the magnetic thin strip closest to the wiring line in the lamination direction among the multiple magnetic thin strips is a first magnetic thin strip, at a same position as the first magnetic thin strip in the lamination direction, the "M" magnetic thin strips are side by side in a direction along a first reference axis orthogonal to the lamination direction, and the "N" magnetic thin strips are side by side in a direction along a second reference axis orthogonal to the lamination direction and the first reference axis. Claims 2-4, and 14 are directly or indirectly depend on claim 2. Therefore, Claims 2-4, and 14 are also allowed.
Claim 10 recites, when an axis along which the wiring line extends is a center axis, an axis along the main face in a sectional view orthogonal to the center axis is a first axis, an axis orthogonal to the main face in the sectional view is a second axis, and one of two directions along the first axis is a first positive direction, and in the sectional view, an end of the wiring line in the first positive direction is a first wiring end, the magnetic thin strip having a shortest distance from the first wiring end in a direction along the second axis among the magnetic thin strips laminated relative to the wiring line in the direction along the second axis is a second magnetic thin strip, and a range excluding both ends of the second magnetic thin strip in a direction along the first axis is a first range, and a virtual straight line passing through the first wiring end and extending in the direction along the second axis is drawn, the virtual straight line passes through the first range of the second magnetic thin strip. Claim 11 depend on claim 10. Therefore, Claim 11 is also allowed.
Claim 13 recites, the element body includes multiple interlayer nonmagnetic portions, each of which is the interlayer nonmagnetic portion, and a measurement of one of the interlayer nonmagnetic portions in the lamination direction is from 80% to 120% of an average value of measurements of the multiple interlayer nonmagnetic portions in the lamination direction
The references of record do not teach or suggest the aforementioned limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitations.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form 892.
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/KAZI HOSSAIN/
Examiner, Art Unit 2837
/SHAWKI S ISMAIL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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