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 09/05/2023, 11/14/2023, 12/06/2023 and 01/22/2024 have been considered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-13, with traverse in a response on 07/21/2026 is acknowledged. Applicant does not submit any evidence that the inventions are not patentably distinct. Further, if apparatus claims are subsequently found allowable, nonelected process claims including all the limitation of an allowable apparatus claim will be subject to rejoinder. (37 CFR 1. 104). Thus, the restriction is final. In this Office Action, claims 14-19 are withdrawn, and claims 1-13 are examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 6-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 6, the phrase “as claimed in any one of the preceding claims”, is not well defined. Further, the phrases, “a substrate”, “a header component” and “an inductive component” of claim 6 appear to lack antecedent basis.
Regarding Claims 7-13, the claims are indefinite since claim 7-13 depend directly or indirectly on claim 6.
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.
Claims 1, 2 and 4-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deng, Taiwan Patent TW200908463A.
Regarding Claim 1, Deng teaches, header component (Fig. 1) for mounting an inductive component (40), in particular a transformer (transformer inductor coil 40), on a substrate (not shown), the header component comprising
- a housing (10) for housing the inductive component inside a cavity (11),
-- wherein the housing confines the cavity to a bottom side and to at least three lateral sides (id.), and
-- wherein the housing comprises a top opening (opening of 11) to the cavity at a top side opposite to the bottom side (id.), wherein the top opening is configured so that the inductive component (40) can be inserted into the cavity via the top opening (id.), and
- a plurality of terminals (13) for electrically connecting the inductive component to the substrate, wherein the terminals outwardly protrude from the housing at the bottom side (id.). (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Regarding Claim 2, Deng further teaches, wherein the housing confines the cavity to all four lateral sides (id.). (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Regarding Claim 4 and similarly claim 5, Deng further teaches, , wherein at least one of the plurality of terminals (13) comprises a connection section (connection section of 13, Fig. 1) extending from the bottom side to the top side of the housing (id.), in particular to a top edge (top edge of base 10) of a side wall (side wall of base 10) of the housing which is adjacent to the top opening (id.). (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Regarding Claim 6, Deng further teaches, Inductive device (Fig. 1) for being mounted on [the] substrate, comprising
- a header component (header component of Fig. 1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and
- an inductive component (40), in particular a transformer (transformer inductor coil 40), comprising one or more coils (coils of transformer 40),
wherein the inductive component is placed inside the cavity of the housing of the header component, and
wherein leads (41)(Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Regarding Claim 7, Deng further teaches, wherein the inductive component comprises contacts (contacts of 13, Fig. 1), via which leads of at least one coil (id.) of the inductive component are connected to the respective terminals (id.), and wherein the inductive component is arranged inside the cavity so that the contacts protrude from the top opening (id.). (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Regarding Claim 8 and similarly claim 9, Deng further teaches, comprising a cover (20) at least partially covering the top opening (id.). (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Regarding Claim 10 and similarly claims 11 and 12, Deng further teaches, wherein the leads of at least one coil of the inductive component are connected to the respective terminals of the header component via conductor patterns (24) comprised by the cover (id.). (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0014]).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deng, (embodiment 2, Fig. 1, with the cover comprising cover 30 instead of the cover comprising circuit board 20).
Regarding Claim 13, Deng teaches, wherein the cover (30) is removable. (Deng: Figs. 1-2, machine translation, para. [0009]).
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deng, as applied to claim 1, in view of Sheehan et al., (hereinafter Sheehan), U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0143971.
Regarding Claim 3, Deng teaches four lateral sides defining the cavity. (Deng: Figs. 1-4, machine translation, para. [0009], [0010], [0013]).
Deng does not explicitly teach, wherein the housing comprises a lateral opening to the cavity at one of the lateral sides.
However, Sheehan (Figs. 5A, 5B) teaches, wherein the housing (200) comprises a lateral opening(not labeled) to the cavity at one of the lateral sides (218, 230, 232). (Sheehan: Figs. 1, 5A, 5B, 7, 9 and 12, para. [0055]-[0057]).
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 lateral side of the base of Deng to include the lateral opening to the cavity at one of the lateral sides of Sheehan, the motivation being “…leaving the front side 130 of the housing 100 open (for example, by way of front opening 401) can permit the evaporation of liquids used during assembly…” [0057]. (Sheehan: Figs. 1, 5A, 5B, 7, 9 and 12, para. [0057]). Therefore, the limitations of Claim 3 would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sheehan et al. (US 20200143971), Saito (JP 2007227660 A), Deng et al. (CN208570261U) and Yamada et al. (JPH0982529A).
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).
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, Shawki Ismail can be reached on 571-272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MALCOLM BARNES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
9/11/2026
Prosecution Insights