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 10/11/2023 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Applicant may cancel the claim, amend the claim to place the claim in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim complies with the statutory requirements. Claim 2 is dependent on claim 1, and claim 1 requires the embodiment limited to “the resin includes a low-dielectric resin having a relative permittivity εr1 of 2.00 or more and less than 3.00”.
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 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Towata, Japanese Patent JP2014024735A, in view of Ota et al., (hereinafter Ota), U.S. Patent Application Publication 2018/0033518.
Regarding Claim 1, Towata teaches (except where italicized), a high-frequency coil component (Fig. 2), comprising:
a sealing portion (1) containing a resin (“a photosensitive resin component” [0013]) and a plurality of hollow particles (“hollow particles” [0013]); and
a coil portion (coil portion comprising coil patterns 2) composed of a wound conductive wire (2),
wherein the coil portion is sealed in the sealing portion (id.),
the resin includes a low-dielectric resin having a relative permittivity εr1 of 2.00 or more and less than 3.00 at 23 ± 2°C (“hollow silica particles (samples 1 to 6) had a relative permittivity of 5 or less” [0067]),
a mass of the resin is represented by Mr (“inorganic materials, 43.4 parts by weight of varnish” [0056],
a total mass of the plurality of hollow particles is represented by Mp (“15” wt %, sample 1, Table 1), and
Mr/(Mr + Mp) is 25% or more and 85% or less (43.4/(43.4+15.0) = 43.4/58.4 = 74.3%, sample 1, Table 1). (Towata: Figs. 1 and 2, machine translation, para. [0013], [0017], [0024], [0025], [0029], [0034], [0036], [0065], [0067], Table 1, Table 2).
Towata does not explicitly teach, the resin includes a low-dielectric resin having a relative permittivity εr1 of 2.00 or more and less than 3.00 at 23 ± 2°C.
However, Ota teaches (Fig. 1), the resin includes a low-dielectric resin having a relative permittivity εr1 of 2.00 or more and less than 3.00 at 23 ± 2°C (1.8 to about 2.6, Nos. 1-3 and 5-9, Table 1). (Ota: Figs. 1-4, para. [0013], [0045], [0046], [0107], Table 1).
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 insulating paste of Towata to include the relative permittivity εr1 of 2.00 or more and less than 3.00 of Ota, the motivation being “the varnish being capable of suppressing a decrease in the strength, insulating property, and solvent resistance of an insulating layer while decreasing the dielectric constant” [0013]. (Ota: Figs. 1-4, para. [0013]). 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 Towata in view of Ota further teaches, wherein the low-dielectric resin includes a thermosetting polyimide (“[t]he resin composition preferably contains a polyimide precursor as a main component” [0026]), the motivation being “[w]hen the resin composition contains a polyimide precursor as a main component, application is easily performed, and the strength and heat resistance of the insulating layer are more easily improved” [0026]. (Ota: Figs. 1-4, para. [0026]).
Regarding Claim 5 and similarly claims 6 and 7, the combination of Towata in view of Ota further teaches, wherein Mr/(Mr + Mp) is 30% or more and 70% or less (43.4/(43.4+30) = 43.4/73.4 = 59.1%, sample 3, Table 1). (Towata: Figs. 1 and 2, machine translation, para. [0013], [0017], [0024], [0025], [0029], [0034], [0036], [0065], [0067], Table 1, Table 2).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Towata in view of Ota further teaches, wherein the plurality of hollow particles include glass (“glass powder” [0013]. (Towata: Figs. 1 and 2, machine translation, para. [0013]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Towata, in view of Ota, and further in view of Liben et al., (hereinafter Liben), U.S. Patent Application Publication 2018/0033518.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Towata in view of Ota is silent on including the thermosetting polyimide comprising polybismaleimide. (Towata: Figs. 1 and 2, machine translation, para. [0013], [0017], [0024], [0025], [0029], [0034], [0036], [0065], [0067]), (Ota: Figs. 1-4, para. [0013], [0045], [0046], [0107]).
Towata does not explicitly teach, wherein the thermosetting polyimide includes a polybismaleimide.
However, Liben teaches (Fig. 3), wherein the thermosetting polyimide includes a polybismaleimide (“a polybismaleimide” [0078]). (Liben: Figs. 3-5, para. [0078]).
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 resin of the insulation of Towata in view of Ota to include the polybismaleimide of Liben, the motivation being polybismaleimide comprises a “suitable thermoset resin” [0078] out of finite group of thermoset resins “obtained by hardening or curing a liquid monomer or prepolymer” [0078]. (Liben: Figs. 3-5, para. [0078]). Therefore, the limitation of Claim 4 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.
Igarashi et al. (US 20190287715) and Takaya et al. (US 20030030994).
Conclusion
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/MALCOLM BARNES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
8/10/2026
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