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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph 0007, line 8, after “the second direction” replace the comma with a period.
In paragraphs 0031-0036, 0038-0039 and 0041-0042, a spacing is needed for “a content(end-surface electrode)” and “a content(side-surface electrode)”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uchida (US Pub. 2020/0194150).
Regarding claims 1 and 4, Uchida teaches a laminated ceramic component (laminated varistor 1; see paragraph 0024) comprising:
a sintered body (element body 10);
a plurality of internal electrodes (inner electrodes 32, 34 and 36) provided inside the sintered body; and
a plurality of external electrodes (20A-20D) provided on a surface of the sintered body and electrically connected to the plurality of internal electrodes (see fig. 3), wherein
the sintered body has a first end surface (10a; left surface in fig. 3) and a second end surface (10b; right surface in fig. 3) which face
each other in a first direction, a first side surface (10e; front surface) and a second side surface (10f; back surface) which face
each other in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and a first main surface (10c; top surface) and a second main surface (10d; bottom surface) which face each other in a third direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction,
the plurality of external electrodes include:
a first end-surface electrode (20A) provided on at least a portion of the first
end surface (10a);
a second end-surface electrode (20B) provided on at least a portion of the second end surface (10b);
a first side-surface electrode (20C) provided on a portion of the first side surface (10e); and
a second side-surface electrode (20D) provided on a portion of the second side surface (10f),
each of the first end-surface electrode, the second end-surface electrode, the first
side-surface electrode, and the second side-surface electrode contains metal and glass component (electrodes are formed with conductive paste and glass component; see paragraph 0037), and
a content of the glass component in each of the first end-surface electrode and the second end-surface electrode is different from a content of the glass component in each of the first side-surface electrode and the second side-surface electrode (The varistor body for Uchida has a configuration of 2.0 mm in length, 1.25 mm in width and 0.5 mm in height. The end-surface electrode 20A/20B has a surface area of 1.25 mm X 0.5 mm, and the side-surface electrode 20C/20D has a surface area of 0.12 mm X 0.5 mm. That is, the third conductor 36 that is connected to the side-surface electrode 20C/20D has a width less than that of the superposition portion 40 at 0.12 mm. The surface area of the side-surface electrodes is smaller than the surface area of the end-surface electrodes, thus they differ in a content of glass due to the area ratio. See at least paragraphs 0024, 0031 and fig. 2 of Uchida.).
Regarding claim 2, since the surface area of the side-surface electrodes is smaller than the surface area of the end-surface electrodes, the content of the glass component for the side-surface electrode is less than that of the end-surface electrode (see paragraphs 0024, 0031 and fig. 2 of Uchida).
Regarding claim 6, Uchida teaches a plating Ni over the electrodes, and plating Sn over the Ni layer (see paragraph 0037).
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Uchida teaches a laminated ceramic component (laminated varistor 1; see paragraph 0024) comprising:
a sintered body (element body 10);
a plurality of internal electrodes (inner electrodes 32, 34 and 36) provided inside the sintered body; and
a plurality of external electrodes (20A-20D) provided on a surface of the sintered body and electrically connected to the plurality of internal electrodes (see fig. 3), wherein
the sintered body has a first end surface (10e; front surface in fig. 3) and a second end surface (10f; back surface in fig. 3) which face
each other in a first direction, a first side surface (10a; left surface) and a second side surface (10b; right surface) which face each other in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and a first main surface (10c; top surface) and a second main surface (10d; bottom surface) which face each other in a third direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction,
the plurality of external electrodes include:
a first end-surface electrode (20C) provided on at least a portion of the first
end surface (10e);
a second end-surface electrode (20D) provided on at least a portion of the second end surface (10f);
a first side-surface electrode (20A) provided on a portion of the first side surface (10a); and
a second side-surface electrode (20B) provided on a portion of the second side surface (10b),
each of the first end-surface electrode, the second end-surface electrode, the first
side-surface electrode, and the second side-surface electrode contains metal and glass component (electrodes are formed with conductive paste and glass component; see paragraph 0037), and
a content of the glass component in each of the first end-surface electrode and the second end-surface electrode is different from a content of the glass component in each of the first side-surface electrode and the second side-surface electrode (The varistor body has a configuration of 2.0 mm length, 1.25 mm width and 0.5 mm in height. The side-surface electrode 20A/20B has a surface area of 1.25 mm width X 0.5 mm height, and the end-surface electrode 20C/20D has a surface area of 0.12 mm width X 0.5 mm height. And, the third conductor 36 that is connected to the end-surface electrode 20C/20D has a width less than that of the superposition portion 40 at 0.12 mm. Therefore, the surface area of the end-surface electrodes is smaller than the surface area of the side-surface electrodes, thus they differ in a content of glass component due to the area ratio. See at least paragraphs 0024, 0031 and fig. 2 of Uchida.).
Regarding claim 3, since the surface area of the end-surface electrodes (20C/20D) is smaller than the surface area of the side-surface electrodes (20A/20B), the content of the glass component for the end-surface electrode is less than that of the side-surface electrode (see paragraphs 0024, 0031 and fig. 2 of Uchida).
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.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchida in view of Yamamoto et al. (US Pub. 2011/0205684).
Regarding claim 5, Uchida teaches the claimed invention except for the respective
average thicknesses of the first side-surface electrode and the second side-surface electrode being less than respective average thicknesses of the first end-surface electrode and the second end-surface electrode.
Yamamoto teaches a laminated ceramic component (see at least paragraph 0021 and figs. 6-7), wherein the average thickness of the end-surface electrodes (15 and 16) being larger than that of the side-surface electrodes (17 and 18). The end-surface electrodes have a thicker layer compared to the side-surface electrode (10-60 micrometer to 2 to 10 micrometers, respectively; paragraphs 0056 0070), and that the side-surface may be formed without a calcined layer (made thinner) for the purpose of positioning accuracy of the ceramic component (see paragraph 0013).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Yamamoto with Uchida, since having a thicker end-surface electrodes, as taught by Yamamoto, allows for increased positioning accuracy during mounting of the ceramic component of Uchida.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Onishi et al. teaches a ceramic component having a central electrode (side-surface electrode).
Matsui, Kameyama and Sawada teach electrodes having glass.
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/KYUNG S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833