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 .
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(s) 1-7, 10-12, 14, and 16 is /are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HIRAO et al (US 2016/0093443) in view of LEE et al (US 2022/0208470).
Regarding claim 1, HIRAO discloses a multilayer ceramic capacitor (Fig. 1-12) comprising: a plurality of dielectric layers (Fig. 1, 10g) and a plurality of inner electrode layers (Fig. 1, 11/12) being stacked and each made of a ceramic material (ceramic materials are at the openings [0050]); wherein each of the plurality of inner electrode layers includes a plurality of through holes (Fig. 3-4, 21-22); and that the plurality of through holes appear to be round (Fig. 3-4, the holes are circles).
However, HIRAO fails to fully teach that an average circularity of the plurality of through holes is equal to or greater than about 0.6; and a circularity of each of the plurality of through holes is defined by the following formula: circularity = {4 x π x (area)}/{(peripheral length)2}.
LEE teaches that an average circularity of the plurality of through holes is equal to or greater than about 0.6; and a circularity of each of the plurality of through holes is defined by the following formula: circularity = {4 x π x (area)}/{(peripheral length)2} (Fig. 3, 123b; the holes in the internal electrode are a circular shape [0062] circularity of 0.6-0.8 is considered an oval like shape and above 0.8 is considered a circular shape and therefore these circular shapes would be considered to have a circularity above 0.8 which teaches the claim limitations).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of LEE to the invention of HIRAO, in order to keep the breakdown voltage from decreasing as holes with a lower circularity may cause breakdown voltage to decrease (LEE [0062]).
Regarding claim 2, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that, in the plurality of through holes, a percentage of through holes with circularity equal to or greater than about 0.6 is equal to or greater than about 60% (all are circles Fig. 3-4).
Regarding claim 3, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that, in the plurality of through holes, a percentage of through holes with circularity equal to or greater than about 0.6 is equal to or greater than about 70% (all are circles Fig. 3-4).
Regarding claim 4, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that the plurality of dielectric layer and the plurality of inner electrode layer define a multilayer body (Fig. 1); the multilayer body includes an inner layer portion (Fig. 1, from top 11 to bottom 12) and first and second outer layer portions (Fig. 1, above top 11, below bottom 12) respectively provided on opposite sides of the inner layer portion (Fig. 1); and each of the first and second outer layer portions includes a portion of the plurality of dielectric layers (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 5, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that each of the first and second outer layer portions defines and functions as a protective layer of the inner layer portion (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that each of the plurality of dielectric layers includes BaTiO3 ([0039]), CaTiO3, SrTiO3, or CaZrO3 as a primary component.
Regarding claim 7, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that each of the plurality of dielectric layers includes a Mn chemical compound ([0039]), a Fe chemical compound, a Cr chemical compound, a Co chemical compound, a Ni chemical compound as a secondary component .
Regarding claim 10, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that a number of the plurality of dielectric layers is equal to or greater than 15 and less than or equal to 700 (Fig. 2, 15 layers).
Regarding claim 11, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that each of the plurality of inner electrode layers includes Ni as a primary component ([0047]).
Regarding claim 12, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that each of the plurality of inner electrode layers includes at least one of Cu, Ag, Pd, or Au, or alloys including a Ag-Pd alloy ([0047]).
Regarding claim 14, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that a thickness of each of the plurality of inner electrode layers is equal to or greater than about 0.2 µm and less than or equal to about 2.0 µm ([0048]).
Regarding claim 16, HIRAO, in view of LEE, further teaches that the multilayer body has a dimension a length direction equal to or greater than about 0.1 mm and less than or equal to about 32 mm ([0038]), a dimension in a width direction equal to or greater than about 0.05 mm and less than or equal to about 25 mm ([0038]), and a dimension in a stacking direction equal to or greater than about 0.05 mm and less than or equal to about 32 mm ([0038]).
Claim(s) 8-9, 13, and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HIRAO et al (US 2016/0093443) in view of LEE et al (US 2022/0208470) in further view of CHA et al (US 2020/0066454).
Regarding claim 8, HIRAO fails to teach the claim limitations.
CHA teaches that a thickness of each of the plurality of dielectric layers is about 0.2 µm and less than or equal to about 1.0 µm ([0031]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of CHA to the invention of HIRAO, in order to increase the reliability of the capacitor (CHA [0011]).
Regarding claim 9, HIRAO fails to teach the claim limitations.
CHA teaches that a thickness of each of the plurality of dielectric layers is about 0.3 µm and less than or equal to about 0.5 µm ([0031]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of CHA to the invention of HIRAO, in order to increase the reliability of the capacitor (CHA [0011]).
Regarding claim 13, HIRAO fails to teach the claim limitations.
CHA teaches that Sn is mixed as a solid in a portion of each of the plurality of inner electrode layers ([0033]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of CHA to the invention of HIRAO, in order to increase the reliability of the capacitor (CHA [0011]).
Regarding claim 17, HIRAO fails to teach the claim limitations.
CHA teaches that the multilayer body has a dimension a length direction equal to or greater than about 0.1 mm and less than or equal to about 1.2 mm ([0067]), a dimension in a width direction equal to or greater than about 0.1 mm and less than or equal to about 0.7 mm ([0067]), and a dimension in a stacking direction equal to or greater than about 0.1 mm and less than or equal to about 0.7 mm ([0067]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of CHA to the invention of HIRAO, in order to increase the reliability of the capacitor (CHA [0011]).
Regarding claim 18, HIRAO fails to teach the claim limitations.
CHA teaches that the multilayer body has a dimension a length direction equal to or greater than about 0.2 mm and less than or equal to about 0.5 mm ([0067]), a dimension in a width direction equal to or greater than about 0.1 mm and less than or equal to about 0.3 mm ([0067]), and a dimension in a stacking direction equal to or greater than about 0.1 mm and less than or equal to about 0.3 mm ([0067]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of CHA to the invention of HIRAO, in order to increase the reliability of the capacitor (CHA [0011]).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HIRAO et al (US 2016/0093443) in view of LEE et al (US 2022/0208470) in further view of PARK et al (US 2014/0104748).
Regarding claim 8, HIRAO fails to teach the claim limitations.
PARK teaches that a number of the plurality of inner electrode layers is equal to or greater than 15 and less than or equal to 700 ([0073]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of PARK to the invention of HIRAO, in order to construct the devices using known specifications and number of layers in the art to meet user needs based on known design possibilities.
Additional Relevant Prior Art:
KAWAKAMI et al (US 2017/0125167) teaches that a ceramic material can be included in the internal electrode ([0066-0068].
Gustafson (US 2019/0214195) teaches relevant art in Fig. 1-13.
SAKURAI et al (US 2020/0135400) teaches relevant art in Fig. 3.
Hofstatter et al (US 2021/0210257) teaches relevant art in Fig. 4.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-18 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on only the reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/MICHAEL P MCFADDEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848