DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
2. Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosoda et al. (US 2019/0144700 A1).
Hosoda et al. disclose a composition (equivalent to the composition of the claimed invention as recited in claim 1), and a method for producing a film, a laminate using the composition. The composition comprises a liquid medium and a resin powder dispersed in the liquid medium and the resin powder is a resin containing a fluorinated copolymer having a specific functional group (equivalent to the fluorinated polymer A1 containing units based on a fluoroolefin and units based on a monomer having an adhesive functional group of the claimed invention as recited in claim 1). Examples of such a fluorinated polymer, designated polymer (X), include units based on tetrafluoroethylene and having at least one type of functional group selected from the group consisting of a carbonyl group-containing group, a hydroxy group, an epoxy group and an isocyanate group (meeting the limitations of claim 4). The composition further contains a powder of a resin made of a polymer other than the polymer and/or an inorganic filler. The resin powder may contain a polymer other than the polymer (X). The polymer other than the polymer (X) may be a fluorinated polymer other than the polymer (X), and examples include polytetrafluoroethylene (equivalent to the fluorinated polymer A2 containing units based on a fluoroolefin and not containing units based on a monomer having an adhesive functional group as recited in claim 2). The disclosed laminate comprises a substrate and a layer made of a film from the disclosed composition. The substrate is a metal substrate (meeting the limitations of claim 10). The production method of making the laminate comprises by forming a pattern by etching the metal layer of the laminate having the metal layer on at least one surface and applying the composition (meeting the limitations of claim 15). The arithmetic average roughness Ra of the exposed surface of the resin layer is at least 2.0 μm (meeting the limitations of claim 14). The metal to constitute the metal substrate film may suitably be selected for use depending on the application and may, for example, be copper or a copper alloy, stainless steel or its alloys, titanium or its alloys, etc. As the metal film, a copper film such as a rolled copper foil or an electrolytic copper foil is preferred (meeting the limitations of claim 13). The construction of the metal laminate comprising the above composition film and substrate is not limited and the metal layer and an adhesive layer (meeting the limitations of claim 11) can be bonded with excellent adhesion. The Examples describe the use of a silica filler (SFP-30M, manufactured by Denka Company Limited) having an average particle size of 0.7 μm (meeting the limitations of claims 5 and 7). When the composition contains a filler, it is possible to lower the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss tangent of the film. Furthermore, as the content of the filler increases, the linear expansion coefficient (CTE) of the obtainable film will be lowered, and the thermal dimensional properties of the film will be excellent. (See Abstract and paragraphs 0001, 0009, 0020-0023, 0037, 0040-0044, 0052, 0063, 0064, 0078, 0084, 0086, 0116-0124, 0146-0147, 0211-0251, 0315, 0324).
With regards to the limitation that the inorganic filer has a specific surface area of less than 5.5 m2/g (as recited in claim 1), the inorganic filer has a sphericity of at least 0.80 (as recited in claim 6), wherein the surface adsorbed moisture content of the inorganic filler is at most 500 mass ppm (as recited in claim 9), the Examiner takes the position that such property limitations are inherent in the inorganic filler disclosed by Hosoda et al. given that the inorganic filler taught by Hosoda et al. and that of the claimed invention are identical.
With regards to the limitations that the content of the inorganic filler in the solid content of the composition is at least 55 vol% to the entire volume of the solid content of the composition (as recited in claim 1), the content of the fluorinated polymer A2 is at least 10 vol% to the total of the fluorinated polymer A1 and the fluorinated polymer A2 (as recited in claim 3), the content of the inorganic filler in the solid content of the composition is at most 85 vol% to the entire volume of the solid content of the composition (as recited in claim 8), and that the adhesive layer further contains an inorganic filler having a specific surface area of at least 5.5 m2/g, and the content of the inorganic filler to the entire volume of the adhesive layer is at most 85 vol% to the entire volume of the adhesive layer, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties and concentrations are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties particularly given that Hosoda et al., specifically teach that it is possible to lower the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss tangent of a film when it contains the inorganic filler and as the content of the filler increases, the linear expansion coefficient (CTE) of the obtainable layer can be lowered, and the thermal dimensional properties of the film will be excellent.
Conclusion
3. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-1504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at 571-272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEEBA AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787