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 0009, line 2, replace “Fig.2” to --Fig. 1--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6-7, 14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchida, US Pub. 2020/0194150 in view of Fujikawa (WO 2017002495; listed in IDS, translation is attached to action).
Regarding claims 1-2, 6-7, 14 and 18, Uchida teaches a multilayer ceramic component (chip varistor 1; see at least 0023-0038 and figs. 1-4) comprising:
a sintered body (base body 10) having a pair of end surfaces facing each other in a first direction, a pair of side surfaces facing each other in a second direction, and a pair of principal surfaces facing each other in a third direction, the sintered body having a shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, a longitudinal axis of the rectangular parallelepiped being aligned with the first direction;
a plurality of internal electrodes (electrodes 32, 34 and 36) arranged inside the sintered body; and
a side surface electrode (side electrode 20C and 20D) provided for at least one side surface out of the pair of side surfaces of the sintered body (10) and electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of internal electrodes (internal electrode 36),
the side surface electrode including: a primary electrode layer containing silver as a main
component thereof (see paragraphs 0036-0037; silver electrode plated with nickel and tin); and a plating layer formed to cover the primary electrode layer at least partially,
the primary electrode layer including: a first terminal portion provided for the at least one
side surface of the sintered body (see at least paragraphs 0035-0036 and figs. 1 and 2); and a second terminal portion includes a pair of terminals respectively extending in the second direction from the pair of end portions of the first terminal portion in the third direction and provided for at least one of the pair of principal surfaces.
Uchida further teaches a pair of end surface electrodes (end electrodes 20A and 20B) provided for the pair of end surfaces, respectively, wherein the plurality of internal electrodes includes a pair of internal electrodes (internal electrodes 32 and 34; see fig. 2) for the end surface electrodes (20A and 20B, respectively), the pair of internal electrodes being electrically connected to the pair of end surface electrodes, respectively.
Uchida teaches the claimed invention except for tip of the second terminal portion and the sintered body being separate from each other in a region, and the multilayer ceramic component further comprising an interposed portion as a part of the plating layer that has entered the region where the tip of the second terminal portion and the sintered body are separate from each other.
Fujikawa teaches that, in order to relieve thermal stress resin is added at the tip part of the external electrode (terminal). Baking disperses the resin and creates an intervening part, separating the tip from the sintered body and allowing part of the terminal to enter into the area where the tip and the sintered body separate (see at least mid-page 1, referring to fig. 1 and mid-page 8, referring to fig. 10).
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 Fujikawa with Uchida, since separating the tip of the terminal from the sintered body taught by Fujikawa relieves thermal stress formed on the ceramic body of Uchida’s multilayer component.
Claims 5, 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uchida in view of Fujikawa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cho et al., US Pub. 2019/0333700.
Regarding claims 5 and 11, Uchida and Fujikawa teach the claimed invention except for the primary electrode layer having an average thickness equal to or greater than 1 µm and equal
to or less than 6 µm.
Cho teaches a multilayered ceramic component having a pair external electrode, the electrode having a primary electrode layer (electrode 4000 being formed of at least one layer; see paragraph 0055 of Cho) with a thickness ranging between 1 and 6 µm.
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 Cho with Uchida and Fujikawa, since the primary electrode thickness taught by Cho allows for controlling the size of the ceramic component of Uchida and Fujikawa, especially is additional plating layers are required.
Regarding claim 17, Uchida teaches the material for the plating layer containing at least one of nickel or tin (see paragraphs 0036-0037; silver electrode plated with nickel and tin).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4, 8-10, 12-13, 15-16 and 19-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claims 3 and 8, the prior art does not teach or suggest the multilayer ceramic component having a length of the region where the tip of the second terminal portion and the sintered body are separate from each other being equal to or greater than 3% and equal to or less than 20% of a length of the second terminal portion.
Claims 10, 12, 15 and 19 depend on claim 3.
Regarding claims 4 and 9, the prior art does not teach or suggest the multilayer ceramic component having a length of the interposed portion being equal to or greater than 2% and equal to or less than 8% of a length of the second terminal portion.
Claims 13, 16 and 20 depend on claim 4.
Conclusion
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/KYUNG S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833