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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 13 November 2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yau et al. (US 2006/0024430).
Considering claim 17, Yau teaches silver platings onto metal surfaces (abstract) including copper pads on a printed wiring board (Paragraph 50). The silver plating is taught to comprise Ag, C, and O by XPS (Paragraph 132) and examples with a thickness of 20 µin (Fig. 12; Paragraphs 123-124) corresponding to about 0.508 µm. As only Ag, C, and O are present with no other metal, this is considered to teach the presence of silver oxide.
While not teaching a singular example of the instantly claimed composite material this would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date in view of the teachings of Yau as this is considered a conventionally known silver coating comprising carbon in a thickness overlapping that which is claimed and the courts have held that where claimed ranges overlap or lie inside of those disclosed in the prior art a prima facie case of obviousness exists. See MPEP 2144.05. While not expressly teaching where the carbon content is particles, the XPS analysis is a surface-based technique under vacuum indicating the carbon is in a solid state and necessarily exists as particles.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 8-11 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art to claims 1 and 9 is that of Yau as outlined above. However, Yau does not adequately teach the claimed materials and concentrations thereof.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks pp. 7-8, filed 13 November 2025, with respect to 35 USC 102(a)(1) and 35 USC 103 in view of Asada, Buresch, and Kato have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of claims 1-5, 8-11, and 17 have been withdrawn. Applicant has amended the claims to recite silver oxide and concentration features outside of the scope of the teachings of Asada and Buresch. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yau as outlined above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SETH DUMBRIS whose telephone number is (571)272-5105. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:00 AM - 3:30 PM.
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SETH DUMBRIS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1784
/SETH DUMBRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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