DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Cross-Reference to Related Applications
2. This application is a 371 of PCT/JP2022/023905 06/15/2022
Preliminary amendment
3. Preliminary amendment filed on 12/19/2023 has been acknowledged and considered.
In the Preliminary amendment, the applicants have been amended the abstract and claims 1-8, 11-14 and added new claims 18-28 and remained claims 9-10 and 15-17.
Claims 1-28 are currently pending in the application.
Oath/Declaration
4. The oath/declaration filed on 12/19/2023 is acceptable.
Priority
5. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
6. The office acknowledges receipt of the following items from the applicant:
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 03/11/2024, 12/06/2024 and 11/19/2025.
Specification
7. The specification is objected to for the following reason: The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed (see MPEP 606.01).
A title such as – WIRING SUBSTRATE MANUFACTURING METHOD INVLUDING A GAP BETWEEN A METAL LAYER AND A CARRIER FROM A CUT WITH A THIN PIECE – or is suggested by the applicant.
The specification needs to be updated.
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.
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 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.
8. Claims 18, 22 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by IWAMOTO M (JP-2019032415-A).
Regarding claim 18, IWAMO TO M discloses a method for manufacturing a wiring substrate, comprising:
providing a laminated sheet that includes a release layer (41) and a metal layer (optical film (1) is a polarizing plate (including a metal pattern, see a polarizing plate (160) in Figs. 2-3 in HONG W (KR-20190039683-A)) in order on a carrier (4);
forming a cut (32a1 32a2) in the laminated sheet from a surface of the laminated sheet opposite to the carrier (4) so that the cut (32a1 32a2) passes through an inside of an outer edge portion of the laminated sheet when the laminated sheet is seen in a planar view and so that the cut (32a1 32a2) penetrates the metal layer (1) and the release layer (41) when the laminated sheet is seen in a cross-sectional view, and dividing the metal layer (1) and the release layer (41) into a central portion and a peripheral portion with the cut as a boundary; and
forming a gap (310) between the metal layer (1) and the carrier (41) from the cut (see Figs. 3G below and English Text).
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240
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Regarding 22, IWAMOTO M discloses wherein the cut (32a1 32a2) is formed so that at least a part of the carrier (4) is unpenetrated when the laminated sheet is seen in a cross-sectional view (see Fig. 3G above)
Regarding 24, IWAMOTO M discloses wherein the cut (32a1 32a2) is formed in a linear pattern so that the peripheral portion surrounds the central portion when the laminated sheet is seen in a planar view (see Fig. 3G above).
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 of this title, 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.
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 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.
9. Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over IWAMOTO M in view of NIIMI K (CN-107709493-A).
Regarding claim 23, IWAMOTO M discloses the features of the claimed invention as discussed above, but does not disclose wherein the cut has a width of 0.01 mm or more and 20 mm or less.
NIIMI K, however, discloses the cut has a width of 10 mm (see English Text).
The selection of the claimed process parameters would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date was made to perform the cut has a width within the claimed range, since it is well settle that when the general conditions of a claim are discloses in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. The following is a statement of reason for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 1-17 would be allowed.
Regarding claim 1, IWAMO TO M discloses a method for manufacturing a wiring substrate, comprising:
providing a laminated sheet that includes a release layer (41) and a metal layer (optical film (1) is a polarizing plate (including a metal pattern, see a polarizing plate (160) in Figs. 2-3 in HONG W (KR-20190039683-A)) in order on a carrier (4);
forming a cut (32a1 32a2) in the laminated sheet from a surface of the laminated sheet opposite to the carrier (4) so that the cut (32a1 32a2) passes through an inside of an outer edge portion of the laminated sheet when the laminated sheet is seen in a planar view and so that the cut (32a1 32a2) penetrates the metal layer (1) and the release layer (41) when the laminated sheet is seen in a cross-sectional view, and dividing the metal layer (1) and the release layer (41) into a central portion and a peripheral portion with the cut as a boundary (see Fig. 3G above and English Text), but does not disclose a step of inserting a thin piece from the cut toward the central portion side of the metal layer or the release layer to form a gap between the metal layer and the carrier in which an insertion angle of the thin piece with respect to a main surface of the carrier is greater than 00 when the laminated sheet is seen in the cross-sectional view.
Claims 2-17 are directly or indirectly depend on the independent claim 1, then, they are also being allowed.
Claims 19-21 and 25-28 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.
Cited Prior Arts
11. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Matsuura (U.S. Patent No. 11,756,845 B2) discloses a method for manufacturing a wiring substrate, comprising:
providing a laminated sheet that includes a release layer (16) and a metal layer (18) in order on a carrier (12);
forming a cut in the laminated sheet from a surface of the laminated sheet opposite to the carrier (12) so that the cut passes through an inside of an outer edge portion of the laminated sheet when the laminated sheet is seen in a planar view and so that the cut penetrates the metal layer (18) and the release layer (16) when the laminated sheet is seen in a cross-sectional view, and dividing the metal layer (18) and the release layer (16) into a central portion and a peripheral portion with the cut as a boundary (Fig. 4).
Conclusion
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Phuc T. Dang whose telephone number is 571-272-1776. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 am-5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jacob Choi can be reached on 469-295-9060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHUC T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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