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 .
Examiner’s Comment
The Examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers or figures in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
The term “substantially” is often used in conjunction with another term to describe a particular characteristic of the claimed invention. It is a broad term. In re Nehrenberg, 280 F.2d 161, 126 USPQ 38/3 (CCPA 1960). Examiner interprets the claimed insulating film may contain boron nitride, C, N, or P because the term, substantially, does not constitute a complete absence of having these elements present in the insulating film.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-10, 14-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Pub. No. 20200306831 (“Mori et al.”).
With regards to Claims 1 and 5, Mori et al. teaches a soft magnetic metal particle (1) comprising a core particle (11) and an insulating film (13a or 13b) comprises a complex oxide containing Si and B (Abstract, Fig. 1, [0038], [0042], [0080], [0084], [0086], and Example 1 in Table 1).
Specifically, Mori et al. a first coating portion (13a) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B, wherein B constitutes 11.7 at % and Si constitutes 15.4 at % ([0042] and Example 1 in Table 1). Thus, Mori et al. teaches B constitutes 43.2 mol% of a total of Si and B in the first coating portion (13a).
Mori et al. further teaches a second coating portion (13b) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B, wherein B constitutes 12.5 at % and Si constitutes 12.7 at % ([0042] and Example 1 in Table 1). Thus, Mori teaches B constitutes 49.6 mol% of a total of Si and B in the second coating portion (13b).
With regards to Claim 2, Mori et al. teaches the core particle comprises Fe [0065].
With regards to Claim 3, Mori et al. teaches the insulating film (13b) exhibits crystallinity ([0060] and Example 1 in Table 1).
With regards to Claim 4, Mori et al. teaches the insulating film (13a or 13b) comprises a single-layer film (Fig. 1).
With regards to Claims 7 and 8, Mori et al. teaches the insulating film (13a or 13b) covers an entire surface of the core particle [0042].
With regards to Claims 9 and 10, Mori et al. teaches the insulating film does not substantially contain fluorine or boron nitride ([0079]-[0086]).
With regards to Claim 14, Mori et al. teaches the insulating film (13a) is in direct contact with the surface of the core particle (11) (Fig. 1).
With regards to Claim 15, Mori et al. teaches another film (13a) other than the insulating film (13b) is interposed between the surface of the core particle (11) and the insulating film (13b) (Fig. 1).
With regards to Claim 16, Mori et al. teaches the another film (13a) has a thickness 50% or less of a thickness of the insulating film (13b) ([0041] and Example 1 in Table 1).
With regards to Claim 18, Mori et al. teaches a median value D50 particle size of the core particle (11) is in a range of 0.1 μm to 100 μm ([0040] and paragraph [0132] disclosing 24 μm).
With regards to Claims 19 and 20, Mori et al. teaches a dust core or magnetic component comprising the soft magnetic metal particle ([0118] and [0126]).
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 6 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. No. 20200306831 (“Mori et al.”) as applied to Claim 1 above, and further in view of WO 2021015206 (“Nakazawa et al.”). The Examiner notes that US Pub. No. 20220254553 is the English language equivalent of WO ‘206 and all citations will refer to the US Publication. See provided Derwent Abstract translation illustrating the equivalency of these two references.
With regards to Claim 6, Mori et al. does not teach the insulating film (13a or 13b) has at thickness of 100 nm or more and 200 nm or less.
However, Nakazawa et al. teaches a soft magnetic metal particle (1) comprising a core particle (4) and an insulating film (14) over a surface of the core particle (Abstract, Fig. 2-6, [0035], and [0036]). Nakazawa et al. teaches the insulating film (14) having a thickness that overlaps with the claimed range of 100 nm or more and 200 nm or less ([0048]-[0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to optimize the thickness of Mori et al.’s insulating film in order to improve heat resistance to the soft magnetic metal particle and improve magnetic properties ([0064] and [0065]).
With regards to Claims 11 and 12, Mori et al. teaches a first coating portion (13a) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B, wherein B constitutes 11.7 at % and Si constitutes 15.4 at %. Mori et al. further teaches a second coating portion (13b) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B, wherein B constitutes 12.5 at % and Si constitutes 12.7 at % ([0042] and Example 1 in Table 1).
Mori et al. does not teach the insulating film (13a or 13b) further comprises another element having the claimed non-metal element(s) or metal element(s).
However, Nakazawa et al. teaches insulating film (12 or 14) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B. Nakazawa et al. further teaches that its insulating film (12 or 14) comprises P, Mg, Ca, Ba, Zn, and/or Al ([0015]-[0017], [0039]-[0042], and [0047]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the claimed element(s) in order to prevent reduction of the insulation resistance of the insulating film after a heat resistance test and further improve insulating properties of the soft magnetic metal particle [0017].
With regards to Claim 13, Mori et al. teaches a first coating portion (13a) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B, wherein B constitutes 11.7 at % and Si constitutes 15.4 at %. Mori et al. further teaches a second coating portion (13b) comprising a complex oxide containing Si and B, wherein B constitutes 12.5 at % and Si constitutes 12.7 at % ([0042] and Example 1 in Table 1).
Mori et al. does not teach a content of the another element is 1 mol% or less with respect to a content of B.
However, Nakazawa et al. teaches another element, Mg for example, wherein a content ratio of Mg/Si ≤ 0.1 ([0040] and [0047]). In light of the teachings in Mori et al. and Nakazawa et al., the prior art of record teaches a content of the another element is within the range of 1 mol% or less with respect to its content of B. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a content of the another element be 1 mol% or less with respect to a content of B in order to prevent reduction of the insulation resistance of the insulating film after a heat resistance test and further improve insulating properties of the soft magnetic metal particle [0017].
Claims 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. No. 20200306831 (“Mori et al.”) as applied to Claim 15 above, and further in view of US Pub. No. 20190279801 (“Yoshidome et al.”).
While Mori et al. teaches the another film (13a) comprises Si and O (Abstract and [0042]), Mori et al. does not explicitly teach it being SiO2.
However, Yoshidome et al. teaches a soft magnetic metal particle (1) comprising a core particle (2) and an insulating film (11) over a surface of the core particle (2). Yoshidome et al. further recognizes that SiO2 is a known insulating coating material in the art (Abstract, Fig. 1, [0052], and [0102]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have Mori et al.’s another film comprises SiO2 structure as it is a known Si oxide insulating material and be used to insulate the core particles from each other and improve heat resistance [0053].
Conclusion
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/LC/
Lisa Chau
Art Unit 1785
/Holly Rickman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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