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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in present Application No. 18/613,894 filed on 03/22/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 03/22/2024 has been submitted for consideration by the Office. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6, 8 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.
In an examiner’s interview with attorney Tetsu Yoshida on 12/05/2025, the examiner proposed the following examiner’s amendments to the applicant for consideration. Please see below.
Proposed Examiner’s Amendments
(Option 1: change “or” to “and”)
1. A circuit board that includes a base material portion having a sheet-like shape and an electric circuit pattern portion being formed on at least one of surfaces of the base material portion and being conductive, the circuit board comprising: a folding portion where a linear fold is to be formed to divide, in a case where the circuit board is bent, each of the base material portion and the electric circuit pattern portion into a first area and a second area; and a disconnection preventing portion that prevents disconnection between the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion in a state where the circuit board is bent at the folding portion, wherein the disconnection preventing portion is provided in a boundary portion between the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion at the folding portion in a state where the circuit board is bent at the folding portion whereby each of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion is positioned in an outer side in relation to the base material portion, and is provided in the electric circuit pattern portion in a position where the disconnection preventing portion with at least a portion positioned on one of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion contacts the other one of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion in a state where the circuit board is bent at the folding portion whereby each of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion is positioned in an inner side in relation to the base material portion so as to electrically couple the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion without the first area in the electric circuit pattern portion fixed to the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion.
(Option 2: incorporate Claim 6 into Claim 1)
1. A circuit board that includes a base material portion having a sheet-like shape and an electric circuit pattern portion being formed on at least one of surfaces of the base material portion and being conductive, the circuit board comprising: a folding portion where a linear fold is to be formed to divide, in a case where the circuit board is bent, each of the base material portion and the electric circuit pattern portion into a first area and a second area; and a disconnection preventing portion that prevents disconnection between the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion in a state where the circuit board is bent at the folding portion, wherein the disconnection preventing portion is positioned on one of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion without overlapping the folding portion in a thickness direction of the circuit board and thereby contacts the other one of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion in a state where the circuit board is bent at the folding portion whereby each of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion is positioned in an inner side in relation to the base material portion so as to electrically couple the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion without the first area in the electric circuit pattern portion fixed to the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion.
6. (Canceled)
(Option 3: combination of options 1 and 2, Claim 1 is amended as Option 1, and Claim 6 is amended to be an independent form.)
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 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yu et al. (US 7,137,828).
Regarding claim 1, Yu discloses (in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B) a circuit board [40] that includes a base material portion [44 and 47] having a sheet-like shape and an electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] being formed on at least one of surfaces of the base material portion [44 and 47] and being conductive, the circuit board [40] comprising: a folding portion [492] where a linear fold is to be formed to divide, in a case where the circuit board [40] is bent, each of the base material portion [44 and 47] and the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] into a first area [43 and 44] and a second area [46 and 47]; and a disconnection preventing portion [432] that prevents disconnection (See Column 3, lines 65-67 and Column 4, lines 1-2: “Two spaced-apart copper-covered areas 432 are attached to an area where the first insulation layers 44 adjoin the second insulation layers 47, in order to help prevent the reinforced flexible printed circuit board 40 from being broken by manual handling.”) between the first area [43 and 44] and the second area [46 and 47] in the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] in a state where the circuit board [40] is bent at the folding portion [492], wherein the disconnection preventing portion [432] is provided in a boundary portion [492] (Please note that the folding portion and the boundary portion are located in the same region) between the first area [43 and 44] and the second area [46 and 47] in the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] at the folding portion [492] in a state where the circuit board [40] is bent at the folding portion [492] whereby each of the first area [43 and 44] and the second area [46 and 47] in the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] is positioned in an outer side (See Fig. 3B) in relation to the base material portion [44 and 47], or is provided in the electric circuit pattern portion in a position where the disconnection preventing portion with at least a portion positioned on one of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion contacts the other one of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion in a state where the circuit board is bent at the folding portion whereby each of the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion is positioned in an inner side in relation to the base material portion so as to electrically couple the first area and the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion without the first area in the electric circuit pattern portion fixed to the second area in the electric circuit pattern portion (Please note that because this claim is written in a format that claims feature A or feature B, and because the Yu reference already teaches feature A; hence, feature B does not need to be addressed).
Regarding claim 7, Yu, as applied to claim 1, further discloses (in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B) wherein the disconnection preventing portion [432] is provided in the boundary portion [492] (Please note that the folding portion and the boundary portion are located in the same region) and in each of portions on the first area [43 and 44] and the second area [46 and 47] in the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] each of which is adjacent to the boundary portion [492] (Please note that the folding portion and the boundary portion are located in the same region) in a state where the circuit board [40] is bent at the folding portion [492] whereby each of the first area [43 and 44] and the second area [46 and 47] in the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] is positioned in the outer side (See Fig. 3B) in relation to the base material portion [44 and 47].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 2, 4, 5, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al. (US 7,137,828).
Regarding claim 2, Yu, as applied to claim 1, does not disclose wherein the disconnection preventing portion is formed of a material having a lower elastic modulus than that of the electric circuit pattern portion.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the circuit board of Yu such that the disconnection preventing portion is formed of a material having a lower elastic modulus than that of the electric circuit pattern portion, in order to help prevent the reinforced flexible printed circuit board from being broken by manual handling (as taught by Yu in Column 3, lines 65-67 and Column 4, lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 4, Yu, as applied to claim 2, further discloses (in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B) wherein a thickness of the disconnection preventing portion [432] is larger than a thickness of the electric circuit pattern portion [43 and 46] (See Fig. 3B).
Regarding claim 5, Yu, as applied to claim 2, does not disclose wherein the disconnection preventing portion is formed of a material having a lower elastic modulus than that of the base material portion.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the circuit board of Yu such that the disconnection preventing portion is formed of a material having a lower elastic modulus than that of the base material portion, in order to help prevent the reinforced flexible printed circuit board from being broken by manual handling (as taught by Yu in Column 3, lines 65-67 and Column 4, lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 9, Yu, as applied to claim 1, does not disclose wherein the base material portion is formed of a fiber-containing material.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the circuit board of Yu to have base material portion formed of a fiber-containing material, in order to provide a circuit board that is cost-effective and that has high thermal performance.
Regarding claim 10, Yu, as applied to claim 9, does not disclose wherein the base material portion is formed of paper.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the circuit board of Yu to have base material portion formed of a fiber-containing material, and to have the base material portion formed of paper, in order to provide a circuit board that is cost-effective and that has high thermal performance.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERMAN NG whose telephone number is (571)270-3131. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10AM-6PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Thompson can be reached at 5712722342. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHERMAN NG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847