DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Notice to Applicant
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
In the amendment dated 1/21/2026, claim 1 has been amended.
Claims 1-17 are pending.
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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2013/005483 (of record).
As per claims 1 and 6, WO2013/005483 discloses in Figs. 1-3 an electronic component (e.g. electronic component 10) comprising:
as per claim 1, a body (e.g. laminate 12) having a first surface (e.g. lower surface S1) that is entirely of a dielectric material (Figs. 2-3; Lower surface S1 corresponds to a back side of dielectric layer 16l which is entirely made of a dielectric material. Electrode 40c is a separate element that is disposed on top of the first surface, however the surface itself is made entirely of the dielectric layer 16l as required by the claim.); and a plurality of electrodes (e.g. electrodes 34a-34c) disposed on the first surface, wherein each of a plurality of electrodes includes a base electrode (e.g. plating layers 42a-42c respectively) and a plating film (e.g. plating layers 46a-46c respectively) covering the base electrode, the plurality of electrodes include first-class electrodes (e.g. plated electrodes 34a and 34b) individually disposed on the first surface and connected to each other by a wiring line (e.g. coil conductors 18a-18e, electrode 26a, and coil conductors 20a-20e which collectively form “a wiring line”) passing through an inside of the body (Fig. 2, inside of laminate 12), and a second-class electrode (e.g. plated electrode 34c) individually disposed on the first surface and not connected to other electrodes of the plurality of electrodes (The plated electrode 34c is a ground electrode and is not directly connected to the electrodes 34a and 34b.), and the first surface includes a first region (e.g. region comprising layers 40a and 40b) on which each of the first-class electrodes are disposed (Electrode 34a is disposed on the region comprising layer 40a. Electrode 34b is disposed on the region comprising layer 40b.), and a second region (e.g. region comprising layer 40c) on which the second-class electrode is disposed (Electrode 34c is disposed on the region comprising layer 40c.), and the second region is more protruded than the first region (As stated in the Abstract, a thickness of T2 (which corresponds to a thickness of the region comprising layer 40c) is larger than a thickness of T1 (which corresponds to a thickness of the region comprising layers 40a and 40b.); and
as per claim 6, wherein when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the first surface, the base electrode included in each of the first-class electrodes includes a corner portion having a pointed shape (Figs. 1-2; The laminate 12 is a rectangular shape and the electrodes 42a-42b each have a pointed shape at a bottom corner thereof when viewing the component in a vertical direction perpendicular to a horizontal direction of the lower surface S1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 7-17 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states on page 6 of Applicant’s Remarks filed 1/21/2026 that WO ‘483 does not teach “a body having a first surface that is entirely of a dielectric material” as cited in amended claim 1. Lower surface S1 of laminate 12 is not entirely of a dielectric material, rather a conductive layer 40c is formed on the bottom of laminate 12. Thus, WO ‘483 describes lower surface S1 that includes a printed conductor which is not a dielectric material thus WO’ 483 fails to teach a body having a first surface that is entirely of a dielectric material, as recited by amended claim 1.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant. The lower surface S1 indeed has a conductive layer 40c disposed on the bottom of laminate 12, however the layer 40c is not a part of the “first surface”. The first surface is constituted by a bottom side of dielectric layer 16l which is separate from the conductive layer 40c that is disposed thereon. Further in claim 1, the Applicant recites on line 3 “a plurality of electrodes disposed on the first surface”, which is contradictory to Applicant’s arguments as to why “the first surface” is not “entirely of a dielectric material”. Lastly, the Applicant even discloses in Fig. 13 of the Applicant’s instant specification lower surface 1 having electrodes T1 and T2 disposed thereon, thus for all of these reasons, Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive. The rejection to claims 1 and 6 has been sustained and repeated above, and this action has been made final.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAKESH PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0961. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/RAKESH B PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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