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 .
2. This office action is responsive to the application Nº 18/657,140 filed on May 07th, 2024 in which claims 1-9 are pending and ready for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS have been considered.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
5. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 05/07/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Fuwa et al. (JP 2020-199694).
9. Regarding independent claim 1: Fuwa et al. disclosed a substrate ([0032], line 1; also see Fig. 16, reference 1) for a thermal print head ([0058], line 2; also see Fig. 16, reference A2), comprising:
a main surface (Fig. 10, reference 1A) on which a ridge portion is formed ([0059], line 1; also see Fig. 16, reference 13);
a base material (Fig. 16, the material forming the substrate 1 and the ridge portion 13); and
a glaze layer ([0061], line 1 and [0003], lines 1-2; also see Fig. 16, reference 15), wherein
the ridge portion extends along a first direction in a plan view ([0033], lines 2-4; also see Fig. 16, protrusion 13 extends in the X direction) and is formed of
a pedestal portion which is a part of the base material (Fig. 16, the protrusion 13 as a pedestal is formed of the base material (same as substrate 1)) and
the glaze layer disposed on a top surface of the pedestal portion (see Fig. 16, glaze layer 15 is disposed on a top surface of protrusion 13), and
a hollow portion is disposed inside the glaze layer ([0061], lines 1-2; also see Fig. 16, reference 16).
10. Regarding claim 5: Fuwa et al. disclosed the substrate for the thermal print head of Claim 1, wherein a distance between the hollow portion and an apex of the glaze layer is equal to or less than 200 μm ([0034], lines 18-19; also see Fig. 6, the distance H2 from the main surface 1A to the apex of the glaze layer 15 being between 150 and 180 μm, a distance between the hollow portion and an apex of the glaze layer is equal to or less than 200 μm).
11. Regarding claim 6: Fuwa et al. disclosed the substrate for the thermal print head of Claim 5, wherein the distance between the hollow portion and the apex of the glaze layer is equal to or greater than 100 μm ([0034], lines 18-19; also see Fig. 6, the distance H2 from the main surface 1A to the apex of the glaze layer 15 being between 150 and 180 μm, a distance between an apex of the glaze layer and at least part of the hollow portion is equal to or greater than 100 μm).
12. Regarding claim 7: Fuwa et al. disclosed the substrate for the thermal print head of Claim 1, wherein a material constituting the base material is silicon ([0033], lines 1-2).
13. Regarding claim 8: Fuwa et al. disclosed a thermal print head ([0058], line 2; also see Fig. 16, reference A2), comprising: the substrate for the thermal print head of Claim 1 (see the rejection of Claim 1); an insulating film ([0037], line 1; also see Fig. 16, reference 19); a wiring layer ([0039], line 1; also see Fig. 16, reference 3); and a heating element membrane ([0038], line 1; also see Fig. 16, reference 4), wherein the wiring layer is disposed over the insulating film with the heating element membrane interposed between the wiring layer and the insulating film (Fig. 16, heating layer 4 is interposed between the wiring layer 3 and the insulating film 19), the wiring layer includes a plurality of wiring portions extending along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction in the plan view so as to intersect with the ridge portion ([0039], lines 1-4; also see Fig. 16 references 31 and 32 extending in the Y-direction), and arranged along the first direction in the plan view each of the plurality of wiring portions is partially removed so that the heating element membrane is exposed at a position overlapping the ridge portion in the plan view (Fig. 4 shows wirings 31 and 32 arranged in the X-direction and partially removed so that heating element membrane 4 is exposed at a position overlapping the ridge portion in the plan view).
Allowable Subject Matter
14. Claims 2-4 and 9 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.
Conclusion
15. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
16. U.S. Patent application publication number 2020/0391517 to Nishimura disclosed a similar invention in Fig. 6.
17. U.S. Patent application publication number 2022/0063292 to Kise also disclosed a similar invention in Fig. 4.
18. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
19. 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.
20. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, STEPHEN MEIER can be reached at (571)272-2149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853