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
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in CHINA on 05/07/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/26/2024 and 08/14/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
Figure 2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art—because examiner believes, since {“some techniques”, “short circuit”, “leakage”, “stress”} terms are present in page 4 paragraph 2 of specification, only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “a surface of the first composite structure layer of the non-thinned area away from the substrate layer protrudes from a surface of the third electromagnetic shielding layer of the thinned area away from the substrate layer”, “ one circuit layer of the bonding portion away from the substrate layer is provided with the first sub-pad portion, and the second sub-pad portion is located on a side of the first sub-pad portion away from the substrate layer”, “a first sub-pad portion”, “an external circuit”, “film layer”, “a grounding line” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s) {8,11-13, 16}. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted structural cooperative relationships are: “second cover layer” which should replace “second composite structure” in Claim 13.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 seems to repeating the same structure (as being new or exclusively) in relations to non-thinned area and thinned area which makes it hard to understand and does not seem to be proper.
Examiner recommends that the claim 1 should be reformatted - for example : “A circuit board comprising a main body portion, wherein the main body portion comprises {common/intersecting elements shared by Area1 and Area2) and is divided into Area1 and Area2, wherein Area1 further comprises {exclusive/distinct elements in only Area1 in Fig. 3a) and Area2 further comprises {exclusive/distinct elements in only Area2 in Fig. 3a) and junction limitations or Area1 further comprises {exclusive/distinct elements in only Area1 in Fig. 3b) and Area2 further comprises {exclusive/distinct elements in only Area2 in Fig. 3b) and junction limitations” in order to make the claim more clear and understandable.
As another solution, Applicant can, though not recommended, make sure all repeated elements (ex: substrate layer …) are given proper antecedent language {“the” replacing “a”) and are presented in the same language/wording/spelling (no hyphens) in order to make it clear that they are referring to the same elements.
Examiner will examine the claims as best as the examiner understands the claims and with the provided drawings help.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3, and 14-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
“isolates the circuit layer” in Claim 1 should be “isolates the at least one circuit layer”
“d1 > d2” or “d1 > d3” in Claims 2-3 should be “wherein d1 > d2” or “wherein d1 > d3”
“both sides” in Claim 14 should be “opposite sides”
“the electrical component area” in Claim 15 should be “the at least one electrical component area”
Appropriate correction/explanation is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 1, for which claims 2-20 depends, teaches a limitation: “the thinned area comprises a first substructure layer, … an insulating material is provided between the second substructure layer and the third electromagnetic shielding layer at a junction of the thinned area and the non-thinned area, and the insulating material isolates the circuit layer of the second substructure layer from the third electromagnetic shielding layer” or “an insulating material is provided between the first composite structure layer and the third electromagnetic shielding layer at the junction of the thinned area and the non-thinned area, and the insulating material isolates the circuit layer of the first composite structure layer from the third electromagnetic shielding layer.”
PU (CN112822834), HE (CN113597085), and potentially Fig. 2 of current application (if prior art) are the closest prior art of record
Regarding Claim 1. PU teaches, in Fig. 4, a circuit board, comprising a main body portion, wherein the main body portion comprises a thinned area (22) and a non-thinned area (21); the non-thinned area (21) comprises a first electromagnetic shielding layer (63), a first composite structure layer (33), a substrate layer (32+71+72+73), a second composite structure layer (31) and a second electromagnetic shielding layer (62) which are sequentially stacked; the second composite structure layer comprises at least one circuit layer (313,312); [first limitation not presented as it is not disclosed by document] the first composite structure layer comprises at least one circuit layer (332,333); the thinned area comprises a third electromagnetic shielding layer (61), a substrate layer (71), a second composite structure layer (31) and a second electromagnetic shielding layer (62) which are sequentially stacked.
HE discloses, in Fig. 9-10, the teaching of an insulating material (41) is provided between the first composite structure layer (33) and the third electromagnetic shielding layer (330) at the junction of the thinned area and the non-thinned area, and the insulating material isolates the circuit layer of the first composite structure layer from the third electromagnetic shielding layer (implicit).
However, the combination of the two references would not be proper as the structure of Pu does not need the teaching of HE to have the two structures be electrically isolated (PU substrate layer isolates the two structures).
Similarly, Fig. 2 of the application (if prior art) discloses everything of the claim 1 (in regards to the structure of Fig. 3a, and (with duplication of parts and/or the PU reference) the structure of Fig. 3b)
HE discloses the insulating material limitations (see above)
However, it is unclear whether Fig. 2 can be considered to be prior art so the rejection would be currently invalid.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is presented in the Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUHAMMED AZAM whose telephone number is (571)270-0593. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 11:00am-5:00pm.
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 Dole can be reached at (571) 272-2229. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MA/Examiner, Art Unit 2848
/Timothy J. Dole/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2848