DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claim(s) 1-18 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 1, 3-9, 11, 13, 15, 17 is/are rejected.
Claim(s) 2 is/are subject to objection.
Claim(s) 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 is/are withdrawn from consideration.
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 .
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.
Response to Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species (a)(i) (claims 9, 11, 13, 15, 17) in the reply filed on 01/12/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim(s) 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 is/are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/12/2026.
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.
The rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, in the previous Office Action mailed 04/22/2026 have been withdrawn in view of the Claim Amendments filed 07/21/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 (AIA )
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.
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 rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 103 citing ARAI ET AL (US 2023/0023832) or ARAI ET AL (US 2023/0023889) or ARAI ET AL (US 2023/0365797) have been withdrawn in view of the 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) statement in Applicant’s arguments filed 07/21/2026.
ARAI ET AL ‘832 and ARAI ET AL ‘889 and ARAI ET AL ‘797 no longer qualify as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
Claim(s) 1, 3-9, 11, 13, 15, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
• KO ET AL (US 2015/0021084),
in view of KORMURASAKI ET AL (US 2005/0276958),
and in view of KATAGIRI ET AL (US 2023/0035382).
KO ET AL ‘084 discloses laminates (e.g., multilayer copper-clad laminates (CCLs), etc.) comprising:
• at least one insulating layer(s);
• at least one copper foil layer(s) with a smooth side and a rougher side;
• an optional carrier layer (210);
wherein an illustrative structure (Figure 5) of a laminate comprises:
• a carrier layer (210) (corresponding to the recited “resin layer”), wherein both sides of the carrier layer (210) contacts the rougher side of a copper foil layer (113);
• first and second insulating layers (111), each of which have one surface which contacts the smooth side of a copper foil layer (113).
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The laminates can be formed by stacking a copper layer (113) and an insulating layer (111) on each side of the carrier layer (210) (corresponding to the recited “resin layer”), with the rougher side of copper layers (113) bonded to the carrier layer (210) and the smooth side of the copper layers (113) bonded to the insulating layers (111). (entire document, e.g., Figures 5, 11-15, etc.; paragraph 0005, 0009, 0015, 0021, 0058, 0085-0086, 0094, 0097-0099, etc.) However, the reference does not specifically discuss the recited insulating layer composition or resin layer composition.
KOMURASAKI ET AL ‘958 discloses an electrical insulating resin composition for use in forming circuit boards, wherein the insulating resin composition comprise:
• the polymerized reaction product of:
• (D) 50-95 parts by weight of a partially hydrogenated rubber-type compound (e.g., a copolymer containing styrene in amounts of less than 50 wt% (corresponding to the recited “aromatic vinyl compound” and further satisfying the recited condition (2) of claim 2) and ethylene / butylene (corresponding to the recited “olefin” and further satisfying the recited condition (4) of claim 2) repeating units, etc.);
• (B) 5-50 parts by weight of a polymerizable monomer having one or more terminal reactive double bonds (e.g., divinylbenzene, etc.) (corresponding to the recited “aromatic polyene”, and further satisfying the recited condition (3) of claim 2);
(corresponding to the recited “an olefin-aromatic vinyl compound-aromatic polyene copolymer”);
• optionally an adhesion-promoting additive (e.g., a silane-based coupling agent, etc.);
• optionally solvent;
• optionally a radical polymerization initiator (corresponding to the recited “curing agent” of claim 5);
The reference further discloses a method of forming a coated metal (e.g., copper, etc.) board, wherein an illustrative method of forming the coated metal board comprises:
• forming a liquid coating composition comprising the insulating resin composition and solvent (corresponding to the recited “varnish”);
• applying the liquid coating composition to an open surface of a metal substrate or metal conductor foil;
• drying the applied liquid coating composition (correspond to the recited “removing solvent from the applied varnish” to form an uncured insulating resin layer on the metal substrate or metal conductor foil;
• curing the insulating resin layer (e.g., using heat, etc.) to form a cured insulating resin layer.
The reference further discloses that the metal conductor foil encompasses patterned wiring layers. (paragraph 0018-0024, 0026, 0028-0030, 0037, 0040-0043, 0046, 0048-0049, 0052, 0062-0063, 0066-0069, 0074-0079, 0084, 0088, etc.; Table 3, etc.)
KATAGIRI ET AL ‘382 discloses that it is well known in the art to use polymeric films (e.g., polyimide, liquid crystal polymer (LCP), etc.) as components (e.g., base or support layers, etc.) in laminated bodies for electronic devices (e.g., copper-clad laminate (CCL); flexible printed circuit board (FPC); etc.). (paragraph 0002-0003, 0115-0116, etc.)
Regarding claims 1, 3-5, 7-9, 15, 17, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use known insulating resin compositions applied by known methods (as disclosed in KOMURASAKI ET AL ‘958) to form the insulating layers (111) in the laminates of KO ET AL ‘084 in order to provide useful multilayer circuitry devices for various electronic applications.
Further regarding claims 1, 9, one of ordinary skill in the art would have utilized known resin films commonly used as components in CCLs and printed circuit boards (as suggested in KATAGIRI ET AL ‘382) as the carrier layer (210) in the laminates of KO ET AL ‘084 in order to provide support and/or mechanical strength.
Regarding claim 2 (1), one of ordinary skill in the art would have selected the degree of polymerization of the polymerized reaction product of (D) and (B) in order to obtain the optimal number average molecular weight for obtaining specific performance properties (e.g., mechanical properties, adhesive properties, heat resistance, moisture resistance, chemical resistance, etc.) for a given application.
Regarding claim 6, one of ordinary skill in the art would have utilized an effective amount of a known surface modifier (e.g., silane coupling agent) in the insulating resin compositions of KOMURASAKI ET AL ‘958 in order to provide improved adhesion to other layers.
Regarding claim 9, one of ordinary skill in the art would have formed the laminates of KO ET AL ‘084 by a conventional sequential assembly process -- for example: (i) stacking a copper foil layer (113) on carrier layer (210) with the rougher side of the copper layer (113) contacting the carrier layer (210); (ii) applying a liquid coating composition (corresponding to the recited “varnish”) containing the insulating resin composition of KOMURASAKI ET AL ‘958 to the open smooth side of copper foil layer (113); (iii) removing the solvent from the varnish coating to form an uncured insulating layer (111); (iv) curing the uncured insulating layer (111) to form a cured insulating layer (111).
Regarding claim 11: (i) KOMURASAKI ET AL ‘958 discloses that metal foils can be discontinuous (e.g., wiring); and (ii) KO ET AL ‘084 discloses various embodiments wherein the copper foil layer can be discontinuous; applying an insulating layer over a discontinuous copper foil layer (e.g., a wiring layer, a pre-structured conductive layer, etc.) would result in an insulating layer (111) formed from a varnish coating which is partially in contact with the smooth surface of copper foil layer (118) (corresponding to the recited “open smooth surface of the first copper foil”) and partially in contact with the second insulating layer (131) (corresponding to the recited “resin layer”) (corresponding to the recited “open pat of the surface of the first resin layer”)
Regarding claim 13, one of ordinary skill in the art would have incorporated additional polymeric functional layers conventionally used in circuit board laminates which are isolated or separated from any of the copper layers laminates (e.g., an exterior protective sealing layer, a surface barrier layer, etc.) (corresponding to the recited “second resin layer”) in order to provide the laminates with known performance-enhancing properties (e.g., improved environmental and/or moisture and/or chemical resistance, improved resistance to mechanical damage, etc.).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 in the previous Office Action mailed 07/21/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection in the present Office Action.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 2 is/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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest insulating layers containing a recessed portion with a copper foil contained within the recess, with a portion of the insulating layer bonded to the smooth side of the copper foil and another portion of the insulating layer bonded to the resin layer (claim 2).
KO ET AL ‘084 fails to specifically disclose or suggest insulating layers containing copper foil-containing recesses.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Vivian Chen (Vivian.chen@uspto.gov) whose telephone number is (571) 272-1506. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 6 PM. The examiner can also be reached on alternate Fridays.
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October 13, 2026
/VIVIAN CHEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
