Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/704,680

DOUBLE-SIDED COPPER CLAD LAMINATE, CAPACITOR ELEMENT AND PRINTED WIRING BOARD WITH BUILT-IN CAPACITOR, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING DOUBLE-SIDED COPPER CLAD LAMINATE

Non-Final OA §102§Other
Filed
Apr 25, 2024
Examiner
DINH, TUAN T
Art Unit
2847
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
916 granted / 1165 resolved
+10.6% vs TC avg
Strong +23% interview lift
Without
With
+23.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
1206
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
43.4%
+3.4% vs TC avg
§102
45.0%
+5.0% vs TC avg
§112
6.6%
-33.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1165 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §Other
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 . Drawings 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 capacitor element, claim 13, and a printed wiring board with built-in capacitor, claim 14” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. The drawing does not show these limitations as above. Please, clarify. 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 Objections Claims 13-15 are objected to because of the following informalities: Regarding claim 13, the phrase of “a capacitor element” is unclear because the drawing does not show. Please, revise. Regarding claim 14, the phrase of “a printed wiring board with built-in capacitor” is unclear because the drawing does not show. Please, revise or cancel this claim. Regarding to claim 15, please, change claim 15 which is shown below: 15. A method for manufacturing the double-sided copper clad laminate according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: (i) applying a resin layer precursor to a copper foil; (ii) curing the precursor to obtain [[a]] the copper foil with the resin layer; (iii) arranging a dielectric layer on a surface of the resin layer; and (iv) pressing the copper foil with the resin layer on which the dielectric layer has been arranged and another copper foil with another resin layer produced through the above steps(i) and (ii), so that the dielectric layer is sandwiched by the resin layers from both sides. Appropriate correction is required. 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. Claim(s) 1-5, 9, and 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a(1) as being anticipated by Kuwako et al. (WO 2015125928 A1), hereafter Kuwako. As to claims 1, 13-14, Kuwako discloses a printed circuit board (20) as shown in figures 3-4 with built-in capacitor/capacitor element (10) comprising a double-sided copper clad laminate (1) having copper foil (3) adhered onto both surfaces of a dielectric layer (F), wherein the dielectric layer (the resin film F) has a thickness of 0.1 µm or more and 2.0 µm or less (0.1 µm to 2.0 µm), the thickness of the dielectric layer (F) in a range of 0.5 µm to 25 µm, and wherein the double-sided copper clad laminate (1) further comprises a pair of resin layers (4) arranged in contact with the copper foil (3) between the dielectric layer (F) and the copper foil (3). As to claim 2, Kuwako discloses a tensile strength of the resin layers (the thermosetting resin has a tensile strength about 200 MPa) is larger than a tensile strength of the dielectric layer (100 MPa). As to claim 3, Kuwako discloses an overall tensile strength of the dielectric layer (F) and the resin layers is 50 MPa or more and 200 MPa or less (the resin film F has the tensile strength about 0.1 GPa or 100 MPa). As to claim 4, Kuwako discloses an overall puncture strength or force of the dielectric layer (the polyamide about 40-100 MPa) and the resin layers (the polyimide about 203-297 MPa) is 0.6 N or more. As to claim 5, Kuwako discloses at least one of the resin layers (4) and the dielectric layer (F) comprises a dielectric filler. As to claim 9, Kuwako discloses the resin layers (4) are free from the dielectric filler and the dielectric layer (F) comprises the dielectric filler. As to claim 11, Kuwako discloses a glass transition temperature Tg of resin contained in the resin layers (the element 4 made from a polyimide resin has Tg in a range of 200°C -400°C) is 180°C or higher. As to claim 12, Kuwako discloses a glass transition temperature Tg of resin contained in the resin layers (the element 4 made from a polyimide resin has Tg in a range of 200°C -400°C) is higher than a glass transition temperature Tg of resin contained in the dielectric layer (the polyamide F has Tg in between 40°C -90°C). As best understood to claim 15, Kuwako discloses a method for manufacturing the double-sided copper clad laminate (1) according to claim 1, comprising the steps of in figure 2: (i) applying a resin layer (4) precursor to a copper foil (3); (ii) curing the precursor to obtain [[a]] the copper foil (3) with the resin layer (4); (iii) arranging a dielectric layer (F) on a surface of the resin layer (4); and (iv) pressing the copper foil (3) with the resin layer (4) on which the dielectric layer (F) has been arranged and another copper foil (another element 3) with another resin layer (another element 4) produced through the above steps(i) and (ii), so that the dielectric layer (F) is sandwiched by the resin layers from both sides. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 6-8, and 10 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUAN T DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-1929. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI: 8AM-4:30PM. 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. /TUAN T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 25, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §Other (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12598704
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING POWER MODULE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12581591
POWER REGULATOR INTERFACES FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12581599
PACKAGING MODULE, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12581743
ELECTRONIC COMPONENT AND APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12571469
CONTROL MODULE OF A VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
79%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+23.1%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1165 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month