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 .
RESPONSE TO AMENDMENT
Claims 1 and 3-5 are pending in the application. Claims 2 and 6-8 have been cancelled.
Amendments to the specification and the claims 1 and 3-5, filed on 9 June 2026, have been entered in the above-identified application.
Answers to Applicants' Arguments
Applicants' arguments in the response filed 9 June 2026, regarding the 35 U.S.C. §102 and §103 rejections made of record, have been fully considered and are deemed persuasive. The rejections have been withdrawn in view of applicants' arguments and amendments to the claims.
New and Repeated Rejections
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 § 103
Claims 1, 3, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura et al. (US 2015/0301083 A1) in view of Ahn et al. (US 2021/0251077 A1).
Regarding Claim 1: Kimura discloses a guide plate for a probe card comprising a metal base (ref. #110) of an aluminum or aluminum alloy with through holes (ref. #111) extending there through, a first insulation layer (ref. #120) of an electrically insulating material (e.g., SiO2 and SiN) in and conforming to the inner shape of the through holes, and a metal layer (ref. #130) in the through hole and on and conforming to the first insulation layer, wherein the metal layer can be a hard metal (e.g., Rh- or Ni-based alloy) (figures 1A to 2, and [0024]-[0031] of Kimura). Specifically, Kimura provides for --a film structure, comprising: a body having electrical insulating properties; a perforated hole formed through the body and having a large inner width-; and a metal layer provided on an inner wall of the perforated hole, the metal layer comprising a first layer provided on the inner wall of the perforated hole and entirely covering the inner wall of the perforated hole, and a second metal layer provided on an inner wall of the first metal layer, wherein the first layer and the second metal layer form a through-hole without filling the perforated hole and are provided only inside the perforated hole--.
Kimura fails to disclose --an anodic oxidation film structure, comprising: a body made of an anodic oxidation film formed by anodic oxidation of a base metal and then removing the base metal, and having electrical insulating properties; a perforated hole having a larger inner width than pores formed during the anodic oxidation; a first metal layer provided on the inner wall of the perforated hole and entirely covering a plurality of fine trenches formed on the inner wall of the perforated hole--.
Ahn discloses performing anodic oxidation on a base metal to form an anodic oxidation film, the base metal being removed from the formed anodic oxidation film to form an anodic oxidation sheet (ref. #10), wherein the anodic oxidation sheet comprises a plurality of pores (ref. "P") having diameters ranging from ones of nanometers to hundreds of nanometers (i.e., 1 nm to 999 nm) (figures 1A to 1D, [0035]-[0042] of Ahn). Ahn also discloses through-holes (ref. "H") extending through the anodic oxidation sheet, wherein the through-holes are each either filled or have a thin film layer (ref. #11) of a metal formed on an inner surface of the through-hole (figures 2A to 2D, [0155]-[0188] of Ahn). Ahn further discloses that the first thin film can have a predetermined thickness (e.g., 20 nm to 3 µm) ([0016] and [0062] of Ahn). (In the instant case, since the first thin film can be such that it does not entirely fill the through-hole, covers the entire surface of the through-hole, and can have a thickness of 20 nm to 3 µm, a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have determined the width of the through-holes can be greater than 6 µm [=(3 µm)+(3 µm)], and is greater than the width (diameter) of the pores (i.e., 1 nm to 999 nm); which anticipates the claimed limitation that the perforated hole has --a larger inner width than [inner width of] pores--.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have combined the anodic oxidation sheet and the film layers of Ahn with the film structure and metal layer disclosed by Kimura in order to have --an anodic oxidation film structure, comprising: a body made of an anodic oxidation film formed by anodic oxidation of a base metal and then removing the base metal, and having electrical insulating properties; a perforated hole having a larger inner width than pores formed during the anodic oxidation; a first metal layer provided on the inner wall of the perforated hole and entirely covering a plurality of fine trenches formed on the inner wall of the perforated hole--. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have combined the anodic oxidation sheet and the film layers of Ahn with the film structure and metal layer disclosed by Kimura, from the stand-point of having a film structure favorably used in high-temperature atmosphere, with films that result in increased strength and high chemical resistance and corrosion resistance ([0012], [0014], and [0015] of Ahn). (In the instant case, it would have been obvious to have incorporated the anodic oxidation film and the material of the first metal layer of Ahn as the body and the first metal layer of the metal layer disclosed by Kimura, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. See MPEP §2144.07.)
Regarding Claim 3: Kimura in view of Ahn discloses the claimed anodic oxidation film structure, but does not explicitly recite --a plurality of peaks and a plurality of valleys are repeated in a circumferential direction of the perforated hole to form the plurality of fine trenches--. However, Ahn uses the same materials as applicants (i.e., a body made of an anodic oxidation film (e.g., Al2O3) formed by anodic oxidation of a base metal and then removing the base metal, a perforated hole formed through the body and having a larger inner width than [inner width of] pores formed during the anodic oxidation; see ([0020], [0021], [0035]-[0042], [0061], [0062], [0087], [0102]-[0110], [0128], [0144], [0145], [0151], [0152], [0156]) of Ahn and ([0011] and [0053]) of the filed specification). Therefore, it is the decision of the examiner that the perforated hole of Ahn inherently possesses a plurality of peaks and a plurality of valleys repeated in a circumferential direction of the perforated hole that form the plurality of fine trenches. (In the instant case, because the body of Ahn is Al2O3 with a plurality of pores witch diameters of ones of nm to hundreds of nm, and that the through-holes formed into the body would have at least some of its circumferential portion being defined by cross-sections of the pores. It would stand to reason that the outer circumference of the through-holes would possess said "plurality of fine trenches in which a plurality of peaks and a plurality of valleys are repeated in a circumferential direction".) Furthermore, Kimura and Ahn also teaches that the first metal layer conforms and entirely covers the fine trenches ([0026] of Kimura; figures 2C to 2D, [0087], [0102]-[0110], [0151], [0152], [0156], [0158], and [0159] of Ahn).
Regarding Claim 5: Kimura in view of Ahn discloses that the second metal layer is made of at least one metal selected from: the group consisting of rhodium (Rd), nickel (Ni), and an alloy of these metals ([0027] of Kimura).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kimura et al. (US 2015/0301083 A1) in view of Ahn et al. (US 2021/0251077 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamashita (US 2014/0085829 A1).
Kimura in view of Ahn is relied upon as stated above.
Regarding Claim 4: Kimura in view of Ahn discloses the claimed anodic oxidation film structure, and that the first metal layer and the second metal layer can be of different materials having different properties (i.e., heat resistance, corrosion resistance, voltage resistance, plasma resistance, etc.) ([0129] and [0134]-[0136] of Ahn).
Ahn fails to disclose --the first metal layer is made of a single layer or a plurality of layers of titanium (Ti), copper (Cu), gold (Au), or nickel (Ni)--.
Yamashita discloses an insulating based (ref. #12) of an anodized film of aluminum substrate comprising conduction passages (ref. #13) therethrough, the conduction passages formed from metals of copper (Cu), gold (Au), silver (Ag), and Nickel (Ni) (figure 1C, [0036]-[0041], and [0046] of Yamashita).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have incorporated the metals of Yamashita as the material for the first metal layer and the second metal layer disclosed by Kimura in view of Ahn in order to have --the first metal layer is made of a single layer or a plurality of layers of copper (Cu), gold (Au), or nickel (Ni)-- {instant claim 4} and --the second metal layer is made of at least one metal selected from: the group consisting of nickel (Ni), and an alloy of these metals; or the group consisting of copper (Cu), silver (Ag), gold (Au), and an alloy of these metals-- {instant claim 5}. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporated the metals of Yamashita as the material for the first metal layer and the second metal layer disclosed by Ahn, from the stand-point of having a material with an electrical resistivity of less than or equal to 103 Ω∙cm ([0040] of Yamashita). (In the instant case, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have used gold, silver, copper or nickel as the material for the first metal layer or the second material layer, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use. See MPEP §2144.07.)
Conclusion
Applicants' amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 Donald M. Flores, Jr. whose telephone number is (571) 270-1466. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 to 17:00 M-F; Alternate Fridays off.
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, Frank Vineis can be reached at (571) 270-1547. 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.
/DONALD M FLORES JR/
Donald M. Flores, Jr.Examiner, Art Unit 1781
Prosecution Insights