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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of Invention II (claims 11-20) in the reply filed on 01/08/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/08/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information disclosure statements (IDS) filed on 06/18/2024 has/have been acknowledged.
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 punching machine having a cylinder shape, the punching device having a punching blade, and simultaneously performing the through hole forming step and the cutting step using the punching machine and the punching device as recited in claim 14 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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 11-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 11 line 5 recites the limitation “forming a through hole at each set location”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for a set location or multiple set locations in the claim, thereby rendering the claim indefinite as the metes and bounds of the claim are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets this limitation to read as “forming a through hole at least one set location”.
Claim 11 line 8 recites the limitation “the other end surface thereof”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the other end surface of the ceramic body(s), thereby rendering the claim indefinite as the metes and bounds of the claim are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets this limitation to read as “an other end surface thereof”.
Claims 12, 13, 17, and 18 recite the limitation “wherein in the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet stack body by stacking the plurality of dielectric layers comprising the dielectric layer on which the first internal electrode has been printed and the dielectric layer on which the second internal electrode has been printed, wherein the first/second internal electrode is printed…”. These limitation appears to be limiting what occurs in the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet, but due to the phrase “wherein” in line 5 of the claims, it is not sufficiently clear from the claim language if the second paragraph of the claims is what is included in the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet or is unrelated, thereby rendering the claims indefinite because the metes and bounds of the claims are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets this limitation such that the second paragraph of claims 12-13 and 17-18 are limiting to the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet; the examiner suggests removing the phrase “wherein” from claim 12-13 and 17-18 line 5, i.e. “wherein in the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet stack body by stacking the plurality of dielectric layers comprising the dielectric layer on which the first internal electrode has been printed and the dielectric layer on which the second internal electrode has been printed,
Claim 12 line 5, Claim 13 line 5, Claim 17 line 5, and Claim 18 line 5 recite the limitation “the dielectric layer”. It is not sufficiently clear from the claim language which dielectric layer this dielectric layer is referring to since there are two different dielectric layers introduced in claim 11, i.e. the dielectric layer with the first internal electrode layer and the dielectric layer with a second internal electrode, thereby rendering the claims indefinite because the metes and bounds of the claims are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets the dielectric layer in claims 12 and 17 to be the dielectric layer with the first internal electrode layer and the dielectric layer in claims 13 an 18 to be the dielectric layer with the second internal electrode layer.
Claim 12 line 8 and line 11, Claim 13 line 8 and line 11, Claim 17 line 8 and line 11, and Claim 18 line 8 and line 11 recite the limitation “a cutting line”. It is not sufficiently clear from the claim language if these cutting lines are the same ‘cutting line’ introduced in claim line 7 of claims 12, 13, 17, and 18 respectively or different cutting lines, thereby rendering the claims indefinite because the metes and bounds of the claims are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets these limitations to read as “the cutting line”.
Claim 12 line 10, Claim 13 line 10, Claim 17 line 10, and Claim 18 line 10 recite the limitation “both sides”. It is not sufficiently clear from the claim language which both sides this ‘both sides’ is referring to since claim 11 line 7-8 introduces both sides of one end surface of the ceramic body(s) and both sides of the other end surface of the ceramic body(s), thereby rendering the claims indefinite because the metes and bounds of the claims are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets the both sides in claims 12, 13, 17, and 18 to be referring to either one of the both sides of one end surface of the ceramic body(s) and both sides of the other end surface of the ceramic body(s).
Claim 14 recites the limitation “the step of forming the through hole… and the step of manufacturing the plurality of ceramic bodies… are simultaneously performed by using a punching machine having a cylinder shape and a punching device having a punch blade”. It is not described in the specification or shown in the figures how a punching machine having a cylinder shape and a punching device having a punch blade can be used simultaneously to simultaneously perform the step of forming the through holes in the ceramic sheet stack body and the step of cutting the ceramic sheet stack body into plural ceramic bodies. Further, the claim language as well as the language in the specification seems to indicate that the through holes are formed in the ceramic sheet stack body before the ceramic sheet stack body is cut into plural ceramic bodies; for example the language of “cutting the ceramic sheet stack body in the plurality of cell units so that the through hole is quartered on the basis of the center of the through hole” present in both claims 11 and 14 indicate that the through holes are formed before being quartered in the cutting step, and steps S20 and S30 as shown in Fig 5 clearly show that the through hole forming step is performed before the cutting step. Therefore it is not sufficiently clear how the through hole forming step and the cutting step can be performed simultaneously such that the through holes are quartered as claimed, thereby rendering the claim indefinite as the metes and bounds of the claim are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets this limitation to mean that the step of cutting the ceramic sheet stack body into the plurality of ceramic bodies is performed after the step of forming the through holes in the ceramic sheet stack body.
Claim 20 line 8 recites the limitation “the step of plasticizing the ceramic body”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the step of plasticizing the ceramic body in the claim, For example the step of plasticizing the ceramic body is introduced in claim 15 which claim 20 does not depend upon, thereby rendering the claim indefinite as the metes and bounds of the claim are not sufficiently clear. For the purpose of examination, the examiner interprets this limitation to read as “a step of plasticizing the ceramic body”.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 11-15 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 6359893 to Teraoka (Translation provided by examiner).
As per claim 11, as best understood, Teraoka discloses a method of manufacturing a ceramic capacitor, comprising steps of:
manufacturing a ceramic sheet stack body (see laminated body 20U in Fig 10 and 17) by stacking a plurality of dielectric layers comprising a dielectric layer (see ceramic sheets 111U including internal electrodes 13U in Fig 8 and see laminated sheet 120U in Fig 17-18 including internal electrodes 13U) on which a first internal electrode (see internal electrodes 12U in Fig 7, 9, 18, and 22) has been printed (see translation Page 5 Para 1 and Page 9 Para 6) and a dielectric layer (see ceramic sheets 111U including internal electrodes 12U in Fig 7 and see laminated sheet 120U in Fig 17-18 including internal electrodes 13U) on which a second internal electrode (see internal electrodes 13U in Fig 8-9, 18, and 22) has been printed (see translation Page 4 Para 6 – Page 6 Para 5 and Page 9);
forming a through hole (see through holes O1 and O2 in Fig 20) at least one set location of the ceramic sheet stack body (see translation Page 10 Para 1-4); and
manufacturing a plurality of ceramic bodies (see laminated body 20U and/or element body 11/11U in Fig 10, 12, 17, and 22 made from cutting along lines L1 and L2 shown in Fig 7-8, 17-21 respectively) in each of which first corner cutting planes (see through holes O1 and O2 in Fig 20-21) are formed on both sides of one end surface thereof and second corner cutting planes are formed on both sides of the other end surface thereof by cutting the ceramic sheet stack body in a plurality of cell units so that the through hole is quartered on the basis of a center of the through hole (see Fig 21; see translation Page 9-10).
As per claims 12-13, Teraoka discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11. Teraoka further discloses that the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet stack body by stacking includes: printing (see translation Page 5 Para 1 and Page 9 Para 6) the first internal electrodes (12U) and the second internal electrodes (13U) on upper surfaces of the dielectric layers (111U) with the internal electrodes in a plural number (see Fig 9-10 and 22) so that the internal electrodes each have one side come into contact with one end surface of the dielectric layer or come into contact with a cutting line part (see L1 and L2 in Fig 7-8 and 17-21 and/or through holes O1 and O2 in Fig 20-21) that is to become the one end surface of the dielectric layer, and the other side spaced apart from the cutting line part that is to become the other end surface of the dielectric layer or the other end surface of the dielectric layer at a certain distance, and both sides spaced apart from front and rear surfaces of the dielectric layer or a cutting line part that is to become the front and rear surfaces of the dielectric layer at a certain distance (see Fig 7-10 and 17-22).
As per claim 14, as best understood, Teraoka discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11. Teraoka further discloses that the step of cutting the ceramic sheet stack body into the plurality of ceramic bodies is performed after the step of forming the through holes in the ceramic sheet stack body (see Fig 20-22)
As per claim 15, Teraoka discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11. Teraoka further discloses a step of plasticizing (‘firing’, see translation Page 7 Para 7-8 and Page 11 Para 1) the ceramic body performed after the step of manufacturing the plurality of ceramic bodies (see translation Page 5-7 and Page 9-11), a step of forming first and second external electrodes Teraoka (see first and second external electrodes 14/14U and 15/15U in Fig 1-3 and 13-14; see translation Page 7 Para 4-6 and Page 11 Para 1) that connect the first and second internal electrodes to the both end surfaces of the ceramic body, respectively, is performed after the step of plasticizing the ceramic body (see translation Page 5-7 and Page 9-11), and the first external electrode is formed to cover the one end surface of the ceramic body and the first corner cutting plane (see Fig 1-3 and 13-14).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 16-20 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 6359893 to Teraoka (Translation provided by examiner) in view of US 2017/0301471 to Ono.
As per claim 16, Teraoka discloses the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 11, Teraoka discloses different embodiments of the invention, one embodiment in which a step of bonding a side cover part (see margin portions 114U in Fig 11 and margin portions 16U-19U in Fig 22) can be performed after the step of manufacturing the plurality of ceramic bodies (see Fig 1-3; see translation Page 5-7) and another embodiment, including the forming of the through holes, in which the bonding of the side cover part is performed before the step of manufacturing the plurality of ceramic bodies (see Fig 18-21).
Ono discloses a similar method of manufacturing a ceramic capacitor (see multi-layer ceramic capacitor 10 in Fig 1) including the steps of manufacturing a ceramic sheet stack body multi-layer ceramic capacitor (see multi-layer sheet 104 in Fig 9; see steps S01-S02 in Fig 7) by stacking dielectric layers (see first ceramic sheets 101 with first internal electrodes 112, second ceramic sheets 102 with second internal electrodes 113, and third ceramic sheets 103 in Fig 9) with alternating first internal electrode patterns (see first internal electrodes 112 in Fig 9) and second internal electrode patterns (see second internal electrodes 113 in Fig 9) followed by a step of cutting the ceramic sheet stack body into plural ceramic bodies (see cutting lines Lx and Ly in Fig 10 that cut away multi-layer chips 116: see step S03 in Fig 7), wherein after the cutting step, side cover parts (see side margins 117 in Fig 12) are bonded to the plural ceramic bodies to insulate the sides of the capacitor (Para 0071) while easily providing a uniform thickness to the insulation at the sides of the capacitor which ensures insulation properties at the sides of the capacitor (Para 0004-0006).
At the time the application was filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill it the art to modify the disclosure of Ono as to bond the side cover parts to front and rear surfaces of the ceramic body after the step of manufacturing the plural ceramic bodies by cutting as taught by Ono. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Teraoka and Ono are both directed towards methods of making ceramic capacitors using similar techniques and therefore it would have been within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art to look to Ono for improvements to Ono, and that determining when a step is performed would be within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art, and therefore it would be a routine matter to bond the side cover parts specifically after the cutting step of making plural ceramic bodies as taught by Ono; the obvious advantages being that bonding the side cover parts specifically after the ceramic bodies are already cut would allow for the thickness of the insulation at the sides of the capacitor to easily be made uniform to ensure the insulation properties of the capacitor (Ono: Para 0004-0006).
As per claims 17-18, Teraoka and Ono disclose the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 16. Teraoka further discloses that the step of manufacturing the ceramic sheet stack body by stacking includes: printing (see translation Page 5 Para 1 and Page 9 Para 6) the first internal electrodes (12U) and the second internal electrodes (13U) on upper surfaces of the dielectric layers (111U) in a plural number (see Fig 9-10 and 22) so that the internal electrodes each have one side come into contact with one end surface of the dielectric layer or come into contact with a cutting line part (see L1 and L2 in Fig 7-8 and 17-21 and/or through holes O1 and O2 in Fig 20-21) that is to become the one end surface of the dielectric layer, and the other side spaced apart from the cutting line part that is to become the other end surface of the dielectric layer or the other end surface of the dielectric layer at a certain distance, and both sides spaced apart from front and rear surfaces of the dielectric layer or a cutting line part that is to become the front and rear surfaces of the dielectric layer at a certain distance (see Fig 7-10 and 17-22).
As per claim 19, Teraoka and Ono disclose the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 16. Teraoka discloses that the side cover part is made of a dielectric material that is applied using a slurry (‘ceramic’, see translation Page 3 Para 2 and Page 9 Para 10 – Page 10 Para 7); and Ono further discloses that the side cover part (see side margins 117 in Fig 12) is made of a dielectric material (‘ceramic’, see Para 0111) with a flat panel shape that is bonded to the front and rear surfaces of the ceramic body except the corner cutting plane (see Fig 12) or also that the side cover can be made by applying a ceramic slurry (Para 0111).
As per claim 20, Teraoka and Ono disclose the elements of the current invention as detailed above with respect to claim 16. Teraoka further discloses a step of plasticizing (‘firing’, see translation Page 7 Para 7-8 and Page 11 Para 1) the ceramic body performed after the step of manufacturing the plurality of ceramic bodies (see translation Page 5-7 and Page 9-11) and the step of bonding the side cover part, a step of forming first and second external electrodes (see first and second external electrodes 14/14U and 15/15U in Fig 1-3 and 13-14; see translation Page 7 Para 4-6 and Page 11 Para 1) connected to the first and second internal electrodes in both end surfaces of the ceramic body performed after the plasticizing step (see translation Page 5-7 and Page 9-11), and the first external electrode is formed to cover the one end surface of the ceramic body and the first corner cutting plane up to the side cover part (see Fig 1-3 and 13-14); and, Ono further discloses a step of plasticizing (see step S06 in Fig 7, see Para 0121-) the ceramic body performed after the step of manufacturing the plurality of ceramic bodies and the step of bonding the side cover part (see steps S01-S06 in Fig 7), a step of forming first and second external electrodes (see first and second external electrodes 14 and 15 in Fig 1-2; see step S07 in Fig 7; see Para 0073 and 0122) connected to the first and second internal electrodes in both end surfaces of the ceramic body performed after the plasticizing step (steps S06-S07 in Fig 7), and the first external electrode is formed to cover the one end surface of the ceramic body and the first corner cutting plane up to the side cover part (see Fig 1-2 and 4).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joshua D. Anderson, whose telephone number is (571) 270-0157. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Friday between 7 AM and 2 PM Arizona time.
If any attempt to reach the examiner by telephone is unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong, can be reached at (571) 272-0993.
Another resource that is available to applicants is the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR). Information regarding the status of an application can be obtained from the (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAX. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, please feel free to contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Applicants are invited to contact the Office to schedule an in-person interview to discuss and resolve the issues set forth in this Office Action. Although an interview is not required, the Office believes that an interview can be of use to resolve any issues related to a patent application in an efficient and prompt manner.
/JOSHUA D ANDERSON/
Examiner, Art Unit 3729
/THOMAS J HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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