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 of Species II, FIGs. 11 and 12, and claims 1-4, 6-11, 13, 14, 16 and 17 in the reply filed on 05/22/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Claims 5, 12 and 15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/12/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 06/12/2024 are acceptable.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6-11, 13, 14, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2018/0277926 A1, hereinafter “Park”) in view of Wada (U.S. PG. Pub. No. 2016/0118183 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Park teaches a coil component 120 and 130 (FIGs. 1-6, FIG. 1 is provided below for convenience) comprising:
a core 120 including a wire-wound core portion 122 and flanges 124, the wire-wound core portion including a peripheral surface (outer surface of core portion) and extending in an axial direction (x axis direction), the flanges being disposed on end portions of the wire-wound core portion opposite to each other in the axial direction, and the axial direction of the wire-wound core portion extending parallel to a mount surface (flat surface of board 110),
terminal electrodes 140 disposed at portions of the flanges facing at least the mount surface; and
a wire (“wire” of coil 130 para. [0041]) wound around the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion and connected to the terminal electrodes,
wherein each of the flanges includes an inner end surface (surface closer to wire-wound core portion) facing the wire-wound core portion and on which a corresponding one of the end portions of the wire-wound core portion is positioned, and an outer end surface (surface further from the wire-wound core portion) facing outward away from the inner end surface,
recesses 126 are provided at portions (ridges) of the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion in a peripheral direction (circumferential direction) where the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion intersects the inner end surfaces of the flanges (paras. [0034], [0036], [0041], [0043] and [0046]).
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Park does not expressly teach
a sloping surface is in each of the recesses,
the sloping surface is inclined at an obtuse angle with respect to a corresponding one of the inner end surfaces,
the sloping surface extends in a direction away from the inner end surface,
the sloping surface includes at least a first sloping surface and a second sloping surface continuous with each other in the direction away from a corresponding one of the inner end surfaces,
the first sloping surface and the second sloping surface are arranged in this order in the direction away from the inner end surface, and
the first sloping surface differs from the second sloping surface in terms of at least one of an angle with respect to the inner end surface, a curvature, and a length in the axial direction.
Wada teaches a coil component (FIGs. 1 and 2) comprising:
a sloping surface SL (annotated FIG. 2) at the intersection of the wire-wound core portion 22 and the flanges 20 and 21,
the sloping surface s1 and or s2 is inclined at an obtuse angle with respect to a corresponding one of the inner end surfaces,
the sloping surface extends in a direction away from the inner end surface (surface of flange 20 closer to the core portion 22),
the sloping surface includes at least a first sloping surface s1 and a second sloping surface s2 continuous with each other in the direction away from a corresponding one of the inner end surfaces,
the first sloping surface and the second sloping surface are arranged in this order in the direction away from the inner end surface, and
the first sloping surface differs from the second sloping surface in terms of at least one of an angle with respect to the inner end surface, a curvature, and a length in the axial direction (para. [0033]). The instantaneous slope s1 and s2 are different.
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It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the differing sloping surfaces of as taught by Wada to the coil component of Park to improve mechanical strength of the connection between the core portion and the flanges.
With respect to claim 2, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claim 1, wherein
when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the wire-wound core portion and parallel to the mount surface, the sloping surface is inclined at an obtuse angle with respect to the corresponding inner end surface and extends in a direction away from the inner end surface, and
each of the recesses including the sloping surface is disposed at a first side of the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion facing at least the mount surface (Wade, para. [0033]).
With respect to claim 3, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claim 2, wherein
the recesses, each including the sloping surface, are disposed at the first side of the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion facing the mount surface, and at a second side of the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion opposite to the first side (Wade, para. [0033]).
With respect to claims 4 and 13, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claims 1 and 2, respectively, wherein
the wire-wound core portion has a substantially polygonal-prism shape including a plurality of ridges (corners) extending parallel to each other, and
each of the recesses is defined by a chamfer provided at at least one of the ridges (Park, para. [00345])
With respect to claims 6 and 14, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claims 4 and 5, respectively, wherein
the chamfer defines a groove extending along the ridge (Park, para. [0034]).
With respect to claim 7, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claim 4, respectively, wherein
the wire-wound core portion has a substantially quadrangular-prism shape including four ridges extending parallel to each other (Park, FIG. 4 and para. [0056]).
With respect to claim 8, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claim 7, wherein
the chamfer is provided at each of the ridges (Park, FIG. 4 and para. [0056]).
With respect to claims 9 and 16, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claims 1 and 2, respectively, wherein
the sloping surface includes a flat surface (Wada, para. [0033]). Sloping surface s1 are reasonably flat surface.
With respect to claims 10 and 17, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claims 1 and 2 respectively, wherein
the sloping surface includes a concave curved surface (Wada, para. [0033]). Sloping surface SL as a whole is concave curved surface.
With respect to claim 11, Park in view of Wada teaches the coil component according to Claim 1, wherein
a boundary (connection between s1 and s2) between the first sloping surface and the second sloping surface is located at a position the same as the peripheral surface of the wire-wound core portion in a direction from the peripheral surface toward the center axis, or is located at a position closer to the center axis of the wire-wound core portion than the peripheral surface in the direction from the peripheral surface toward the center axis (Wade, para. [0033]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. A list of pertinent prior art is attached in form PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANGTIN LIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5729. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 0800-1700.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shawki S. Ismail can be reached at 571-272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG TIN BIK LIAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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