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 . 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-3, 5, 8-9, and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Adachi et al. US 2016/0141105 A1 (hereafter referred to as Adachi).
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Figure 1: Examiner annotated Fig. 6 of Adachi showing internal electrode regions.
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Figure 2: Examiner annotated Fig. 8 of Adachi showing widths of an at least one fourth internal electrode.
Regarding claim 1, Adachi discloses
A multilayer feedthrough capacitor comprising:
an element body (102A – Fig. 5; para. [0084]);
a pair of first external electrodes disposed on the element body and separated from each other (106, 108 – Fig. 25A; para. [0055]);
a second external electrode disposed on the element body and separated from the pair of first external electrodes (104 – Fig. 25A; para. [0055]); and
a plurality of internal electrodes disposed in the element body (120, 122 – Figs. 5, 7, 8; paras. [0082-0088]), wherein
the plurality of internal electrodes include at least one first internal electrode (122 contained in Region 1 – present office action figure 1 (POA1); Region 1 is chosen to include a plurality of 122 seen in Fig. 5) connected to the pair of first external electrodes (paras. [0057-0058], [0061-0062]), at least one second internal electrode (122 contained in Region 2 – POA1) connected to the pair of first external electrodes (paras. [0057-0058], [0061-0062]), and at least one third internal electrode (120 contained in Region 1 – POA1) connected to the second external electrode (paras. [0053-0054]),
the at least one first internal electrode includes a plurality of first internal electrodes (Figs. 3 & 5; para. [0081]),
the element body includes
a first region in which the plurality of first internal electrodes and the at least one third internal electrode are disposed and oppose each other (Region 1 – POA1; para. [0081]), and
a second region in which the at least one second internal electrode is disposed (Region 2 – POA1), each of the plurality of first internal electrodes is connected to the pair of first external electrodes with a first connection width (para. [0088] and Table I),
the at least one second internal electrode is connected to the pair of first external electrodes with a second connection width (para. [0088] and Table I), and
the first connection width of each of the plurality of first internal electrodes is smaller than the second connection width (POA1; paras. [0088], [0093] and Table 1).
Regarding claim 2, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of internal electrodes further include at least one fourth internal electrode (122 contained in Region 3 – POA1; Region 3 is chosen to include a plurality of 122 seen in Fig. 5) connected to the pair of first external electrodes (paras. [0057-0058], [0061-0062]) and at least one fifth internal electrode (120 contained in Region 3 – POA1) connected to the second external electrode (paras. [0053-0054]), the element body further includes a third region in which the at least one fourth internal electrode and the at least one fifth internal electrode are disposed to oppose each other (Region 3 – POA1), the at least one fourth internal electrode is connected to the pair of first external electrodes with a third connection width smaller than the second connection width (POA1; paras. [0088], [0093] and Table 1), and the second region is positioned between the first region and the third region (POA1).
Regarding claim 3, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 2, wherein the at least one fourth internal electrode includes an electrode region opposing the at least one fifth internal electrode and having a width larger than the third connection width (present office action figure 2 (POA2) clearly shows a width of an electrode region opposing the at least one fifth internal electrode is larger than a third connection width).
Regarding claim 5, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first internal electrode includes an electrode region opposing the at least one third internal electrode and having a width larger than the first connection width (POA2 clearly shows a width of an electrode region opposing the at least one fifth internal electrode is larger than a third connection width).
Regarding claim 8, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the first connection width differs for each of the plurality of first internal electrodes (Fig. 5, POA1 and para. [0088] disclose a gradual increase in a connection width towards a center of the element body. Therefore, each of the plurality of first internal electrodes have a different first connection width).
Regarding claim 9, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 2, wherein the element body includes first and second side surfaces opposing each other (top, bottom – POA1), the first region is positioned at an outermost position of the first side surface in a direction in which the pair of side surfaces opposes each other, and the third region is positioned at an outermost position of the second side surface in the direction in which the first and second side surfaces oppose each other (POA1 shows Region 1 and Region 2 at an outermost position of the element body).
Regarding claim 11, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the element body has a rectangular parallelepiped shape (Fig. 5; para. [0048]) and includes a pair of end surfaces (102c, 102d – Fig. 5) opposing each other in a first direction (L), a first pair of side surfaces (102a, 102b – Fig. 5) opposing each other in a second direction (T), and a second pair of side surfaces (102, 102f – Fig. 5) opposing each other in a third direction (W), the element body having a length in the first direction larger than respective lengths in the second direction and the third direction (para. [0050]), and each of the pair of first external electrodes is disposed on a corresponding end surface of the pair of end surfaces (para. [0056]).
Regarding claim 12, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 1, wherein the pair of first external electrodes are arranged to constitute signal external electrodes (106 and 108 are capable of being signal external electrodes), and the second external electrode is arranged to constitute a ground external electrode (104 is capable of being a ground external electrode) (Fig. 25A; para. [0185]).
Regarding claim 13, Adachi discloses
The multilayer feedthrough capacitor according to claim 2, wherein the at least one fourth internal electrode includes a plurality of fourth internal electrodes each having the third connection width smaller than the second connection width (Region 3 – POA1 was chosen to contain a plurality of at least one fourth internal electrodes seen in Fig. 5. Para. [0088] discloses a gradual increase in a connection width towards a center of the element body).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4, 6-7, and 10 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:
Regarding claims 4 and 6, the prior art does not teach or suggest (in combination with the other claim limitations) wherein the at least one second internal electrode includes a plurality of second internal electrodes opposing each other with an interval smaller than an interval between the at least one fourth internal electrode and the at least one fifth internal electrode.
Regarding claim 7, the prior art does not teach or suggest (in combination with the other claim limitations) wherein the plurality of internal electrodes further include at least one sixth internal electrode connected to the pair of first external electrodes, the element body further includes a fourth region in which the at least one sixth internal electrode is disposed, the at least one sixth internal electrode is connected to the pair of first external electrodes with a fourth connection width larger than the first connection width, and the first region is positioned between the second region and the fourth region. The closest prior art is Uno et al. US 20160049243 A1 (Fig. 29 para. [0177-0178]), however, Uno ‘243 does not disclose a plurality of first internal electrode with a first connection width smaller than a second connection width.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20160049243 A1: Fig. 29 para. [0177-0178]
Applicant's 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.
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/T.J.T./Examiner, Art Unit 2847
/Timothy J. Dole/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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