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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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)(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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims- 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being un-patentable over Park, Soo-Jae [US 20170309559 A1].
Regarding Claim-1, Park - discloses that a printed circuit board comprising: an insulating layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-10 ), and a wiring pattern disposed on or within the insulating layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-10), wherein the wiring pattern includes a first metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-100), a second metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-110) disposed on an upper surface of the first metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-100 and Layer- 140), and an inorganic oxide film disposed on a side surface of the second metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-115).
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Regarding Claim-4, Park – discloses that within the printed circuit board wherein the inorganic oxide film includes at least one of the inorganic oxides Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, ZnO2, ZrO2, SnO, SnO2, HfO2, or SiO2 (The oxide layer 115 is an aluminum oxide, Paragraph- [0069]).
Regarding Claim-5, Park – discloses that at least a portion of a side surface of the first metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Item-100 and Layer-140) is exposed from the inorganic oxide film (Fig. 6D, Item-115).
Regarding Claim-8, Park – disclose that the side surface of the first metal layer protrudes compared to the side surface of the second metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, refer to Layer-140 area), and the inorganic oxide film is disposed to extend onto a protruding region of the first metal layer (Annotated Fig. 6D, Arrow high-lighted region).
Regarding Claim-10, Park– disclose that the first metal layer (Fig. 6D, the first conductive pattern 100), and second metal layers (Fig. 6D , an aluminum pattern 110) have different average grain sizes (because of their microstructural differences of metal compositions [Metallic grain structures and microscopic analysis insight | Struers.com]))
Regarding Claim-12, Park– disclose that the wiring pattern is provided in plural, and the plurality of wiring patterns (Park, Claim-11)have a line L/space S less than 10 μm/10 μm. (Park, Paragraph- [0024] & [00264]).
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Regarding Claim-18, Park– discloses that the, inorganic oxide film includes at least one of Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, ZnO2, ZrO2, SnO, SnO2, HfO2, or SiO2 ( Thus, the oxide layer 115 is an aluminum oxide, Park- Paragraph [0057]). (claim 18 depends from claim 17
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15- are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Ishii, Jun [US 20070235219 A1]:
Regarding Claim-1, Ishii - discloses that a printed circuit board comprising: an insulating layer (Fig. 3, Item-3 ), and a wiring pattern disposed on or within the insulating layer (Fig. 3, Item-3), wherein the wiring pattern includes a first metal layer (Fig. 3, Item-2), a second metal layer (Fig. 3, Item-4 ), disposed on an upper surface of the first metal layer (Fig. 3, Item-2), and an inorganic oxide film (Fig. 3, Item-5), disposed on a side surface of the second metal layer (Fig. 3, Item-4 & 5).
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Regarding Claim-5, Ishii - discloses that at least a portion of a side surface of the first metal layer is exposed from the inorganic oxide film (Fig. 3, Item-2, has No Oxide film).
Regarding Claim-6, Ishii - discloses that the inorganic oxide film is spaced apart from a portion of the side surface of the first metal (Fig. 3, Item-2, has No Oxide film), the inorganic oxide film (Fig. 3, Item-5) is spaced apart from a portion of the upper surface of the second metal layer(fig 3, 8; para 0049).
Regarding Claim-7, Ishii– discloses that the inorganic oxide film disposed on the side surface of the second metal layer is bent to be disposed on a portion of an upper surface of the first metal layer at the protruding region.(fig 3, the semi-conductive layer 7 on the left side of the figure is bent on the upper surface of the first metal layer, (fig 3, 2 and para 0057).
Regarding Claim-9, Ishii – discloses that the inorganic oxide film disposed on the side surface of the second metal layer is bent to be disposed on a portion of an upper surface of the first metal layer at the protruding region.(fig 3, the semi-conductive layer 7 on the left side of the figure is bent on the upper surface of the first metal layer, (fig 3, 2 and para 0057)
Regarding Claim-14, Ishi– disclose that a printed circuit board comprising: a substrate (Annotated Fig. 6D, Layer-10); a first metal layer disposed on the substrate (Fig. D, Layer-100); a second metal layer disposed on the first metal layer (Fig. D, Layer-110); and a barrier layer disposed to surround the second metal layer (Fig. D, Layer-140), and having a protrusion at least partially protruding from a lower end of the barrier layer in a plane direction, perpendicular to a stacking direction (Fig. D, Highlighted protruding region).
Regarding Claim-15 Ishi– disclose that the first metal layer(fig 1b, 2) is wider than the second metal layer(fig 1b, 4) on a cross-section of the plane direction and the stacking direction, and the protrusion covers a portion of an upper surface of the first metal layer and is spaced apart from a portion of a side surface of the first metal layer.(fig 3, the semi-conductive layer 7 on the left side of the figure is bent on the upper surface of the first metal layer and spaced apart from the side surface, (fig 3, 2 and para 0057)
Claim(s) 14, 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Mizushima et al. [US 2008/0277147) A1]:
Regarding claim 14, Mizushima et al. discloses a substrate(fig 1a, 3); a first metal layer disposed on the substrate(fig 1a, 7); a second metal layer disposed on the first metal layer(fig 1a, 8); and a barrier layer disposed to surround the second metal layer and having a protrusion at least partially protruding from a lower end of the barrier layer in a plane direction, perpendicular to a stacking direction(fig 1. 5)
Regarding claim 16, Mizushima et al. discloses wherein the second metal layer(fig 1A, 8; para 0065, 20 um) is thicker than the first metal layer, and the first metal layer(fig 1a, 7; para para 0061550 nm) is thicker than the barrier layer(fig 1a, 5; para 110, 7nm).
Regarding claim 17, Mizushima et al. discloses wherein the barrier layer includes an inorganic oxide film having a thickness less than 100 nm(para 110 states the e=semiconductive layer is 7 nm)..
Regarding claim 18, Mizushima et al. discloses wherein the inorganic oxide film includes at least one of Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, ZnO2, ZrO2, SnO, S(para 0072 stated Fig 1a, 5 can be zirconium oxide)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being un-patentable over Park, Soo-Jae [US 20170309559 A1] in view of Tamura et al, [US 20090288862].
Regarding Claim-3, Park – does not discloses that within the printed circuit board, wherein the inorganic oxide film has a thickness less than 100 nm. However, Tamura et al, [US 20090288862] discloses that the thickness of the tin oxide layer is in a range of 5 to 50 nm. (Tamura et al, US 20090288862 A1 Paragraph- [0011]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the thickness of the tin oxide layer is in a range of 5 to 50 nm. As shown by Tamura et al, to obtain a robust PCB both structurally and functionally.
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Claim(s) 11- is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being un-patentable over Park, Soo-Jae [US 20170309559 A1] in view of MOTOMURA(
Regarding Claim-11, Park– discloses that the first metal layer includes chemical copper (Paragraph [0025], Item-100), Park– does not disclose that the second metal layer includes electrolytic copper. However, MOTOMURA, et at [US 20220225500 A1] discloses that the second metal layer includes electrolytic copper (Fig. 1, Item-7, an electrolytic copper plating layer). Motivation – b/c electrolytic copper plating layer can be uniformly formed, and it is possible to suppress the phenomenon that the orientation of copper crystal grains of the copper foil is carried over to crystal grains of copper deposited by electroless copper plating.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use that the second metal layer includes electrolytic copper electrolytic copper plating layer can be uniformly formed, and it is possible to suppress the phenomenon that the orientation of copper crystal grains of the copper foil is carried over to crystal grains of copper deposited by electroless copper plating.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is 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.
Conclusion
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/OBAIDUL GANI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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