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)(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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR 10-1273255.
With respect to claim 1, KR ‘255 discloses a capacitor (see abstract), comprising: a plurality of capacitor elements (see FIG. 1, elements 10) each including a first end surface electrode positioned on a first end surface and corresponding to a first polarity (see FIG. 1 and paragraph [0029]), and a second end surface electrode positioned on a second end surface and corresponding to a second polarity (see FIG. 1 and paragraph [0028]); a first conductor in contact with and electrically connected to the first end surface electrode (see FIG. 1, element 30 and paragraph [0029]); a second conductor in contact with and electrically connected to the second end surface electrode (see FIG. 1, element 20 and paragraph [0028]); a third conductor adjacent to the first conductor (see FIG. 1, element 40 and paragraph [0029]), the third conductor including an embedded part positioned in a first section that overlaps with the first conductor in a plan view seen from the first end surface electrode toward the second end surface electrode (see FIG. 1, element 41) and an exposed part positioned in a second section separate from the first section (see FIG. 1, element 45); and a sealing resin part sealing the plurality of capacitor elements, the first conductor, and the second conductor, the sealing resin part sealing the third conductor to embed the embedded part and expose the exposed part (see FIG. 4 and paragraph [0004]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to claim 2, the prior art fails to teach, or fairly suggest, a fastening part on each of the first and third conductor, such that the fastening parts are fastened to one another.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Urano et al. (US 2022/0013298) discloses a pair of bus bars, but fails to teach a third bus bar. Takahashi (US 2023/0038001) discloses a capacitor module having three bus bars, with the first and third bus bar on the same side of the plurality of capacitors, but fails to teach that the third bus bar overlaps the first bus bar in the plan view.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DION R FERGUSON whose telephone number is (571)270-7566. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 5:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Dole can be reached at 571-272-2229. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DION R. FERGUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848
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