DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I claims 1-3, in the reply filed on April 24, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 4-11 are withdrawn as directed to non-elected subject matter.
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, 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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isshiki et al. (JP2014111800A, references herein made to the English translation form EPO espacenet dated June 10, 2026).
Regarding applicants’ claim 1, Isshiki et al. discloses a pasty metal particulate composition comprising heat-sinterable fine particles selected for materials including copper having an average particle diameter of 0.005 to 0.2µm (5 to 200nm), the particles coated with an organic substance having 3 to 24 carbon atoms and a polar group (page 9 line 33 - page 10 line 27). Isshiki et al. disclose selecting from volatile organic compounds including for example, triethylene and tetraethylene glycol (page 28 lines 26 - page 29 line 3), and heating at 70 to 300°C (page 30 lines 23-30). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of applicants’ claimed invention would have found it obvious to select from the organic materials disclosed by Isshiki et al. including those which satisfy applicants’ claimed conditions 1 and 2.
Isshiki et al. do not appear to explicitly disclose measurements with regards to claimed conditions 3 and 4, however substantially identical materials treated in a substantially identical manner are expected to have substantially identical properties. Applicants disclose copper nanoparticles and an organic substance such as tirethylene or tetraethylene glycol (present specification page 13) as well as a heating temperature of 230°C or higher (present specification, page 31). Given substantially identical materials, treated under substantially identical conditions, the resulting coated particles would be expected to be substantially identical including satisfying applicants’ claimed conditions 3 and 4.
Regarding applicants’ claims 2-3, Isshiki et al. disclose an average particle diameter of 0.005 to 0.2µm (5 to 200nm) (page 9 line 33-34).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM C KRUPICKA whose telephone number is (571)270-7086. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5pm EST.
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/Adam Krupicka/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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