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 .
1. Acknowledgement is made to the amendment, filed 7/24/2026. Claims 1-14 are pending.
Claim Objections
2. Claims 3 and 12 were previously objected to for minor informalities. Claims 3 & 12 have been amended to overcome the previous objections and therefore the claim objections have been withdrawn.
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.
3. Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kluge (US 2024/0242054 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kluge discloses a method for use in manufacturing a smartcard, comprising:
providing a smartcard body (1 – card body) comprising a first cavity region and a second cavity region (Figs. 1 & 9), wherein a wire (3 – coil element & 16 – electrically conducting connections) is embedded within the smartcard body, the wire extending from a first contact pad in the first cavity region, continuously through first and second contact pads in the second cavity region, and to a second contact pad in the first cavity region, wherein an intermediate portion of the wire joining the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region is located within the second cavity region [0057, 0064, 0079, & Fig. 9 – disclosing two milled recesses, or cavities, one for a chip module(2) and another for an electronic component (15), wherein a wire connection between the cavity regions is “formed by means of a continuous wire”];
milling a first cavity within one of the first cavity region and the second cavity region to a first depth that exposes the first and second contact pads in the respective cavity region [0058, 0059, 0064, & Figs. 1, 2A, 2B, & 9]; and
after milling the first cavity, milling a second cavity within the second cavity region to a second depth that cuts the intermediate portion of the wire between the first and second contact pads of the second cavity region, thereby separating the first and second contact pads of the second cavity region [0058, 0059, & 0066].
Regarding claim 2, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 1, further comprising: implanting a first module within the first cavity, the implanting comprising electrically connecting first and second contacts of the first module to the first and second contact pads in the respective cavity region [0059-0062].
Regarding claim 3, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 2, wherein the first module comprises one of a smartcard IC module and a biometric sensor module [0057, 0059, & 0064].
Regarding claim 4, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 1, further comprising: generating an electromagnetic field adjacent to the smartcard body, wherein the electromagnetic field induces an induced voltage in the wire, and wherein a sensor is configured to detect that the first cavity has been milled to the first depth based on detection of the induced voltage [0058-0062].
Regarding claim 5, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 4, where the first cavity is milled by a milling machine, and wherein the sensor is electrically coupled to a cutting tool of the milling machine [0058-0062].
Regarding claim 6, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 1, wherein the first cavity is milled in the first cavity region, the method further comprising: milling a third cavity exposing the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region [0058, 0059, & 0066].
Regarding claim 7, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 6, further comprising: implanting a second module into the second cavity region, the implanting comprising electrically connecting first and second contacts of the second module to the first and second contacts pads in the second cavity region [0064, 0065, & 0079].
Regarding claim 8, Kluge discloses a smartcard body (1 – card body) comprising a wire (3 – coil element & 16 – electrically conducting connections) embedded within the smartcard body, wherein the smartcard body defines a first cavity region for milling to receive a first module and a second cavity region for milling to receive a second module, and wherein the wire extends from a first contact pad in the first cavity region, continuously through first and second contact pads in the second cavity region, and to a second contact pad in the first cavity region, wherein an intermediate portion of the wire joining the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region is located within the second cavity region [0057, 0064, 0079, & Fig. 9 – disclosing two milled recesses, or cavities, one for a chip module(2) and another for an electronic component (15), wherein a wire connection between the cavity regions is “formed by means of a continuous wire”].
Regarding claim 9, Kluge discloses a smartcard body according to claim 8, wherein the first and second contact pads in the first cavity region or the first and second contact pads on the second cavity region are configured to be exposed by a first cavity milled in the respective cavity region to a first depth, and wherein a portion of the wire connecting the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region extends through the second cavity region, the portion of the wire being configured to be cut by a second cavity milled in the second cavity region to a second depth [0057-0059, 0064, 0066, 0079, & Fig. 9].
Regarding claim 10, Kluge discloses a smartcard body according to claim 8, wherein the smartcard body comprises an antenna wire embedded within a body formed of plastic material, the antenna wire being configured for connection to a module received in one of the first and second cavity regions [0057 & Fig. 1].
Regarding claim 11, Kluge discloses a method for use in manufacturing a smartcard body, comprising:
forming a layer of plastic material [0001 & 0010]; and
embedding a wire within the layer of a plastic material, wherein the wherein the wire extends from a first contact pad in a first cavity region, continuously through first and second contact pads in a second cavity region, and to a second contact pad in the first cavity region of the layer, wherein an intermediate portion of the wire joining the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region is located within the second cavity region [0057, 0064, 0079, & Fig. 9 – disclosing two milled recesses, or cavities, one for a chip module(2) and another for an electronic component (15), wherein a wire connection between the cavity regions is “formed by means of a continuous wire”].
Regarding claim 12, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 11, further comprising laminating the layer of plastic material between front and back layers formed from a plastic material [0045]
Regarding claim 13, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 11, wherein the first and second contact pads in the first cavity region or the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region are configured to be exposed by a first cavity milled in the respective cavity region to a first depth, and wherein a portion of the wire connecting the first and second contact pads in the second region extends through the second cavity region, the portion of the wire being configured to be cut by a second cavity milled in the second cavity region to a second depth [0058, 0059, & 0066].
Regarding claim 14, Kluge discloses a method according to claim 11, further comprising embedding an antenna wire within the layer for connection to a module received in one of the first and second cavity regions [0057 & Fig. 1].
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant's arguments filed 7/24/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s main argument, see pages 7 & 8 of the Remarks, filed 7/24/2026, is that Kluge teaches that the connecting lines, shown in Figure 3 are shown lying outside of the recess 5 and, thus, fails to disclose “an intermediate portion of the wire joining the first and second contact pads in the second cavity region is located within the second cavity region”. The examiner respectfully disagrees. Kluge clearly recites that, in the example of Figure 3, “all of the contact pads 4, 14B, 14C and the connecting lines 16 are formed by one continuous wire” and that “the wire … laid in the regions of the contact pad 14B as a double meander and … leads out … of the contact pad 14B” and is used to form contact pad 14C, see [0066] and Figure 3. Furthermore, Kluge discloses that during the milling out process of the recess 5, indicated by a bordering shown in dashed lines in Figure 3, “mills away part of the contact pad 14B” and that the “wire is indeed severed in this case in the region of the contact pad 14B” and “no longer conducts further to the other contact pad 14C.” Close examination of Figure 3 clearly shows the double meander of the line in the contact pad 14B, wherein the double meander is the result of 1) providing for a meandering wire that forms the contact pad 14B as well as 2) doubling back along the meander as a means to go on to form contact pad 14C. Therefore, by severing the portion of 14B by the milling process, within the dashed boundary (shown in Figure 3), the “intermediate portion of the wire” between 14B and 14C is clearly severed, even if the figure shows other segments of the “intermediate portion of the wire” continuing from the contact pad 14B and having those other segments of the “intermediate portion of the wire” positioned outside of the milled recess region – the connection between the two contact pads are indeed severed. In other words, the “connecting lines 16” of Kluge are not only the portions located outside of the recess area, such as the line (16) shown in Figure 3 that appears to run above and away from the recess area (5), but is actually the same wire used to form contact pad 14B that is routed back on itself and then routed out and around the top portion of Figure 3. Severing any portion within the meandering line forming contact pad 14B would then therefore severe the connection between contact pads 14B and 14C. The claims have been rejected accordingly.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAULTEP SAVUSDIPHOL whose telephone number is (571)270-1301. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F,7-3 EST. If the examiner cannot be reached by telephone, he can be reached through the following email address: paultep.savusdiphol@uspto.gov
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/PAULTEP SAVUSDIPHOL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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