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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-2 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An (JP2017067650) in view of Ogura (JP2018105620). An teaches an inspection device comprising: an NVC probe (120) in which diamond (130) having an NVC (131) is set at a tip, the NVC being a composite impurity defect formed of a pair of nitrogen substituting for carbon in a diamond lattice and a vacancy from where a carbon atom adjacent to the substitution nitrogen is removed; and a pulse magnetic field applying unit (500), wherein the pulse magnetic field applying unit executes an applying step of applying a pulse magnetic field to a magnetic body in a sample, and the NVC probe executes a detection step (¶¶ 33-34) of detecting a magnetic field from the magnetic body (20). An teaches the salient features of the claimed invention except for applying a pulse magnetic field and detecting a magnetic field from the magnetic body when application of the pulse magnetic field by the pulse magnetic field applying unit is stopped. Ogura teaches that it was known to apply a pulse magnetic field (¶9 “by applying a pulsed current to the second magnetizer, the object to be inspected is magnetized”) and to detect a magnetic field from the magnetic body when application of the pulse magnetic field by the pulse magnetic field applying unit is stopped (¶10 “In addition, while maintaining the magnetization of the object to be inspected by the second magnetizer off, after the standby time after the magnetization for the object to be inspected by the second magnetizer is turned off”) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the features of Ogura for the purpose of evaluating a leakage value or transient response. See ¶¶9-11.
Regarding claim 2, the limitation “the magnetic body has a plurality of layers” does not further limit the inspection device as claimed. The inspection device only needs to be capable of applying the pulse magnetic field applying unit changes magnetization of at least one of the layers of the magnetic body. At least Ogura teaches applying a pulse magnetic field (¶9 “by applying a pulsed current to the second magnetizer, the object to be inspected is magnetized”) to a layer which would change a magnetization of a susceptible layer.
Claim(s) 2-3 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over An (JP2017067650) in view of Ogura (JP2018105620) and further in view of Shang (U.S. Publication No. 8008912). An in view of Ogura teaches the salient features of the claimed invention. Shang teaches a tunneling magneto resistive film stack to be tested (col. 3, line 45, fig. 2) with a free layer (FL). Shang teaches the magnetic body has a plurality of layers (fig. 1), and a magnetic field applying unit changes magnetization of at least one of the layers (FL) of the magnetic body. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the features of Shang for the purpose of non destructively testing a TMR film stack.
Regarding claim 3, Shang teaches the plurality of layers (P1, P2, FL) are two magnetic layers (P2, FL) forming a magnetic tunnel junction having an upper surface covered with a nonmagnetic body (S2), and the magnetic field applying unit (abstract “the step of applying an external magnetic field to the MR sensor stack.”) applies a magnetic field for changing a magnetization state of one magnetic layer of the two magnetic layers. The claim language in italics is considered an intended use. However, a free layer does change a magnetization state.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-10 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Liu (CN111198344) teaches an NV center scanning probe magnetic measurement system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY whose telephone number is (571)272-2122. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at 571-272-3555. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
Prosecution Insights