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 . 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 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.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 18 be found allowable, claim 19 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In regards to claim 1,
Claim 1 recites “an external electrode to cover a part of an outer surface of the base body and including no silver component, wherein
the external electrode includes an underlying electrode to cover an outer surface of the base body” which causes the claim to be indefinite as it is unclear if the second recitation of “an outer surface of the base body” is meant to be another outer surface or the same outer surface of the first recitation. For the purpose of examination, the examiner is taking “an external electrode to cover a part of an outer surface of the base body and including no silver component, wherein
the external electrode includes an underlying electrode to cover an outer surface of the base body” to read “an external electrode to cover a part of an outer surface of the base body and including no silver component, wherein
the external electrode includes an underlying electrode to cover the part of the outer surface of the base body”. Claims 2-20 are rejected in the same manner based on their dependency on claim 1.
In regards to claims 8-12,
Claims 8-12 recite “at least a part of the copper particle has an elliptical shape, and
an acute angle formed by a long axis of the copper particle and an axis along the outer surface of the underlying electrode is 45 degrees or less” which causes the claim to be indefinite. It is unclear to which copper particle of the copper particles (recited in claim 1) is being referred to. For the purpose of examination, the examiner is taking “at least a part of the copper particle has an elliptical shape, and
an acute angle formed by a long axis of the copper particle and an axis along the outer surface of the underlying electrode is 45 degrees or less” to read “at least a part of at least one of the copper particles has an elliptical shape, and
an acute angle formed by a long axis of the at least one of the copper particles and an axis along the outer surface of the underlying electrode is 45 degrees or less”
In regards to claims 13-16,
Claims 13-16 recite “the underlying electrode has a void in which the synthetic resin does not exist between the copper particle and the copper particle, and
a proportion of the void in the second part is larger than a proportion of the void in the first part” which causes the claim to be indefinite. Firstly, it is unclear to which copper particle of the copper particles (recited in claim 1) is being referred to. Further is the second recitation of “the copper particle” reference a different or the same copper particle.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2014/0043724 discloses an electronic component comprising:
a base body (10 – fig. 1; [0041]);
an external electrode (30 – fig. 1) to cover a part of an outer surface of the base body and including no silver component, wherein
the external electrode includes an underlying electrode (32a/32b – fig. 2-3; [0041]) to cover an outer surface of the base body,
the underlying electrode includes copper particles and a synthetic resin ([0023] & [0057]). US 2014/0043724 fails to disclose when the underlying electrode is bisected into a first part located on a side closest to the base body and a second part located on a side opposite to the base body, an average value of particle sizes of the copper particles in the second part is larger than an average value of particle sizes of the copper particles in the first part.
US 2015/0213953 – fig. 3; [0057] US 2015/0090483 – fig. 3
US 2021/0343476 – fig. 5
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID M SINCLAIR whose telephone number is (571)270-5068. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH from 8AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TIMOTHY J 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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/David M Sinclair/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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