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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 13-20 in the reply filed on 6/1/2026 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 210e (Fig. 2). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qiang (CN 113201713 A).
Regarding claim 13, Qiang (CN 113201713 A) teaches a preparing a rubber substrate (obtaining a substrate) and then forming (applying) a binary composite carbon film by co-sputtering on the substrate, wherein the layer includes two-dimensional material nanosheets and metal nanoparticles, wherein the metal may include iron, cobalt, or nickel (magnetic material) and the two-dimensional material is one of boron nitride, molybdenum disulfide, and graphene and forms a core-shell structure surrounding metal/magnetic material nanoparticles (boundary material to form a two-dimensional material between portions of the magnetic material), wherein the substrate is applied with a bias voltage during the co-sputtering deposition/applying of the boundary material and magnetic material (para 0009, n0008-n0009, 0021; Fig. 1), thus indicating that the boundary material formed on the substrate is applied with bias voltage.
Regarding claim 14, Qiang teaches the metal magnetic material and the boundary material are applied to the substrate by co-sputtering them onto the substrate while bias voltage is applied and the boundary material forms a two-dimensional material when co-sputtered while bias voltage is applied (para n0008-n0009).
Claim(s) 13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sato (US 20250087238 A1).
Regarding claim 13, Sato (US 20250087238 A1) teaches a method of forming magnetic layers on a substrate (obtaining a substrate), where the layers include a magnetic grain structure and a grain boundary portion (applying a magnetic material and a boundary material to the substrate), wherein a bias voltage is applied during deposition of a second magnetic layer, wherein the boundary portion is formed between portions of the magnetic material and may be made of hexagonal boron nitride (two-dimensional material) after deposition with the bias voltage, which crystallizes the BN (Abstract, para 0027, 0067, Table 1).
Regarding claim 20, Sato teaches applying the magnetic grain material and BN (boundary material) to the substrate to form a first magnetic layer 30A which inherently takes a first period of time and is formed without bias applied to the substrate before applying the magnetic grain material and boundary BN material to form a second magnetic layer 30B (after a period of time) while applying the bias voltage to the substrate and thus boundary material during deposition, wherein the grain boundary portion in the first magnetic layer (corresponding to the period of time without applying the bias voltage) is not crystallized and the grain boundary portion may include amorphous material (para 0036-0037, 0067; Fig. 1).
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) 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 20250087238 A1), as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Chen (US 20070172706 A1).
Regarding claim 14, Sato teaches the magnetic material and boundary material may be applied to the substrate by sputtering wherein the boundary material forms hexagonal boron nitride (two-dimensional material) due to crystallization when sputtered onto the substrate while the bias voltage is applied (para 0027, 0030, 0067).
Sato fails to explicitly teach the materials are applied by co-sputtering. However, Chen (US 20070172706 A1), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches a magnetic recording layer including ferromagnetic grains and a barrier matrix formed by co-sputtering (para 0032). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the sputtering method of Sato with a co-sputtering of multiple target materials to deposit the magnetic layers because this is a substitution of known elements yielding predictable results. See MPEP 2143(I)(B).
Regarding claim 15, Sato teaches a set of magnetic layers include a second magnetic layer 30B of the magnetic material and boundary material that forms the two-dimensional material onto the substrate and where the two layers have different compositions (altering for at least one layer at least one sputtering condition during co-sputtering of the magnetic material and the boundary material) (Sato para 0067; Fig. 1).
Sato fails to explicitly teach the materials are applied by co-sputtering. However, Chen (US 20070172706 A1), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches a magnetic recording layer including ferromagnetic grains and a barrier matrix formed by co-sputtering (para 0032). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the sputtering method of Sato with a co-sputtering of multiple target materials to deposit the magnetic layers because this is a substitution of known elements yielding predictable results. See MPEP 2143(I)(B).
Claim(s) 15-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 20250087238 A1), as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Chen (US 20070172706 A1) and Takekuma (US 20120052330 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Sato teaches a set of magnetic layers include a second magnetic layer 30B of the magnetic material and boundary material that forms the two-dimensional material onto the substrate and where the two layers have different compositions (altering for at least one layer at least one sputtering condition during co-sputtering of the magnetic material and the boundary material) (Sato para 0067; Fig. 1).
Sato fails to explicitly teach the materials are applied by co-sputtering. However, Chen (US 20070172706 A1), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches a magnetic recording layer including ferromagnetic grains and a barrier matrix formed by co-sputtering (para 0032). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the sputtering method of Sato with a co-sputtering of multiple target materials to deposit the magnetic layers because this is a substitution of known elements yielding predictable results. See MPEP 2143(I)(B).
The aforementioned combination fails to explicitly teach a set of layers that form two-dimensional material onto the substrate and altering at least one sputtering condition during co-sputtering of the magnetic material and the boundary material. However, Takekuma (US 20120052330 A1), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches that the (001) texture quality of a magnetic recording layer may be maintained while reducing crystal grain size by controlling the volume fraction of the non-magnetic crystal grain boundary material such that an initial layer has higher volume fraction of grain boundary material and gradually decreasing the volume fraction of grain boundary material from the initial layer to an upper layer in order to reduce a grain size and increase recording density, where the layers may be deposited by sputtering (para 0009, 0013-0014, 0019-0020, 0039, 0041, 0056). Sato teaches that the magnetic layers are preferably (001) oriented with respect to the substrate and desires the recording density to be increased by reducing a grain size of magnetic grains (para 0011, 0030, 0040). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the top magnetic layer of Sato in view of Chen with a plurality of magnetic layers having gradually decreasing non-magnetic boundary material volume fraction, as described by Takekuma, deposited by co-sputtering atop each other while applying bias in order to further reduce grain size and increase recording density and because this is a substitution of known elements yielding predictable results. See MPEP 2143(I)(B). As a result, the combination of Sato, Chen, and Takekuma would include co-sputtering a set of layers of magnetic material and boundary material that form the two-dimensional material and altering the volume fraction of the boundary material for at least one layer (altering at least one sputtering condition during co-sputtering).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Sato, Chen, and Takekuma teaches that the altering the at least on sputtering condition during co-sputtering comprises gradually altering the volume fraction of boundary material (the at least one sputtering condition) per layer as multiple layers are deposited (Takekuma para 0012-0013, 0056, Table 2).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Sato, Chen, and Takekuma teaches that the altering the at least on sputtering condition during co-sputtering comprises gradually decreasing the volume fraction of boundary material per layer as multiple layers are deposited (Takekuma para 0012-0013, 0056, Table 2). The aforementioned combination also teaches the substrate temperature is decreased during each magnetic recording layer deposition (Takekuma Fig. 4B) and therefore a substrate temperature (second sputtering condition) is gradually altered while multiple layers of the magnetic material and boundary material are sputtered onto the substrate.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Sato, Chen, and Takekuma teaches that the altering the at least on sputtering condition during co-sputtering comprises gradually decreasing the volume fraction of boundary material per layer as multiple layers are deposited (reducing a volume % of the boundary material for at least one subsequent layer relative to the first layer) (Takekuma para 0012-0013, 0056, Table 2).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Sato, Chen, and Takekuma teaches the substrate temperature is decreased during each magnetic recording layer deposition where the initial temperature is set to the same value each time (Takekuma para 0048, Fig. 4B) and therefore an ending temperature of the second deposition step (a temperature of the substrate for at least one subsequent layer) is lower (reduced) relative to a starting/initial temperature of the first layer.
Claim(s) 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 20250087238 A1) in view of Chen (US 20070172706 A1) and Takekuma (US 20120052330 A1), as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Araki (US 20090147403 A1).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Sato, Chen, and Takekuma teaches that the altering the at least on sputtering condition during co-sputtering comprises gradually decreasing the volume fraction of boundary material per layer as multiple layers are deposited (Takekuma para 0012-0013, 0056, Table 2).
The aforementioned combination fails to explicitly teach gradually altering two or more sputtering conditions per layer. However, Araki (US 20090147403 A1), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches decreasing the grain size of the recording magnetic layer can be achieved by controlling the gas pressure and the substrate temperature during deposition by sputtering (para 0018, 0027, 0033). Takekuma teaches that the subsequent layers have lower volume fractions of boundary material to achieve a smaller grain size with a high texture quality (para 0013, Table 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to control/vary the temperature and gas pressure (gradually altering two or more sputtering conditions) of the sputtering of each layer to further control the grain size of each layer to be smaller.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Sato, Chen, Takekuma, and Araki teaches that the altering the at least on sputtering condition during co-sputtering comprises gradually decreasing the volume fraction of boundary material per layer as multiple layers are deposited (reducing a volume % of the boundary material for at least one subsequent layer relative to the first layer) (Takekuma para 0012-0013, 0056, Table 2).
Claim(s) 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 20250087238 A1) in view of Chen (US 20070172706 A1), Takekuma (US 20120052330 A1), and Araki (US 20090147403 A1), as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Song (US 6139951 A).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Sato, Chen, Takekuma, and Araki teaches controlling the temperature of the substrate during magnetic recording layer deposition (Araki para 0018) but fails to explicitly teach reducing a temperature of the substrate for at least one subsequent layer relative to the first layer. However, Song (US 6139951 A), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches that a smaller grain size is exhibited when a layer is deposited at a lower temperature (col 4 line 6-21). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to control the temperature of each subsequent layer of Sato in view of Takekuma to be lower than the previous layer in order to further reduce the grain size of the magnetic recording layer and thus increase recording density.
Claim(s) 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 20250087238 A1), as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Fukushima (US 20250037739 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Sato teaches applying the magnetic grain material and BN (boundary material) to the substrate to form a first magnetic layer 30A which inherently takes a first period of time and is formed without bias applied to the substrate before applying the magnetic grain material and boundary BN material to form a second magnetic layer 30B (after a period of time) while applying the bias voltage to the substrate and thus boundary material during deposition, wherein the grain boundary portion in the first magnetic layer (corresponding to the period of time without applying the bias voltage) is not crystallized (para 0036-0037, 0067; Fig. 1).
Sato fails to explicitly teach that the boundary material applied without bias voltage is an amorphous material. However, Fukushima (US 20250037739 A1), in the analogous art of magnetic recording mediums, teaches that boron nitride grain boundary portions formed by sputtering that are not fully crystallized assume an amorphous state (para 0020, 0057, 0071). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the not crystallized boron nitride boundary material in the first magnetic layer of Sato with an amorphous boron nitride material because this is a substitution of known elements yielding predictable results. See MPEP 2143(I)(B).
Conclusion
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/PATRICK S OTT/Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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