DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1-5, and 8-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Aoki et al (WO 2020158849A1 in which US Publication 20220098404 is being used as the direct translation).
Aoki discloses a thermosetting resin composition, a resin sheet, a laminate, and a printed wiring board (paragraph 1). The composition comprises a polyphenylene ether compound, an unsaturated compound (reactive compound) such as triallyl isocyanurate, and a hindered phenolic antioxidant (additive) such as Pentaerythritol tetrakis [3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate] (paragraphs 143, 146, 165 and example 1).
It should be noted that claims 2 and 3 are a product by process claim in that it defines how the polyphenylene ether compound was formed. For purposes of examination, product-by-process claims are not limited to the manipulation of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps. See MPEP 2113. In the present case, the recited steps imply the claimed polyphenylene ether structure, and the reference discloses such a product. Aoki discloses that the polyphenylene ether compound is a terminal-modified polyphenylene ether compound that has an unsaturated double bond group in the structure (paragraphs 36 143). It should be noted that claim 3 is met if claim 2 is met using the polyphenylene ether compound A1.
As to claim 4, example 20 discloses the use of an unsaturated bismaleimide compound (paragraph 147).
As to claim 5, as seen in example 1 and 20, the PPE1 compound is present in an amount of 36 mass% and the unsaturated compound is present in an amount of 10 mass%. Therefore, the amount of polyphenylene ether is 78.26 mass parts with respect to 100 parts by mass of the sum of polyphenylene ether to reactive compound.
As to claims 8 and 9, an inorganic filler such as spherical silica subjected to a surface treatment with vinyl silane is added to the composition (paragraph 163 example 1).
As to claims 10-16, a base material can comprise a glass cloth reinforced base member wherein a prepreg can be formed (paragraph 108). The layer can be applied onto a sheet of metal foil as a laminate and used as a wiring board (paragraphs 102-118).
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki et al (WO 2020158849A1 in which US Publication 20220098404 is being used as the direct translation).
Aoki anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to having the claimed heavy metal deactivator and hindered phenol-based antioxidant as claimed.
Aoki discloses in the examples the use of both a heavy metal deactivator and hinder phenol-based antioxidants within the composition. Examples of the heavy metal deactivator can be 2-hydroxy-N-1H-1,2,3-triazol-3-yl benzamide (paragraph 73) however the specific heavy metal deactivator and antioxidant are not used within the claims. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Aoki and used 2-hydroxy-N-1H-1,2,3-triazol-3-yl benzamide in combination with the phenol-based antioxidant as Aoki discloses that these are suitable materials that can be used in the composition and that both an antioxidant and heavy metal deactivator can both be present.
Claims 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aoki et al (WO 2020158849A1 in which US Publication 20220098404 is being used as the direct translation) in view of Kitai et al (JP2012241168 A which has been machine translated).
Aoki anticipates claim 1 for the reasons noted above, however is silent to a benzoxazine compound.
Kitai discloses a thermosetting resin composition that has excellent dielectric properties comprising a polyphenylene ether and benzoxazine for use as a printed wiring board (abs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Aoki and added a benzoxazine compound as it would increase the heat resistance and stability of the cured product as its for the same use.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5734. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8am till 4:30 pm.
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/CHRISTOPHER M POLLEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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