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 .
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, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9-11, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ito et al. (US 2004/0189147; “Ito”; reference of record).
Regarding claim 1, Ito teaches an acoustic resonator package (figures 1 and 2), comprising:
a substrate (70);
a cap (100);
a plurality of acoustic resonators (301, 302) disposed between the substrate and the cap, and configured to be electrically connected to each other (see figure 1);
a grounding member (37) disposed between the substrate (70) and the cap (100); and
a breakdown voltage shortener configured to provide an air gap to shorten a breakdown voltage (The breakdown voltage of the instant application is shortened with an air gap between the resonators and the grounding member. Similarly, as seen in the figure 1 of Ito, the resonators 301 and 302 are separated from grounding member 37 with an air gap. Due to the structural similarities between Ito and the instant application, a similar operation of breakdown voltage shortening is also present in Ito.) between one of the plurality of acoustic resonators (301, 302) and the grounding member (37).
As for claim 3, Ito teaches wherein: the breakdown voltage shortener comprises a portion that protrudes from the grounding member or a portion that protrudes toward the grounding member (See connection electrodes 38 formed above resonator 302 or extending from ground member 37), and
a width of the air gap is narrower than a length of the air gap perpendicular to the width (See the rectangular air gap labeled in figure 1 of Ito provided below).
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Annotated Figure 1 of Ito for claim 3
As for claim 4, Ito teaches wherein: the breakdown voltage shortener comprises a first portion that protrudes toward the grounding member and a second portion that protrudes from the grounding member, and the air gap is located between the first portion and the second portion (See position of the gap labeled in figure 1 of Ito provided below).
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Annotated Figure 1 of Ito for claim 4
Regarding claim 6, Ito teaches wherein an outer portion of the substrate is located closer to the grounding member than to the plurality of acoustic resonators (See position of grounding member 37 in figure 1).
As for claim 7, Ito teaches wherein: the grounding member (37) is configured to surround the plurality of acoustic resonators (301, 302), and
another of the plurality of acoustic resonators (301, 302) is electrically connected to a ground port disposed at a position that is different from a position of the grounding member (See different coupling points at the grounding member 37).
As for claim 9, Ito teaches a first radio frequency (see wireless communication application in para. [0005]) port (35 in figure 3) and a second RF port (36) electrically connected to the one (301) of the plurality of acoustic resonators to pass an external RF signal of the acoustic resonator package between at least one of the plurality of acoustic resonators (See configuration of figure 3),
wherein the breakdown voltage shortener is configured to shorten a breakdown voltage between one of the first RF port and the second RF port and the grounding member (See gap between the input/output pads 35/36 and grounding member 37 in figure 1.).
Regarding claim 10, Ito teaches wherein the breakdown voltages of the first RF port and the second RF port for the grounding member are different from each other (Because the breakdown voltages are caused by gaps between the RF ports 35/36 and the grounding member 37 and the gaps between RF ports 35/36 and grounding member 37 have different sizes in figure 1, the breakdown voltages also will have different values).
Regarding claim 11, Ito teaches wherein the breakdown voltage shortener comprises a first portion that protrudes from one of the first RF port and the second RF port toward the grounding member (See connection electrode extending down from the output pad 36 in figure 1).
Regarding claim 19, Ito teaches an acoustic resonator package (figures 1 and 2), comprising:
a substrate (70);
a cap (100);
a plurality of acoustic resonators (301, 302) disposed between the substrate and the cap, and configured to be electrically connected to each other (see figure 1);
a grounding member (37), comprising a plurality of conductive rings (in each element 30 of figure 2; para. [0081]), and disposed between the substrate (70) and the cap (100); and
a breakdown voltage shortener configured to shorten a breakdown voltage (The breakdown voltage of the instant application is shortened with an air gap between the resonators and the grounding member. Similarly, as seen in the figure 1 of Ito, the resonators 301 and 302 are separated from grounding member 37 with an air gap. Due to the structural similarities between Ito and the instant application, a similar operation of breakdown voltage shortening is also present in Ito.) between one of the plurality of acoustic resonators (301, 302) and the grounding member (37);
wherein the breakdown voltage shortener (The breakdown voltage of the instant application is shortened with an air gap between the resonators and the grounding member. Similarly, as seen in the figure 1 of Ito, the resonators 301 and 302 are separated from grounding member 37 with an air gap. Due to the structural similarities between Ito and the instant application, a similar operation of breakdown voltage shortening is also present in Ito.) is disposed adjacent to the grounding member (37).
As for claim 20, Ito teaches wherein the breakdown voltage shortener comprises a first portion (See connecting electrodes extending from ports 35/36 in figure 1) that extends in a direction from one of a first RF port (35) and a second RF port (36) to the grounding member (37), and a second portion (See connecting electrodes extending from grounding member 37 in figure 1) that extends in a direction from the grounding member (37) to the one of the first RF port (35) and the second RF port (36).
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito in view of Chai et al. (US 2002/0021193; “Chai”).
Regarding claim 8, Ito teaches wherein: each of the plurality of acoustic resonators is a surface acoustic resonator (para. [0068]) which has a structure in which a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode are stacked in a direction in which the substrate and the cap face each other (See stacked configuration in figure 10), and
the plurality of acoustic resonators are configured to form a frequency bandwidth of a filter (para. [0068]).
Ito fails to teach wherein: each of the plurality of acoustic resonators is a bulk acoustic resonator which has a structure in which a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode are stacked in a direction.
However, it is well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art to form a resonator filter of a communications device with BAW resonators having a structure in which a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode are stacked in a direction. For example, see para. [0032] of Chai.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention replace the SAW resonators of Ito with BAW resonators because such a modification would have been a replacement with well-known functionally equivalent resonator filter devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-18 are allowed.
Claims 2, 5, and 12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The best prior art reference of record, Ito, fails to teach:
“wherein a width of the air gap is greater than 0 μm and less than or equal to 20 μm.”, as set forth in claim 2;
“wherein the grounding member is configured to provide a coupling force between the substrate and the cap.”, as set forth in claim 5;
“a width of at least a portion of at least one of the first portion and the second portion becomes narrower in a direction toward the air gap.”, as set forth in claim 12; and
“wherein the breakdown voltage shortener comprises a portion that protrudes to have a width that narrows in a direction extending from the grounding member, or that protrudes to have a width that narrows in a direction toward the grounding member.”, as set forth in claim 13.
Conclusion
The prior art references made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zinke et al. (US 2005/0139984) and Tuckerman et al. (US 2005/0139984) teach acoustic resonator devices having breakdown voltage considerations.
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/LEVI GANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849 November 26, 2025