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 § 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.
Claims 1 – 11 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 claims 1, 6, 7, the claims disclose selecting from three or more electrodes a combination of voltage applications and a ground electrode corresponding to the directivity. It is not clear if three or more electrodes are selected and there is a permanent ground electrode or if the ground electrode is also selected.
In claim 3, the statement “with two or more directivities are to be generated and the two or more directivities, and” is idiomatic.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 5, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Masuzawa (JP 4-43957).
Masuzawa discloses, regarding,
Claim 1, An ultrasonic generator comprising: a transducer 2 including a piezoelectric body that vibrates due to a piezoelectric effect and generates ultrasonic waves when an alternating voltage is applied (see Fig 2a; abstract), and three or more electrodes Ai, A provided in different regions on a surface of the piezoelectric body (see Figs. 2b, 1); and a control unit 43 that, when the control unit receives an ultrasonic wave generation instruction including information on a directivity of ultrasonic waves to be generated, performs control to select from the three or more electrodes Ai or Bj a combination of a voltage application electrode (see Figs. 1 and 5 and spec description related to such Figs.) and a ground electrode (Fig. 7b and spec description related to such Fig.) corresponding to the directivity in the ultrasonic wave generation instruction and apply the alternating voltage to the voltage application electrode to generate ultrasonic waves (see Figs. 6a, 7a), the voltage application electrode being an electrode to which the alternating voltage is to be applied, and the ground electrode being an electrode to be at a ground potential (Fig. 7b).
Claim 2, a storage unit 82 that stores correspondence information between the combination of the voltage application electrode and the ground electrode out of the three or more electrodes (see Figs. 8, 4) and the directivity of the ultrasonic waves to be generated, wherein the control unit performs control to refer to the correspondence information and generate the ultrasonic waves (see Fig. 1).
Claim 3, the storage unit stores, as the correspondence information, the combination of the voltage application electrode and the ground electrode (see fig. 8) out of the three or more electrodes when ultrasonic waves with two or more directivities (see Fig. 1) are to be generated and the two or more directivities, and when the control unit receives an ultrasonic wave generation instruction including information on the two or more directivities of the ultrasonic waves to be generated, the control unit performs control to refer to the correspondence information, select from the three or more electrodes the combination of the voltage application electrode and the ground electrode corresponding to the two or more directivities in the ultrasonic wave generation instruction, and apply the alternating voltage to the voltage application electrode to generate ultrasonic waves with the two or more directivities (see Figs. 6a, 6b).
Claim 5, wherein out of the three or more electrodes, at least two electrodes Ai are disposed on a first surface of the piezoelectric body, and at least one electrode Bj is disposed on a second surface opposing the first surface (see Figs. 2a, 2b), the control unit selects at least one of the electrodes disposed on the first surface as the voltage application electrode, and selects the electrode disposed on the second surface as the ground electrode (see Fig. 1), and the control unit controls the directivity of the ultrasonic waves to be generated by switching the electrode that serves as the voltage application electrode among the electrodes disposed on the first surface (see Fig. 4).
Claim 6, A transducer 2, comprising: a piezoelectric body that vibrates due to a piezoelectric effect and generates ultrasonic waves when an alternating voltage is applied (see abstract); and three or more electrodes Ai provided in different regions on a surface of the piezoelectric body, in which a directivity of the ultrasonic waves that are generated is different depending on a selected combination of a voltage application electrode and a ground electrode (see Figs. 4, 2a, 5a), the voltage application electrode being an electrode to which the alternating voltage is to be applied, and the ground electrode being an electrode to be at a ground potential (Fig. 7b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 4, 7 – 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuzawa in view of Nishimori (JP 2003-202370).
Masuzawa discloses, regarding,
Claim 8, a storage unit that stores correspondence information between the combination of the voltage application electrode and the ground electrode out of the three or more electrodes and the directivity of the ultrasonic waves to be generated, wherein the transmission unit refers to the correspondence information and controls the switching unit to transmit the ultrasonic waves from the transducer (see rejection for claims 2, 3 above).
Claim 9, the storage unit stores, as the correspondence information, the combination of the voltage application electrode and the ground electrode out of the three or more electrodes (see Figs. 7b, 8) when ultrasonic waves with two or more directivities are to be generated and the two or more directivities, and when the transmission unit receives an ultrasonic wave generation instruction including information on the two or more directivities (Fig. 5a) of the ultrasonic waves to be generated, the transmission unit refers to the correspondence information, selects from the three or more electrodes the combination of the voltage application electrode (Fig. 5) and the ground electrode corresponding to the two or more directivities in the ultrasonic wave generation instruction, controls the switching unit 14a, 14b to apply the alternating voltage to the voltage application electrode (see Fig. 1) to generate the ultrasonic waves with the two or more directivities, and transmits the ultrasonic waves from the transducer (see Fig. 4).
Claim 7, An object detector in which a transmission unit 11a transmits ultrasonic waves from a transducer 2 and a reception unit 13 receives reflected waves of the ultrasonic waves by the transducer 2, wherein the transducer 2 includes a piezoelectric body that vibrates due to a piezoelectric effect and generates ultrasonic waves when an alternating voltage is applied (see abstract, Fig. 2a, 1), and three or more electrodes Ai provided in different regions on a surface of the piezoelectric body (see Fig. 2a, 2b), in which a directivity of the ultrasonic waves that are generated is different depending on a selected combination of a voltage application electrode and a ground electrode (Figs. 7b, 5a, 5b), the voltage application electrode being an electrode to which the alternating voltage is to be applied, and the ground electrode being an electrode to be at a ground potential (Fig. 7b), the transmission unit includes a switching unit 14a, 14b that changes the combination of the voltage application electrode and the ground electrode (Fig. 5, 7b), the reception unit includes an amplifier circuit (since it is disclosed that the receiving signal is amplified; see Fig. 8 spec description).
However, Masuzawa does not disclose using a filter. It is reminded that the use of a filter is well-known in the field.
For example, Nishimori discloses a transducer using a piezoelectric device and a filtering unit 16, and the filtering unit acquires information on a frequency of a transmission signal, and performs correction of a frequency of a reception signal so as to match the frequency of the transmission signal (see Fig. 6).
Nishimori further discloses, regarding,
Claim 4, the control unit simultaneously transmits the ultrasonic waves with the two or more directivities (see abstract).
Claim 10, the transmission unit performs control to generate ultrasonic waves with two or more directivities by making at least one of a frequency (see abstract), a phase, and an amplitude of the ultrasonic waves different from each other [0002], and when the reception unit detects ultrasonic waves via the transducer immediately thereafter, the reception unit identifies which of the ultrasonic waves of the two or more directivities are the original ultrasonic waves of reflected waves, based on the frequency, the phase, or the amplitude of the detected ultrasonic waves, whichever has been made different (Figs. 9, 11, 12; paragraph 0010, 0011).
Claim 11, the transmission unit simultaneously transmits the ultrasonic waves with the two or more directivities (see abstract), and when the reception unit detects ultrasonic waves via the transducer immediately thereafter, the reception unit identifies which of the ultrasonic waves of the two or more directivities are the original ultrasonic waves of reflected waves, based on the frequency, the phase, or the amplitude of the detected ultrasonic waves, whichever has been made different (Figs. 9, 11, 12; paragraph 0010, 0011).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to design the transducer/detector/ultrasonic generator as disclosed by Masuzawa and to modify the invention per the limitations disclosed by Nishimori for the purpose of avoiding interference of reception signal in an ultrasonic device.
Examiner Notes
The Examiner has cited particular paragraphs and/or columns and line numbers and/or figures in the references applied to the claims for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested of the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. SEE MPEP 2141.02 [R – 07.2015] VI. PRIOR MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS: A prior art reference must be considered in its entirety, i.e., as a whole, including portions that would lead away from the claimed invention. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 220 USPQ 303 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert, denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984). See also MPEP ₴ 2123.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Julio C. Gonzalez whose telephone number is (571)272-2024. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at 5712703119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Julio C. Gonzalez/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2831
February 11, 2026