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. Drawings The drawings are objected to because: - the piezoelectric element and the pair of electrodes are not shown; - the inner portion with respect to the surface is not shown; - the method steps (e.g., algorithm boxes) as described in claim 7, 8 are not shown. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) 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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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 § 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 appl icant regards as his invention. Claims 1 – 8 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, 7, the statement “as well as silver” is indefinite. It is not clear if silver has an optional or special circumstance that needs to have the “as well” clause. In claim 7, t he statement “temperature higher than normal” is indefinite. It is not clear what would be considered “normal” . Room temperature (25 degrees C)? The statement “applying voltage between” is indefinite since it is not clear to what elements the voltage is referring. Claims 2 – 6, 8, 9 are rejected due to their dependency on claim 1. 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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatano et al (US 2017/0263845) in view of Yun (KR 10-2016-0026185) . Hatano et al discloses, rega rding, Claim 7, A method for manufacturing a piezoelectric element, including: preparing a sintered compact formed by a ceramic which has a perovskite compound [0006, 0091, 0057, 0058, 0101] expressed by a composition formula LixNayKi-x-yNbO3 [0043, 0170, 0150] (where 0.02 <x0.1, 0.02 < x+y < 1) [0113 ; 0036 ] as a primary component and which contains at least one of alkali earth metal selected from the group consisting of calcium, strontium, and barium, as well as silver (see abstract) ; placing the sintered compact in water [0239] whose temperature is higher than normal temperature [0060; “higher temperature”] ; upon removal of the sintered compact from the water, forming at least one pair of electrodes on a surface of the sintered compact (see Figs. 1, 2; 0193; 0210). The problem to be solved appear to apply a voltage to the electrodes in order to polarize them. Such procedure is well-known, for example, Yun discloses a piezoelectric element in which a voltage is applied between, and thereby polarizing, the at least one pair of electrodes (see Fig. 6 and spec description related to such figure in the English machine translation). Yun further discloses placing the sintered compact in water whose temperature is higher than normal temperature (see Fig. 6 description). It is noted that with respect to perovskite compound formula values that i t would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to come with those optimum ranges that the applicant discloses (via the compound formula) , since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller , 105 USPQ 233. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to design the method as disclosed by Hatano et al and to modify the invention per the limitations disclosed by Yun for the purpose of improving the material characteristic of a piezoelectric device. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1 – 6, 9 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Claim 8 is 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 and overcoming the 112 rejection noted above. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT Julio C. Gonzalez whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-2024 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Abdullah Riyami can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 5712703119 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT /Julio C. Gonzalez/ Primary Examiner Art Unit 2831 March 18, 2026