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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 6-13 and 18-20 in the reply filed on 7/11/2025 is acknowledged.
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) 6, 7, 9, 10, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Langlois et al. (US 10,510,945 B1).
Regarding claim 6, Langlois discloses a micromechanical systems microphone (Fig. 11), comprising:
a substrate (9010) including at least one wall (top wall of 9010) defining a cavity (cavity above 9010);
a membrane (combination of 9041 and 9051) supported by the at least one wall; and
at least one anchor (combination of 9011 and 9065) in contact with the membrane and the at least one wall, such that the membrane is only fixed to the at least one wall by the at least one anchor, the anchor being formed from a resist layer (Langlois discloses using a photoresist layer to form the anchor, which is considered as satisfying the limitation of “being formed from a resist layer”; Col. 13, Lines 41-48).
Regarding claim 7, Langlois further discloses an additional anchor (the unlabeled component beneath 9015 in Fig. 11 may be considered an anchor as it anchors 9015 to the top wall of the substrate).
Regarding claim 9, Langlois further discloses wherein the resist layer comprises a photoresist layer (Col. 13, Lines 41-48).
Regarding claim 10, Langlois further discloses wherein the membrane has been released such that it has substantially no intrinsic stress (see Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 13, Langlois further discloses wherein the microphone is a capacitive MEMS microphone (Col. 15, Line 13).
Claim(s) 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art (AAPA).
Regarding claim 18, AAPA discloses a piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems microphone (Fig. 1), comprising:
a substrate (101) including at least one wall (inner wall) defining a cavity (cavity within 101);
a membrane (121) supported by the at least one wall; and
at least one anchor (105) in contact with the membrane and the at least one wall, such that the membrane is only fixed to the at least one wall by the at least one anchor.
Regarding claim 20, AAPA discloses that the microphone comprises an additional anchor (125, which is considered an anchor as it anchors 127 to 121).
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 6, 8, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s Admitted Prior Art (AAPA) in view of Langlois et al. (US 10,510,945 B1).
Regarding claim 6, AAPA discloses a microelectromechanical systems microphone (Fig. 1), comprising:
a substrate (101) including at least one wall (inner wall) defining a cavity (cavity within 101);
a membrane (121) supported by the at least one wall; and
at least one anchor (105) in contact with the membrane and the at least one wall, such that the membrane is only fixed to the at least one wall by the at least one anchor.
AAPA does not disclose that the anchor is formed from a resist layer.
Langlois, in the same field of endeavor, discloses forming anchors from resist layers (Langlois discloses using a photoresist layer to form the anchor, which is considered as satisfying the limitation of “being formed from a resist layer”; Col. 13, Lines 41-48). As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to have substituted the known usage of a resist layer to form an anchor as taught by Langlois for oxidation of silicon process of AAPA and the results of the substitution would have been predictable. (see MPEP § 2143(I)(B)).
Regarding claim 8, AAPA does not explicitly disclose that the anchor forms a ring around the edge of the membrane. However, forming the anchor such that its shape is a ring amount to a basic change in shape and, as such, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art (see MPEP 2144.04(IV)(B)).
Regarding claim 11, AAPA discloses that the microphone is a piezoelectric MEMS microphone (¶ 0096 of the PG-PUB of the present Application).
Regarding claim 12, AAPA further discloses that it was known in the art to use a plurality of electrodes and piezoelectric film layers in the membrane (¶¶ 0096-0097 of the PG-PUB of the present Application). As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the Application was filed to use three electrodes and two piezoelectric film layers.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AAPA as applied to claim 18 above, and further in view of Langlois (US 10,510,945 B1).
Regarding claim 19, AAPA differs from the claimed invention by the substitution of an anchor formed by metal with an anchor formed by an oxide. However, using metal and the corresponding function of using it for an anchor was known in the art (Col. 13, Lines 33-35 of Loislang). As such, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to have substituted the known element of an anchor formed from metal as taught by Loislang for oxide of AAPA and the results of the substitution would have been predictable. (see MPEP § 2143(I)(B)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-4893. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Benitez can be reached at (571) 270-1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT/Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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