CTNF 18/210,722 CTNF 79478 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Specification 06-31 AIA The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1, 2, 4-7, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. (US20140009032, hereinafter Takahashi) . Regarding claim 1, Takahashi discloses an acoustic wave device (100) comprising: a support including a support substrate (21); a piezoelectric layer (11, 61) on the support (60, 67); a plurality of electrode fingers (12) on the piezoelectric layer; and two wiring electrodes (12) to which the plurality of electrode fingers are connected at one end; wherein the two wiring electrodes each include two busbars (12a), the plurality of electrode fingers are connected at the one end to the two busbars, and an interdigital terminal (IDT) electrode is defined by the two busbars and the plurality of electrode fingers; a cavity (63) that opens on a side of the piezoelectric layer is provided in the support; a region where adjacent ones of the electrode fingers overlap each other when viewed in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the plurality of electrode fingers extend is an intersection region of the IDT electrode, and the cavity includes the intersection region in plan view; a first through hole (64) and a second through hole that directly or indirectly reach the cavity (63, Fig. 17F)are provided in the piezoelectric layer, and the first through hole and the second through hole face each other with the intersection region being interposed therebetween; and in plan view. Regarding the limitation of “ a total area of the first through hole and a total area of the second through hole differ” it should be noted that Takahashi discloses that cut out portions (14, 64) may have different shapes and there is no limitation on the size of the cut outs, therefore the limitation is considered to be met. See Fig. 17F. Regarding claim 2, since Takahashi discloses that different shapes and sizes are possible, the limitation of the first through hole and the second through hole are each one in number; and in plan view, an area of the first through hole and an area of the second through hole differ is considered to be anticipated. Regarding claim 4, the piezoelectric layer includes a first region and a second region that face each other with the intersection region being interposed therebetween, and, in plan view, at least a portion of the first region and at least a portion of the second region overlap the cavity; the first through hole is in the first region, and the second through hole is in the second region; and the first through hole and the second through differ in number. See Fig. 18. Regarding claim 5, Fig. 18 shows multiple through holes (74), some in the intersection region and others in a different area. Regarding claims 6 and 7, Fig. 18 show the claimed limitations. Regarding claim 10, the through holes directly reach the cavity. (See Fig. 17F) Regarding claim 11, Fig. 2 shows through holes 14 at a position that does not overlap the cavity. Regarding claims 13 and 14, the generated wave is not a structural limitation and therefore given little patentable weight. It should be noted that the disclosure of Takahashi discloses a Lamb wave, which is a type of plate wave. Regarding claim 19, Takahashi discloses LN and LT (paragraph [0060]). Regarding claim 20, Takahashi discloses a bonding layer (22) between the piezoelectric layer and the substrate. (see paragraph [0070]) Regarding claim 21, the cavity is formed in the support substrate . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi . Regarding claims 15-17, Takahashi discloses the invention as explained above, but fails to explicitly disclose the metallization ratio, d/p<0.5 or d/p≤0.24. It is well known in the art of acoustic wave devices that the pitch of the idt fingers and the thickness of the piezoelectric layer determine the vibration characteristics of the device. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to determine the desired vibration characteristics as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application and from there determine the pitch of the idt fingers and thickness of the piezoelectric layer to obtain the ratios. Regarding claim 18, Takahashi discloses the use of LT and LN to form the piezoelectric layer. The specific Euler angles offer unique optical, electrical and mechanical properties. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to determine the desired vibration characteristics/wave propagation before selecting the specific crystal cut. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to provide a crystal having specific Euler angles as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3, 8, 9, 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. Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jaydi San Martin whose telephone number is (571)272-2018. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 8-6. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dedei Hammond can be reached on 571-270-7938. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /J. San Martin/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837 Application/Control Number: 18/210,722 Page 2 Art Unit: 2837 Application/Control Number: 18/210,722 Page 3 Art Unit: 2837 Application/Control Number: 18/210,722 Page 4 Art Unit: 2837 Application/Control Number: 18/210,722 Page 5 Art Unit: 2837 Application/Control Number: 18/210,722 Page 6 Art Unit: 2837
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