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 .
Specification
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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the cavity (claims 9 and 11), the functional layer (claims 10 and 12) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 Objections
Claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities: “a plurality (I)” should read “a plurality (i)” as defined in the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 8, 9, 10-13, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsuda et al. (US20200266796, hereinafter Matsuda).
Regarding claim 1, Matsuda discloses a surface acoustic wave filter (Fig. 10) package comprising a tapered interdigital transducer structure (Figs. 1, 2, 7, 8).
Regarding claim 2, the tapered interdigital transducer structure is formed on a piezoelectric layer (10).
Regarding claim 3, the tapered interdigital transducer structure has a taper angle a with respect to a normal to a surface of the piezoelectric layer.
Regarding claim 8, Matsuda discloses a layer (14) covering the idt electrode (12) and having a thickness t3 of 10-20nm. (paragraph [0066])
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Matsuda discloses a substrate, the functional layer and the cavity in Fig. 9.
Regarding claims 11-13, Matsuda discloses method of manufacturing (paragraph [105]).
Regarding claims 18 and 19, Matsuda discloses forming a cover layer and having a thickness of 10-20nm. (paragraph [0066])
Regarding claim 20, Matsuda discloses a mobile device comprising a multiplexer including a surface acoustic wave filter package, the surface acoustic wave filter package having a tapered interdigital transducer structure. (paragraph [0064, 118])
Claims 1-4, 7, 11-14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nishimura et al. (US20090121584, hereinafter Nishimura).
Regarding claim 1, Nishimura discloses a surface acoustic wave filter (12) package comprising a tapered interdigital transducer structure (Figs. 1-11).
Regarding claim 2, the tapered interdigital transducer structure is formed on a piezoelectric layer (10).
Regarding claim 3, the tapered interdigital transducer structure has a taper angle a with respect to a normal to a surface of the piezoelectric layer.
Regarding claim 4, b1 is about 58° (paragraph [0069]).
Regarding claim 7, the tapered interdigital transducer structure is formed from a plurality of layers (12, 13), one or more layers i of the plurality of layers having a taper angle ai with respect to a normal to the surface upon which said layer is formed, at least two taper angles ai of different layers being different. See Fig. 5 and 6.
Regarding claims 11-14 and 17, the method of manufacturing is inherent in the disclosure of Nishimura, as disclosed above for the device claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, 15 and 16 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references disclose acoustic wave devices comprising idt having sloped side surfaces.
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 7:45-6:00pm.
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, 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.
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/J. San Martin/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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