Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 18/322,254

ACOUSTIC WAVE RESONATOR, FILTER, AND MULTIPLEXER

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
May 23, 2023
Examiner
SAN MARTIN, JAYDI A
Art Unit
2837
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allow Rate
859 granted / 1015 resolved
+16.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
1033
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
42.1%
+2.1% vs TC avg
§102
40.8%
+0.8% vs TC avg
§112
9.2%
-30.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1015 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. 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. 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. Claim s 1-12 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Javid et al. (WO-2018057956, hereinafter Javid) . Regarding claim s 1 and 2 , Javid teaches a n acoustic wave resonator (Fig. 3) comprising: a piezoelectric substrate (page 12, description of Fig. 8) ; a pair of comb-shaped electrodes (EF) provided on the piezoelectric substrate, each of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes including electrode fingers (EF) , dummy electrode fingers (SF) , and a bus bar (BE) to which the electrode fingers and the dummy electrode fingers are connected, first tips of the electrode fingers of one of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes and second tips of the dummy electrode fingers of another of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes facing each other, each of the dummy electrode fingers including a first portion ( rounded electrode finger tips) located at a side of the corresponding second tip and a second portion (connected to the bus bar) located at an opposite side of the corresponding second tip across the first portion, the first portion having a smaller width in a short direction (rounded tip) than the second portion; and an insulating film (DK) that is provided on the piezoelectric substrate from an edge region of an overlap region (UB) to a first region of a dummy region (GB portion in Fig. 2, See page 11, the description of Fig. 3). The insulating film, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided in neither a central region of the overlap region (UB) nor a second region of the dummy region (RB) , the edge region being a region located at each of edges in a longitudinal direction of the electrode fingers in the overlap region, the overlap region being a region where the electrode fingers of the one of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes overlap the electrode fingers of the another of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes, the first region being a region where the first portions of the dummy electrode fingers are located in the dummy region, the dummy region being a region where the dummy electrode fingers are located, the central region being a region located further in than the edge region in the overlap region, the second region being a region where the second portions of the dummy electrode fingers are located in the dummy region. Regarding claim 3, the structure disclosed by Javid in Fig. 3 is the same as that of the instant application, therefore, an acoustic wave propagating through a first region of a dummy region is expected to be equal to an acoustic wave propagating through a second region of the dummy region . It should be noted that the wave propagating through the region is not a structural limitation. The structural limitations recited in claim 3, are anticipated by Javid. Regarding claims 4-6, Fig. 3 shows t he insulating film is provided on the piezoelectric substrate from the edge region to a boundary between the first region and the second region of the dummy region. The insulating layer does not extend beyond the rounded portion of the finger electrodes. Regarding claims 7- 12 , considering the structural limitations of the claim s are anticipated by the Javid reference, an acoustic velocity of an acoustic wave propagating through the first region of the dummy region must be equal to an acoustic velocity of an acoustic wave propagating through the second region of the dummy region. It should be noted that the acoustic velocity of the wave is not a structural limitation, and therefore given little patentable weight. Regarding claims 16-19, the acoustic wave resonator disclosed by Javid is used in a surface acoustic wave filter. Allowable Subject Matter Claim s 13-15 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The references of the Prior Art fail to teach or disclose, alone or in obvious combination, the claimed invention as described in claims 13-15 and comprising a length of a gap region in the longitudinal direction of the electrode fingers being equal to or less than two times an average pitch of the electrode fingers of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes, the gap region being a region located between the first tips of the electrode fingers of the one of the pair of comb-shaped electrodes and the second tips of the dummy electrode fingers of the another of the comb-shaped electrodes. Conclusion 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 FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT Jaydi San Martin whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (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 t ool. To schedule an interview, a pplicant 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 Dedei Hammond can be reached on FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 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
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 23, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 31, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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PACKAGED ACOUSTIC WAVE DEVICES WITH MULTI-LAYER PIEZOELECTRIC SUBSTRATE
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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
85%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+12.1%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1015 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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