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 .
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 1-4, 6, 7, 9, 16, 17, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shibata (US 2008/0024041).
With respect to claim 1, Shibata discloses an acoustic wave device (Fig 1) comprising: a piezoelectric substrate that includes a support substrate (items 12, 14, and 19) and a piezoelectric layer (item 22) provided on the support substrate (Fig 1), the piezoelectric substrate having a hollow portion (item 52); and an excitation electrode (items 21 and 23) provided on the piezoelectric layer (Fig 1), wherein the piezoelectric layer has a first region that overlaps the excitation electrode and the hollow portion in plan view (Fig 1, central region of piezoelectric film which includes the region in which the electrodes and piezoelectric film overlap), a second region that does not overlap the hollow portion and surrounds the first region in plan view (Fig 1, outer regions which include portions that extend over the supper portions), and a third region that overlaps the hollow portion and is located between the first region and the second region in plan view (Fig 1, region between the first and second regions), a portion including a border between the first region and the third region of a cross-sectional shape in a lamination direction of the piezoelectric substrate includes a curved-surface shape, and t1M > t2 holds for a portion of the second region located at least at a border between the second region and the third region where a maximum thickness of the first region of the piezoelectric layer is t1M and a thickness of the second region of the piezoelectric layer is t2 (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 2, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1, wherein t1 > t3 > t2 holds where a thickness of the first region of the piezoelectric layer is t1 and a thickness of the third region is t3 (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 3, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1, wherein a portion of the piezoelectric layer that overlaps the hollow portion in plan view has a convex portion that projects away from the support substrate (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 4, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric layer has a first main surface and a second main surface that face away from each other (Fig 1), and of the first main surface and the second main surface, the second main surface is closer to the support substrate, and a curvature at a border between the first region and the third region is greater than curvature of any other portion in the first region and curvature of any other portion in the third region in a cross-sectional shape in the lamination direction of the first main surface of the piezoelectric layer (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 6, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric substrate includes an intermediate layer (item 18) provided between the support substrate and the piezoelectric layer, and at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the intermediate layer (Fig 16).
With respect to claim 7, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1, wherein at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the support substrate (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 9, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric layer has the first main surface and the second main surface that face away from each other (Fig 1), the excitation electrode includes a first electrode and a second electrode pair (items 21 and 23), the first electrode is provided on the first main surface of the piezoelectric layer, the second electrode is provided on the second main surface of the piezoelectric layer, the first electrode and the second electrode face each other across the piezoelectric layer (Fig 1), and a region of the piezoelectric layer sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode is included in the first region (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 16, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 2, wherein a portion of the piezoelectric layer that overlaps the hollow portion in plan view has a convex portion that projects away from the support substrate (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 17, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 16, wherein the piezoelectric layer has a first main surface and a second main surface that face away from each other (Fig 1), and of the first main surface and the second main surface, the second main surface is closer to the support substrate, and a curvature at a border between the first region and the third region is greater than curvature of any other portion in the first region and curvature of any other portion in the third region in a cross-sectional shape in the lamination direction of the first main surface of the piezoelectric layer (Fig 1).
With respect to claim 19, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 18, wherein the piezoelectric substrate includes an intermediate layer (item 18) provided between the support substrate and the piezoelectric layer, and at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the intermediate layer (Fig 16).
With respect to claim 20, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 19, wherein at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the support substrate (Fig 16).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 5 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibata in view of Umeda (US 2010/0013573).
With respect to claim 5, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 1.
Shibata does not disclose that at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the piezoelectric layer.
Umeda teaches a piezoelectric resonator in which at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the piezoelectric layer (Fig 2, wherein the cavity is formed in the piezoelectric layer).
Before the effective filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the cavity of Shibata as a cavity in the piezoelectric film, as taught by Umeda, as Umeda recognizes that the functional equivalence of forming the cavity in the piezoelectric film and the support substrate (Paragraph 140 and figures 23A-23C of Umeda).
With respect to claim 18, Shibata discloses the acoustic wave device according to Claim 17.
Shibata does not disclose that at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the piezoelectric layer.
Umeda teaches a piezoelectric resonator in which at least a part of the hollow portion is provided in the piezoelectric layer (Fig 2, wherein the cavity is formed in the piezoelectric layer).
Before the effective filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the cavity of Shibata as a cavity in the piezoelectric film, as taught by Umeda, as Umeda recognizes that the functional equivalence of forming the cavity in the piezoelectric film and the support substrate (Paragraph 140 and figures 23A-23C of Umeda).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 10-15 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 prior art does not disclose or suggest “wherein the excitation electrode is an IDT electrode” in combination with the remaining elements of claim 8.
The prior art does not disclose or suggest “the first acoustic wave resonator and the second acoustic wave resonator share the piezoelectric layer, and when a dimension of the hollow portion in the lamination direction of the piezoelectric substrate is a height of the hollow portion, a maximum height of the hollow portion of the first acoustic wave resonator is H1M, a maximum height of the hollow portion of the second acoustic wave resonator is H2M, a maximum thickness of a portion of the first region of the piezoelectric layer in which the first acoustic wave resonator is formed is T1M, and a maximum thickness of a portion of the first region of the piezoelectric layer in which the second acoustic wave resonator is formed is T2M, the maximum thickness T1M differs from the maximum thickness T2M, and the maximum height H1M differs from the maximum height H2M” in combination with the remaining elements of claim 10.
The prior art does not disclose or suggest “a hollow portion forming step of forming the hollow portion in the piezoelectric substrate; a thickness adjusting step of adjusting a thickness of the piezoelectric layer after the hollow portion forming step; and a step of providing the excitation electrode on the piezoelectric layer, wherein an inner wall of the piezoelectric substrate that faces the hollow portion includes a bottom portion of portions that face each other in the lamination direction of the piezoelectric substrate, the bottom portion being close to the support substrate, thinning machining of the piezoelectric layer is performed in the thickness adjusting step, pressure toward the hollow portion is applied to the piezoelectric layer to place the piezoelectric layer into a deformed state in the thinning machining, a distance between a center of the bottom portion and the piezoelectric layer is smaller than a distance between an outer peripheral edge of the bottom portion of the inner wall of the piezoelectric substrate and the piezoelectric layer in the deformed state, and the piezoelectric layer is further deformed such that a distance between the piezoelectric layer and the bottom portion is greater than the distance in the deformed state by releasing the pressure applied to the piezoelectric layer after the piezoelectric layer is placed into the deformed state to meet t1M > t2” in combination with the remaining elements of claim 14.
Conclusion
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/DEREK J ROSENAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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