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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8 July 2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 5-10, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishimura et al. (US 6,885,260), in view of Otis (US 2007/0205849).
In regard to Claim 1:
Nishimura discloses, in Figure 10, a filter comprising: an electromagnetic (EM) resonator network (150) having a first EM terminal (137), a second EM terminal (117), and a third EM terminal (150 ground terminal), the third EM terminal coupled to a ground terminal (150 connected to ground); a first acoustic wave (AW) resonator (132) coupled between the first EM terminal (137) and the ground terminal (ground); a second AW resonator (112) coupled between the second EM terminal (117) and the ground terminal (ground); a third AW resonator (133) coupled between a first filter terminal (104) and the first EM terminal (137); and a fourth AW resonator (113) coupled between a second filter terminal (102) and the second EM terminal (117).
Nishimura does not disclose wherein the EM resonator network includes a non-acoustic-wave resonator.
Otis discloses, in Figure 8A, wherein the EM resonator network (100) includes a non-acoustic-wave resonator (120).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the non-acoustic-wave resonator taught by Otis with the electromagnetic network taught by Nishimura, since all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. (KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385).
In regard to Claim 5:
Nishimura further discloses wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth AW resonators has a respective electromechanical coupling coefficient below 10% (Column 2: lines 10-27).
In regard to Claim 6:
Nishimura further discloses wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth AW resonators has an identical electromechanical coupling coefficient (Column 2: lines 10-27).
In regard to Claim 7:
Nishimura further discloses wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth AW resonators includes an identical piezoelectric material (Column 5: lines 66-67 and Column 6: lines 1-2).
In regard to Claim 8:
Nishimura further discloses wherein the first, second, third, and fourth AW resonators are implemented on a single die (12, Column 6: lines 5-10).
In regard to Claim 9:
Nishimura further discloses wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth AW resonators includes a respective piezoelectric material (Column 5: lines 66-67 and Column 6: lines 1-2).
In regard to Claim 10:
Nishimura further discloses wherein the piezoelectric material includes at least one of: Aluminum Nitride (AlN), Zinc Oxide (ZnO), or Cadmium sulfide (CdS) (Column 5: lines 66-67 and Column 6: lines 1-2).
In regard to Claim 22:
Nishimura discloses, in Figure 10, a filter including: a circuit (150) coupled between a first filter terminal (104) and a second filter terminal (102); a first acoustic wave resonator (132) coupled to the first filter terminal (104); and a second acoustic wave resonator (113) coupled to the second filter terminal (102).
Nishimura does not disclose the circuit including a non-acoustic-wave resonator.
Otis discloses, in Figure 8A, the circuit (100) including a non-acoustic-wave resonator (120).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the non-acoustic-wave resonator taught by Otis with the electromagnetic network taught by Nishimura, since all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. (KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385).
Claim(s) 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishimura et al. (US 6,885,260), Otis (US 2007/0205849), Jachowski (US 2006/0273869).
In regard to Claim 16:
Nishimura discloses, in Figure 10, a filter comprising: a first acoustic wave (AW) resonator (132), a second AW resonator (112), a third AW resonator (133), a fourth AW resonator (113), and an electromagnetic (EM) resonator network (150) coupled between a first filter terminal (104) and a second filter terminal (102).
Nishimura does not disclose wherein the EM resonator network includes a non-acoustic-wave resonator; and a feedforward circuit coupled between the first filter terminal and the second filter terminal.
Otis discloses, in Figure 8A, wherein the EM resonator network (100) includes a non-acoustic-wave resonator (120).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the non-acoustic-wave resonator taught by Otis with the electromagnetic network taught by Nishimura, since all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. (KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385).
Nishimura and Otis do not disclose a feedforward circuit coupled between the first filter terminal and the second filter terminal.
Jachowski discloses, in Figure 16a, a feedforward circuit (106) coupled between the first filter terminal (102) and the second filter terminal (104).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the feedforward circuit taught by Jachowski with the filter taught by Nishimura and Otis in order to achieve an enhanced notch response of the absorptive notch filter (Jachowski ¶ 0156).
In regard to Claim 17:
Nishimura further discloses, in Figure 10, wherein: the electromagnetic (EM) resonator network has a first EM terminal (137), a second EM terminal (117), and a third EM terminal (150 ground terminal), the third EM terminal coupled to a ground terminal (150 coupled to ground); the first acoustic wave (AW) resonator (132) is coupled between the first EM terminal (137) and the ground terminal (ground); the second AW resonator (112) is coupled between the second EM terminal (117) and the ground terminal (ground); the third AW resonator (133) is coupled between the first filter terminal (104) and the first EM terminal (137); and the fourth AW resonator (113) is coupled between the second filter terminal (102) and the second EM terminal (117).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 11-15, 18-21, and 23-28 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John W Poos whose telephone number is (571)270-5077. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-5.
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/JOHN W POOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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