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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-4 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chandrasekaran et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,104,571) in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Patent No. 9,726,879).
Regarding to claim 1, Chandrasekaran teaches a MEMS microphone, comprising:
a shell (Fig. 2, element 130, column 5, line 52);
a substrate assembled with the shell for forming a receiving space (Fig. 2, element 110, column 5, line 52, please see the attached figure with annotations);
an ASIC Die accommodated in the receiving space (Fig. 2, element 200, column 5, line 48); and
a MEMS Die including a diaphragm (Fig. 2, element 154, column 5, line 56) and a back plate (Fig. 2, element 156, column 5, line 57) apart from the diaphragm, accommodated in the receiving space and mounted on the substrate (Fig. 2); wherein
the diaphragm divides the receiving space into a front chamber and a rear chamber, the substrate includes an upper surface connected with the MEMS Die and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface, the substrate comprises a first acoustic hole extending downwardly from the upper surface and not penetrating the lower surface, a second acoustic hole extending upwardly from the lower surface and not penetrating the upper surface, a connecting channel located between the upper surface and the lower surface and communicating with the first acoustic hole and the second acoustic hole, and a ventilation hole extending downwardly from the upper surface and not penetrating the lower surface, the MEMS Die covers the first acoustic hole which is communicating with the front chamber, the ventilation hole is communicating with the connecting channel and the rear chamber, the ventilation hole and the second acoustic hole are laterally spaced apart (Fig. 2, column 5, lines 65-67, column 6, lines 1-6, column 7, lines 59-65, please see the attached figure with annotations).
Chandrasekaran does not disclose the MEMS microphone is further provided with an elastic member covering the ventilation hole, the elastic member is used for opening or closing the ventilation hole.
Lee discloses a MEMS microphone provided with an elastic member covering a ventilation hole, the elastic member is used for opening or closing the ventilation hole (column 10, lines 13-17). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chandrasekaran in view of Lee to provide the MEMS microphone with an elastic member covering the ventilation hole, the elastic member is used for opening or closing the ventilation hole, in order to obtain an air or fluidically tight port, thus to increase sensitivity for the MEMS device.
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Regarding to claim 2, Chandrasekaran as modified discloses the elastic member is connected with the upper surface of the substrate (the ventilation hole is on the upper surface of the substrate, as being modified, the elastic member is attached to the hole, thus connected with the upper surface of the substrate).
Regarding to claim 3, Chandrasekaran as modified discloses the elastic member comprises a fixed portion connected with the upper surface of the substrate and a resilient portion covering the ventilation (Lee, Fig. 6).
Regarding to claim 4, Chandrasekaran teaches the first acoustic hole and the second acoustic hole are laterally spaced apart (Fig. 2).
Regarding to claim 6, Chandrasekaran teaches substrate is a laminated circuit board comprising a first circuit board connected to the MEMS Die, a second circuit board spaced apart from the first circuit board, and a third circuit board located between the first circuit board and the second circuit board, the third circuit board is a hollow annular structure, the first acoustic hole and the ventilation hole penetrate the first circuit board, the second acoustic hole penetrates the second circuit board (Fig. 2).
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Regarding to claim 7, Chandrasekaran teaches the diaphragm is closer to the substrate than the back plate (Fig. 2, the diaphragm 154 is closer to the substrate than the back plate 156).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chandrasekaran et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,104,571) and Lee et al. (U.S. Patent No. 9,726,879), as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Tanaka et al. (U.S. Patent No. 8,861,764).
Regarding to claim 5, Chandrasekaran does not disclose a projection of the second acoustic hole on the upper surface and the ventilation hole are respectively located two sides of the MEMS Die. Tanaka discloses a projection of the second acoustic hole on the upper surface and a hole are respectively located two sides of the MEMS Die (Fig. 3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Chandrasekaran in view of Tanaka to arrange a projection of the second acoustic hole on the upper surface and the ventilation hole on two sides of the MEMS Die in order to stabilize the flow into the holes.
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Pertinent Art
For the benefits of the Applicant, US-20250194002-A1, US-9258634-B2, US-10466047-B2, US-8824719-B2, US-11259104-B2, US-10149031-B2, and US-11117798-B2, are cited on the record as being pertinent to significant disclosure through some but not all claimed features of the defined invention. The references fail to disclose the combination of limitations including “a ventilation hole extending downwardly from the upper surface and not penetrating the lower surface, the MEMS Die covers the first acoustic hole which is communicating with the front chamber, the ventilation hole is communicating with the connecting channel and the rear chamber, the ventilation hole and the second acoustic hole are laterally spaced apart, the MEMS microphone is further provided with an elastic member covering the ventilation hole, the elastic member is used for opening or closing the ventilation hole.”
Conclusion
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/VU A VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897