DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
1. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
2. Claims 1, 2 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ting et al U.S. Patent 5,948,993 (hereinafter Ting).
Regarding claim 1, Ting discloses a shear mode transducer (from Figure 6b, see 106) comprising:
at least a first shear mode piezoelectric element poled along a single direction (from Figure 6b, see 132) and having a first outer face and an opposed second outer face;
a first set of electrodes with a first electrode (from Figure 6b, see 118) applied to the first outer face of said first shear mode piezoelectric element, and a second electrode (from Figure 6b, see 124) applied to the opposed second outer face of said first shear mode piezoelectric element;
at least a second shear mode piezoelectric element poled along a single direction (from Figure 6b, see 132) and having a first outer face and an opposed second outer face;
and a second set of electrodes with a third electrode (from Figure 6b, see 118) applied to the first outer face of said second shear mode piezoelectric element, and a fourth electrode (from Figure 6b, see 124) applied to the opposed second outer face of said second shear mode piezoelectric element;
said at least one first shear mode piezoelectric element is arranged in a stack with said at least one second shear mode piezoelectric element such that said first set of electrodes is in the same plane as said second set of electrodes (from lines 10 through 15 of column 5, see In the layered design, transducer element 106 is again enclosed by electrode 118 on one side and opposite polarity electrode 124 on the other side) wherein application of a voltage difference between said first set of electrodes and said second set of electrodes induces longitudinal-flexure (from abstract, see flex) electromechanical motion of the stack.
Regarding claim 2, Ting discloses the first electrode is in the same plane (from Figure 6b, see 118) as the third electrode and in electrical contact with the third electrode; and the second electrode is in the same plane (from Figure 6b, see 124) as the fourth electrode and in electrical contact with said fourth electrode; wherein application of a voltage difference between the first electrode and the second electrode induces longitudinal-flexure (from abstract, see flex) electromechanical motion in the stack.
Regarding claim 7, Ting discloses wherein said at least one first shear mode piezoelectric element and said at least one second shear mode piezoelectric element are one of 15-shear mode (from Figure 1c, see 15 MODE) piezoelectric single crystals and 24-shear mode piezoelectric single crystals.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ting in view of Han, U.S. Patent No. 9,219,223 (hereinafter Han).
Regarding claim 6, Ting fails to teach wherein said at least one first shear mode piezoelectric element and said at least one second shear mode piezoelectric element are 36-shear mode piezoelectric single crystals. All the same, Han discloses this feature (from lines 25 through 30 of column 1, see d36 mode). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ting wherein at least one first shear mode piezoelectric element and said at least one second shear mode piezoelectric element are 36-shear mode piezoelectric single crystals as taught by Han. This modification would have provided substantial reliability over other shear elements due to its re-poling capability as suggested by Han.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 3-5 and 8-10 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
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLISA ANWAH whose telephone number is 571-272-7533. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday from 8.30 AM to 6 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached on 571-270-7136. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are 571-273-8300 for regular communications and 571-273-8300 for After Final communications.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-2600.
Olisa Anwah
Patent Examiner
March 20, 2026
/OLISA ANWAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692