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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 12/17/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that it would not be undue burden on the examiner to examine all of the pending claims.
This is not found persuasive because: The apparatus and the method of manufacture of said apparatus are so distinct that they each require separated search strategies and terms, which, taken together, would present a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-10 are objected to because of the following informalities: “The component” in the preamble should recite “the electronic component”. Examiner interprets “The component” as “the electronic component” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-4 and 9 - 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Katase (United States Patent Application Publication 2018/0269336 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Katase discloses an electronic component (see fig.2A) comprising an electronic device (see fig.2A, 101) and a container (see the container of 20 and 30 in fig.2A) configured to house the electronic device (see 101 in fig.2A), wherein the container (see 20 and 30 in fig.2A) includes a support (20 in fig.2A) configured to support the electronic device (see 101 in fig.2), and a quartz plate (see the crystal quartz of 30) having a principal plane (302) facing the electronic device, and an angle θ formed by the principal plane (302) and an optical axis (Cz in fig.2A) of the quartz plate satisfies |3|°<θ< |42|° or |48|°<θ< |87|° (see para.[0035]: “With each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 being a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is 45 degrees, however, the maximum separation range can be obtained. Thus, when taking a machining error, an angle distribution of an incident light, or the like into consideration, it is preferable for each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 to be a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is greater than or equal to 40 degrees and less than or equal to 50 degrees.”).
With respect to claim 2, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the quartz plate in a direction perpendicular to the principal plane is not less than 0.2 mm and is not more than 0.5 mm ([0054] While the examples of the shape of the crystal quartz 30 have been described in the first to fourth embodiments, it is preferable for the thickness of the crystal quartz 30 in the direction perpendicular to the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 to be greater than or equal to 0.2 mm and less than or equal to 1.0 mm in each embodiment. ).
With respect to claim 3, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the principal plane has a rectangular shape (see the rectangular shape of fig.1), and a long side of the rectangle is perpendicular to the optical axis (see the orientation of Cz in fig.2B; para.[0042]: the longer side direction of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 is parallel to the electric axis Cx. ; thus the long side which is parallel to Cx is perpendicular to Cz, since Cx is perpendicular to Cz).
With respect to claim 4, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the principal plane has a rectangular shape (see the rectangular shape of fig.1), and a short side of the rectangle is perpendicular to the optical axis ([0042]: However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and the shorter side direction of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 may be parallel to the electric axis Cx. The relationship of the shorter sides and the longer sides of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 to the electric axis Cx can be selected properly from various points of view such as in terms of the optimal number of crystal quartzes 30 cut out of a crystal quartz ingot. ; thus the short side which is parallel to Cx is perpendicular to Cz, since Cx is perpendicular to Cz).
With respect to claim 9, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device serves as an image capturing device (see para.[0028]:” When the electronic device 10 is an image pickup device such as a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor, the primary region 1 is an image pickup region, and the secondary region 2 is a peripheral circuit region. When the electronic device 10 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an EL display, the primary region 1 is a display region, and the secondary region 2 is a peripheral circuit region.”).
With respect to claim 10, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device serves as a display device (see para.[0028]:” When the electronic device 10 is an image pickup device such as a CCD image sensor or a CMOS image sensor, the primary region 1 is an image pickup region, and the secondary region 2 is a peripheral circuit region. When the electronic device 10 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an EL display, the primary region 1 is a display region, and the secondary region 2 is a peripheral circuit region.”).
With respect to claim 11, Katase discloses an apparatus (see fig.2A) comprising: an electronic component (see 101 in fig.2A); and a controller (see para.[0028]: “The secondary region 2, which is a peripheral circuit region, is provided with a drive circuit for driving the primary region 1, a signal processing circuit for processing a signal output from the primary region 1 (or a signal output to the primary region 1)”) configured to control the electronic component (see 10 in fig.2A), wherein the electronic component includes an electronic device (see fig.2A, 101) and a container (see the container of 20 and 30 in fig.2A) configured to house the electronic device (see 101 in fig.2A), wherein the container (see 20 and 30 in fig.2A) includes a support (20 in fig.2A) configured to support the electronic device (see 101 in fig.2), and a quartz plate (see the crystal quartz of 30) having a principal plane (302) facing the electronic device, and an angle θ formed by the principal plane (302) and an optical axis (Cz in fig.2A) of the quartz plate satisfies |3|°<θ< |42|° or |48|°<θ< |87|° (see para.[0035]: “With each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 being a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is 45 degrees, however, the maximum separation range can be obtained. Thus, when taking a machining error, an angle distribution of an incident light, or the like into consideration, it is preferable for each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 to be a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is greater than or equal to 40 degrees and less than or equal to 50 degrees.”).
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.
Claim(s) 5 - 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katase (United States Patent Application Publication 2018/0269336 A1).
With respect to claims 5 and 7, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein a coefficient of linear expansion of the support is not less than 6 ppm and is less than 10 ppm, or wherein a coefficient of linear expansion of the support is not less than 10 ppm and is less than 14 ppm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify Katase so that wherein a coefficient of linear expansion of the support is not less than 6 ppm and is less than 10 ppm, or wherein a coefficient of linear expansion of the support is not less than 10 ppm and is less than 14 ppm, since it would predictably facilitate the control of material stress and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
With respect to claim 6, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 5, wherein |3|°<θ< |42|° is satisfied (see para.[0035]: “With each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 being a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is 45 degrees, however, the maximum separation range can be obtained. Thus, when taking a machining error, an angle distribution of an incident light, or the like into consideration, it is preferable for each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 to be a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is greater than or equal to 40 degrees and less than or equal to 50 degrees.”)..
With respect to claim 8, Katase discloses the electronic component according to claim 7, wherein |48|°<θ< |87|° is satisfied (see para.[0035]: “With each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 being a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is 45 degrees, however, the maximum separation range can be obtained. Thus, when taking a machining error, an angle distribution of an incident light, or the like into consideration, it is preferable for each of the outer face 301 and the inner face 302 to be a face whose angle relative to the optical axis Cz is greater than or equal to 40 degrees and less than or equal to 50 degrees.”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY L. BROOKS whose telephone number is (571)270-5711. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-4:00 PM.
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/JERRY L BROOKS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882