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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 7 – 9, 10 – 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa et al (US 2012/0056514) in view of Okamoto (JP 2014-175887).
Ishikawa et al discloses, regarding,
Claim 1, An AT-cut quartz-crystal vibrating piece (see title and abstract) having an oscillation frequency of 24 MHz (see Fig. 4) and a planar shape in a rectangular shape (see Fig. 1A), comprising: a vibrator 31; a peripheral portion 32 having a thickness thinner than a thickness of the vibrator 31 (see Fig. 1B); and a level difference on each of a front and a back of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece (see Fig. 1B), the level difference being generated caused by a thickness difference between the vibrator and the peripheral portion (see Fig. 1B, wherein when a dimension along an X-axis of a crystal of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece is defined as Lx, a dimension along a Z'-axis of the crystal of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece is defined as Lz, a thickness of the vibrator is defined as t, and a height of the level difference is defined as d, Lx is in a range from 849 to 857 μm [0040, 0055], Lz is in a range from 625 to 645 μm [0040, 0055], and d/t is in a range of 0.094 ≤ d/t ≤ 0.11 [0057, 0058, 0059].
Although Ishikawa et al does not disclose the exact ranges as disclosed in the claims, the ranges disclosed by Ishikawa et al are very close to the ones mentioned in the claim and the difference seems to be obtained based on the thickness of the peripheral area with respect to the vibrator.
In that respect, Okamoto teaches providing a vibrator and disclosing a peripheral area with different thicknesses, thus providing different ranges for X-axis and Z-axis and also for the d/t range (see Figs. 5b, 11b), thus making possible to obtain the ranges as disclosed in the claim.
Moreover, it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233, specially when the ranges disclosed by the Prior Art are very close to the ranges disclose in the claim(s).
The Prior Art further discloses, regarding,
Claim 2, the Lz is in a range from 630 to 638 μm (Ishikawa et al, Fig 4; Okamoto, Fig 5b, 11b) since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim 3, the quartz-crystal vibrating piece has angles θy1 and θy2 in a range from 85 to 90 degrees, the angles θy1 and θy2 are formed by a distal-end-side short side of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece and long sides of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 and the distal-end-side short side is a short side opposite to a side to be adhered to a container with a securing member (Ishikawa et al, Figs. 1C; Okamoto, Figs. 1, 13).
Claims 7, 10, 12, a container that contains the quartz-crystal vibrating piece (see Ishikawa et al, Figs. 1A, 1B).
Claims 8, 11, 13, the container is in a rectangular shape in plan view (Ishikawa et al, Figs. 1A, 1B) and has an outer dimension with a long side dimension of 1.2 mm and a short side dimension of 1.0 mm since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim 9, An AT-cut quartz-crystal vibrating piece having an oscillation frequency of 32 MHz and a planar shape in a rectangular shape, comprising: a vibrator; a peripheral portion having a thickness thinner than a thickness of the vibrator; and a level difference on each of a front and a back of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece, the level difference being generated caused by a thickness difference between the vibrator and the peripheral portion, wherein when a dimension along an X-axis of a crystal of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece is defined as Lx, a dimension along a Z'-axis of the crystal of the quartz-crystal vibrating piece is defined as Lz, a thickness of the vibrator is defined as t, and a height of the level difference is defined as d, Lx is in a range from 636 to 643 μm, Lz is in a range from 472 to 479 μm, and d/t is in a range of 0.094 ≤d/t ≤ 0.11 (see rejection for claim 1 above).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to design the vibrating piece as disclosed by Ishikawa et al and to disclose the limitations per Okamoto for the purpose of reducing the cost of manufacturing a vibrator.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 6, 14 – 19 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 prior art fails to disclose the width reduction portion as specifically described in the claims and how the vibrating piece is secured to the container as specifically described in the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Toshikawa et al discloses a quart crystal having a vibrator with different thicknesses and the vibrator is inside a container.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Julio C. Gonzalez whose telephone number is (571)272-2024. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at 5712703119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format.
For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Julio C. Gonzalez/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2831
October 13, 2026
Prosecution Insights