DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: “An radio …” should be “A radio ….” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 36 recites the limitation "a first interdigital transducer” and “a second interdigital transducer” twice, respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation (e.g., the second ones for each limitation at issue) in the claim.
Claims 37-39 are rejected due to claim dependency.
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) 36-39 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yantchev (US 20210313963) in view of Chang (US 20180191327) and Nakamura (US 20050099092).
Regarding claim 36, Yantchev discloses a radio frequency filter, in figure 6B, comprising:
a substrate 620;
one or more first layers of piezoelectric material 610B (on the left half) between a first interdigital transducer 630 (on the left half) and a first cavity 640 (on the left half) of a first acoustic resonator (“Shunt resonator”) of a plurality of first acoustic resonators, the one or more layers of piezoelectric material having a first thickness (t3);
one or more second layers of piezoelectric material 610B between a second interdigital transducer 630 (on the right half) and a second cavity 640 (on the right half) of a second acoustic resonator (“Series resonator”) of a plurality of second acoustic resonators, the one or more layers of second piezoelectric material having a second thickness (t4) that is different than the first thickness [0050]; and
the first interdigital transducer 630 (on the left half) on a top surface of the one or more first layers 610B (on the left half) of piezoelectric material over the first cavity 640 (on the left half); and
the second interdigital transducer 630 (on the right half) on a top surface of the one or more second layers 610B (on the right half) of piezoelectric material over the second cavity 640 (on the right half).
Yantchev does not disclose a first dielectric layer between the one or more first layers of piezoelectric material and the first cavity;
a second dielectric layer between the one or more second layers of piezoelectric material and the second cavity;
wherein the first cavity and the second cavity extend to different depths within the substrate.
Chang discloses a piezoelectric device, in figure 3L, having a first dielectric layer 50’ between the one or more first layers of piezoelectric material 3’/31 and the first cavity 40’;
a second dielectric layer 50 between the one or more second layers of piezoelectric material 3/31and the second cavity 40,
for the purpose of effectively tuning the resonance frequency of the acoustic wave resonance structure [0060].
Nakamura discloses a piezoelectric device, in figure 5A, having the first cavity 521 and the second cavity 511 extend to different depths (t2 and t1) within the substrate 501, for the purpose of adjusting resonant frequencies without changing piezoelectric layer thickness [0033, 0036].
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have a first dielectric layer between the one or more first layers of piezoelectric material and the first cavity; a second dielectric layer between the one or more second layers of piezoelectric material and the second cavity as disclosed by Chang, and the first cavity and the second cavity extend to different depths within the substrate as disclosed by Nakamura, in the device disclosed by Yantchev,
for the purpose of effectively tuning the resonance frequency of the acoustic wave resonance structure, and for the purpose of adjusting resonant frequencies without changing piezoelectric layer thickness.
Regarding claim 37, Chang further discloses the first dielectric layer 50’ is thicker than the second dielectric layer 50.
The reason for combination is same as claim above.
Regarding claim 38, Yantchev further discloses, in figure 6B, the first acoustic resonator (“Shunt resonator”) is a shunt resonator in a ladder filter circuit of the radio frequency filter, and the second acoustic resonator (“Series resonator”) is a series resonator in the ladder filter circuit of the radio frequency filter,
wherein the first thickness (t3) of the one or more first layers of piezoelectric material is thicker than the second thickness (t4) of the one or more second layers of piezoelectric material.
Regarding claim 39, Nakamura further discloses, in figure 5A, the first cavity 521 extends to greater depth within the substrate 501 than the second cavity 511 to accommodate the difference in the first thickness t2 and the second thickness t1 while allowing the respective top surface to be planar.
The reason for combination is same as claim above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-35 and 40 are allowed.
Regarding claim 21, the prior art does not disclose or render obvious a radio frequency filter having a first piezoelectric layer over a first cavity of one or more first acoustic resonators, a second piezoelectric layer over the first cavity and a second cavity, wherein the first piezoelectric layer is not over the second cavity, along with other claim limitations.
Claims 22-25 are allowed due to claim dependencies.
Regarding claim 40, the prior art does not disclose or render obvious a radio frequency module having a first piezoelectric layer over a first cavity of one or more first acoustic resonators of the plurality of acoustic resonators; a second piezoelectric layer over the first cavity and a second cavity while the first piezoelectric layer is not over the second cavity, along with other claim limitations.
Yun (US 20180062617) in figure 2, Inoue (US 20240030886) in figure 20, and Kay (US 20220247381) in figure 4 disclose a piezoelectric device have a first piezoelectric layer over a first cavity of one or more first acoustic resonators, a second piezoelectric layer over the first cavity and a second cavity. However, none of them disclose nor render obvious the first piezoelectric layer is not over the second cavity, along with other claim limitations.
Conclusion
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/BUMSUK WON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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