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 .
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the width of the upper side in the first region is greater than a width of the upper side in the second region (claim 1) and a width of the upper side in the first border region is greater than a width of the upper side in the center region (claim 12) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 12, 13, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Konoma (US11239820, hereinafter Konoma).
Regarding claim 12, Konoma discloses an acoustic wave device (1) comprising: a piezoelectric layer (2); and an interdigital transducer electrode (3) formed with the piezoelectric layer, the interdigital transducer electrode including a first bus bar (3a1), a second bus bar (3b1), a first set of fingers (3a2) extending from the first bus bar, and a second set of fingers (3b2) extending from the second bus bar, the interdigital transducer electrode having a first gap region between the first set of fingers and the second bus bar, a second gap region between the second set of fingers and the first bus bar (See Fig. 1), and an active region between the first and second gap regions, the active region (A) having a first border region (A2a), a second border region (A2b), and a center region (A1) between the first and second border regions, a finger of the first set of fingers having a lower side and an upper side opposite the lower side, widths of the lower side in the first and second border regions are generally the same, and a width of the upper side in the first border region is greater than a width of the upper side in the center region (See Figs. 2 and 5).
Regarding claim 13, the width of the lower side in the center region is greater than the width of the upper side in the center region.
Regarding claim 17, a width of the upper side in the second border region is greater than the width of the upper side in the center region.
Regarding claim 20, Konoma discloses a support substrate (45) below the piezoelectric layer such that the piezoelectric layer is positioned between the support substrate and the interdigital transducer electrode, and an intermediate layer (44) between the support substrate and the piezoelectric layer, an acoustic impedance of the support substrate is higher than an acoustic impedance of the piezoelectric layer. (See Column 8:6-24)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 14-16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Konoma.
Regarding claims 14-16 and 18, Konoma discloses the invention as explained above, but fails to explicitly disclose the relationship between the widths of the lower side and the upper side in the different regions. Konoma discloses the difference is widths reduces or prevents electrochemical migration between the different metal layers. The examiner takes Official Notice that determining the specific lengths, either in terms of the wavelength or nm, would have been an obvious matter of design choice and it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to determine the specific widths as necessitated by the specific requirements of the particular application.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 and 19 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The references of the Prior Art of Record fail to teach or suggest alone or in obvious combination, all of the features of the applicants’ invention as claimed in the independent claims 1. Specifically, the Prior Art does not teach the different widths of the upper side of the idt in the different regions along the length of the idt, in combination with the recited structural limitations of the claimed invention.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references teach different shapes of idt electrodes.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jaydi San Martin whose telephone number is (571)272-2018. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6.
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, Dedei Hammond can be reached at 571-270-7938. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J. SAN MARTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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