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 of Species 2 (Figs. 12A/B) in the reply filed on 04-02-2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 4-7, 9-12, and 15-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04-02-2026.
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 1, 3, 8, 13-14, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shih et al. (U.S. Pub. 2017/0123548).
Regarding claim 1, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) a strain measuring system (see the Abstract and pars. [0009]-[0014]), comprising:
a piezoelectric element 102 [0039] and a resistor 104 [0039] provided on an object 110 ;
a resistance detection circuit 500 configured to detect a change in resistance of the resistor [0043];
a piezoelectric effect detection circuit 600 configured to detect a piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric element [0044]; and
a strain calculation circuit 1000 [0057] configured to:
detect a strain changing time [0011] while the strain of the object is changing using a detection result from the piezoelectric effect detection circuit 600 (see pars. [0011] and [0044]),
calculate a change in resistance of the resistor 104 during the strain changing time (see pars. [0011] and [0043]), and
calculate a degree of strain of the object (stress over time: [0011], long term stress changes: [0043]) using a calculation result of the change in resistance (see pars. [0043]-[0044] and [0057]).
Regarding claim 3, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) the resistor 104, the piezoelectric element 102, and the object 110 are at least partially overlapped with each other along a predetermined direction (i.e. vertically: see Figs. 1A/B).
Regarding claim 8, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) the resistor 104 and the piezoelectric element 102 are disposed on different planes (as shown in Figs. 1A/B).
Regarding claim 13, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) a longitudinal direction of the resistor 104 and a longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element 102 align with a longitudinal direction of the object 110 (i.e. left-right in Figs. 1A/B).
Regarding claim 14, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) a central axis of the resistor 104 along the longitudinal direction of the resistor 104, a central axis of the piezoelectric element 102 along the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element 102, and a central axis of the object 110 along the longitudinal direction of the object overlap (i.e. vertically: see Figs. 1A/B).
Regarding claim 17, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) the resistor 104 includes at least one of Ni and Cr (i.e. 104 can be nickel-chromium: [0039]).
Regarding claim 18, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) the piezoelectric element includes zinc oxide [0039].
Regarding claim 19, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) the resistor 104 is formed of at least one of a Ni-Cr based alloy [0039].
Regarding claim 20, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-10) the resistor 104 is disposed on the object as a thin film [0039].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Benjamin Schmitt, whose telephone number is (571) 270-7930. The examiner can normally be reached M-F | 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN R SCHMITT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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