Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/628,262

COMPOUND SENSOR AND MANUFACTURING METHOD

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Apr 05, 2024
Priority
Sep 14, 2023 — JP 2023-149447
Examiner
YOUNG, MONICA S
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
415 granted / 556 resolved
+14.6% vs TC avg
Strong +33% interview lift
Without
With
+32.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
576
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.4%
-33.6% vs TC avg
§103
50.2%
+10.2% vs TC avg
§102
8.3%
-31.7% vs TC avg
§112
33.0%
-7.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 556 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
CTNF 18/628,262 CTNF 92669 Detailed Action Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 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. Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claims 1 & 13-14 recites the limitation “ an upper limit value of acceleration detectable by the first acceleration detector being smaller than an upper limit value of acceleration detectable by the second acceleration detector” where “the upper limit value” is structurally unclear. Looking to the specification [0028 the limit values set by pressure affecting resonance of the accelerometer’s movable part. Claim 13 recites “after the second step, filling each of the at least one first through hole and the at least one second through hole with a getter material which is configured to adsorb a gas”. The limitation of the fourth step needs to precede the third step (not the second step) because the filling of the holes cannot be performed until after step 3 creating the holes. Claim 14 recites five steps in the claimed method of manufacturing but the fourth step is missing. All dependent claims are rejected for their dependence on a rejected base claim. Indication of Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2 & 3 are objected to and would be allowable if: 1) Rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. 2) Rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claims 13-14 are objected to and would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. 13-03-01 The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. Regarding Claims 2-3 & 13-14 . The closest prior art is Aono (US 20130068020) which discloses a compound sensor with a package having a first cavity a second and a third cavity in an interior of the package a first acceleration detector disposed in the first cavity a second acceleration detector disposed in the second cavity and an angular velocity detector disposed in the third cavity an inner pressure of the third cavity being lower than the inner pressure of the second cavity and a cover covers the first opening, the second opening, and the third opening. Aono nor the prior art discloses the cover has at least one first through hole and at least one second through hole respectively placing the first cavity and the second cavity in communication with the outside, the compound sensor further comprises an outgassing material which is filled in each of the at least one first through hole and the at least one second through hole and which is configured to produce a gas and a total opening area of the at least one through hole is greater than the other through hole. Regarding Claims 4-12 are objected to based on their dependence on the indicated allowable material of Claims 2 & 3 and also rejected due to the 112b rejections from rejected base claims. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aono (US 20130068020: “Aono”) in view of Reinert (US 20110016972: “Reinert”) . Claim 1 . Aono discloses a compound sensor (3) comprising: a package (10 & 20) having a first cavity (Fig. 2: along the AA’ line plurality of 22 which will designate the first as 22a), a second cavity (Fig. 2: along the AA’ line plurality of 22 which will designate the second as 22b) and a third cavity (21) in an interior of the package (10 & 20)[0034]; a first acceleration detector (11a) disposed in the first cavity (22a); a second acceleration detector (11b) disposed in the second cavity (22b)[0032]; and an angular velocity detector (12) disposed in the third cavity (21)[0032], an inner pressure of the third cavity (21 at vacuum) being lower than the inner pressure of the second cavity (22 at atmospheric pressure)[0038]. an inner pressure of the first cavity being higher than an inner pressure of the second cavity an upper limit value of acceleration detectable by the first acceleration detector being smaller than an upper limit value of acceleration detectable by the second acceleration detector. Reinert teaches a method to integrate several sensor units requiring different operating pressures and/or gas compositions in a multi-sensor is module, in which method cavities having defined and possibly different gas pressures and/or gas compositions may be formed during the WLP in a single process step [0007]. Reinert further teaches an inner pressure of the first cavity (5) being higher than an inner pressure of the second cavity (6) [0012-0013] {0017 getter material in second reduces the pressure] an upper limit value of acceleration detectable by the first acceleration detector being smaller than an upper limit value of acceleration detectable by the second acceleration detector [0024 At these pressures detection units with a corresponding high quality may be operated in the second cavity, wherein at the same time detection units that require a corresponding low quality and thus a high pressure may be operated in the first cavity due to the usage of the damping structure according to the invention]. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Reinert’s tailored pressure level sealed accelerometer arrangement with Aono’s plurality of pressure sealed accelerometers because setting pressure levels to lower values optimizes resonating accelerometer performance to tailored damping values [Reinert 0009 & 0013-0015]. Prior Art Considered but not Utilized The prior art made of record and not relied upon and is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is provided in the following table: Prior Art Document Identifier Inventor Comment JP 2013514196 アンドレアス フィッシャー et al. Discloses getter material in a through hole US 10551192 Maeda; Daisuke et al. [Abstract] an inertial sensor which detects acceleration, in particular to an inertial sensor which uses a principle of detecting application of acceleration by a change of a resonant frequency of a vacuum sealed vibration system US 6006003 Kim; Jong-min [Abstract] Sealed sensors US 20090183568 YAMANAKA; Kiyoko et al. [0008: the angular rate sensor and the acceleration sensor are airtightly sealed by a low pressure] US 20220380203 VERCESI; Federico et al. [Abstract] a combined microelectromechanical device includes forming, in a die of semiconductor material, at least a first and a second microelectromechanical structure US 20210087055 Wang; Yi-Ren et al. [Abstract] The first cavity has a first gas pressure and the second cavity has a second gas pressure different from the first cavity. US 20130105921 Najafi; Khalil et al. [0061] For example, one sealed space 64 may be filled with a particular fluid at a particular pressure, and the other sealed space 64' may be substantially evacuated. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Monica S Young whose telephone number is (303)297-4785. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 08:30-05:30 MST. 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, Peter Macchiarolo can be reached at 571-273-2375. 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. /MONICA S YOUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2855 /PETER J MACCHIAROLO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855 Application/Control Number: 18/628,262 Page 2 Art Unit: 2855 Application/Control Number: 18/628,262 Page 3 Art Unit: 2855 Application/Control Number: 18/628,262 Page 4 Art Unit: 2855 Application/Control Number: 18/628,262 Page 5 Art Unit: 2855 Application/Control Number: 18/628,262 Page 6 Art Unit: 2855 Application/Control Number: 18/628,262 Page 7 Art Unit: 2855
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 05, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+32.6%)
2y 8m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 556 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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