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 A, claims 1 and 3-9 in the reply filed on 29 December 2025 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 Claims 2 and 10-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The reference cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 18 April 2024, has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings received on 18 April 2024 are accepted.
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.
Examiner’s Note
The examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record in the body of this action for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. Applicant should consider the entire prior art as applicable as to the limitations of the claims. It is respectfully requested from the applicant, in preparing the response, to consider fully the entire references as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 and 3-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mizukami et al. (US 2012/0236083).
With respect to claim 1, Mizukami discloses a piezoelectric actuator comprising:
a piezoelectric element (paragraph 0036) including a first electrode (Fig. 5A, element 4), a piezoelectric layer (Fig. 5A, element 5), and a second electrode (Fig. 5A, element 6) arranged in this order from a substrate (Fig. 5A, element 2; paragraph 0035);
a first wiring (Fig. 5A, Common Electrode Lead Wiring) electrically connected to the first electrode (paragraph 0039);
a second wiring electrically (Fig. 5A, Dedicated Electrode Lead Wiring) connected to the second electrode (paragraph 0039);
a first layer (Fig. 5A, element 9) covering the piezoelectric element (paragraph 0051);
a second layer (Fig. 5A, element 10) arranged between the piezoelectric element and the first wiring and between the piezoelectric element and the second wiring (paragraph 0062); and
a third layer (Fig. 5A, element 11) arranged to cover the first wiring, the second wiring, and a periphery of the piezoelectric layer (paragraph 0067) when viewed from a direction perpendicular to a surface of the substrate (Fig. 1 plan view),
wherein the first layer (Fig. 5A, element 9), the second layer (Fig. 5A, element 10), and the third layer (Fig. 5A, element 11) are arranged in this order (Fig. 5A, i.e. up direction) from the substrate (Fig. 5A, element 2), and
wherein the third layer (Fig. 5A, element 11; paragraphs 0065-0066, i.e. intrinsic property of Si3N4) has higher moisture resistance than the second layer (Fig. 5A, element 10; paragraph 0060, i.e. intrinsic property of SiO2).
The examiner notes to applicant that the limitations concerning layer covering are broad in scope and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of Mizukami as applied above.
With respect to claim 3, Mizukami discloses the second layer (Fig. 5A, element 10) is arranged to cover the piezoelectric layer (Fig. 5A, element 5) when viewed from the direction perpendicular to the surface (Fig. 1 plan view) of the substrate (Fig. 5A, element 2).
With respect to claim 4, Mizukami discloses a thickness of the first layer (Fig. 5A, element 9) is more than or equal to 5 nm and less than or equal to 50 nm (paragraph 0054).
With respect to claim 5, Mizukami discloses a thickness of the first layer (Fig. 5A, element 9) is more than or equal to 5 nm and less than or equal to 25 nm (paragraph 0054).
With respect to claim 6, Mizukami discloses a thickness of the second layer (Fig. 5A, element 10) is more than or equal to 200 nm and less than or equal to 1.5 μm (paragraph 0062).
With respect to claim 7, Mizukami discloses the third layer (Fig. 5A, element 11) contains silicon nitride (paragraphs 0065-0066).
With respect to claim 8, Mizukami discloses the first layer (Fig. 5A, element 9) is made of aluminum oxide (paragraphs 0051-0053).
With respect to claim 9, Mizukami discloses the first layer (Fig. 5A, element 9) is made of aluminum oxide (paragraph 0053), and the second layer (Fig. 5A, element 10) is made of silicon oxide (paragraph 0060).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. United States Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0264474 to Kurokawa et al. disclose a piezoelectric actuator (Fig. 5, element 10), a first layer (Fig. 5, element 22), a second layer (Fig. 5, element 25), and a third layer (Fig. 5, element 31). However, Kurokawa fails to disclose the third layer has higher moisture resistance than the second layer.
In view of the foregoing, the above claims have failed to patentably distinguish over the applied art.
The remaining references listed on forms 892 and 1449 have been reviewed by the examiner and are considered to be cumulative to or less material than the prior art references relied upon in the rejection above.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Geoffrey Mruk whose telephone number is (571)272-2810. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4:30 PM.
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, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached at (571) 272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GEOFFREY S MRUK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853 01/28/2026
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