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 . Claims 1-5 are pending.
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 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US 20220300078 A1).
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Regarding claim 1, Sato discloses a vibration actuator (160, fig. 2) configured to apply a vibration to a connected vibration presentation part (100, fig. 2), the vibration actuator, comprising:
a flat plate base part (base, annotated fig. 6) that accommodates a coil (coil, annotated fig. 6) wound around a plate-shaped core (core, annotated fig. 6) in an internal opening (opening, annotated fig. 6);
a plate-shaped body (body, annotated fig. 6) including a suction part (suction, annotated fig. 6) made of a magnetic material (magnets), the plate-shaped body disposed to overlap the flat plate base part (see annotated fig. 6); and
an elastic support part (elastic, annotated fig. 6) that arranges the suction part to face the plate-shaped core within the region of the internal opening (see annotated fig. 6) and connects the plate-shaped body to the flat plate base part (see annotated fig. 6) so as to be movable along a surface of the flat plate base part (see the horizontal movements of the body shown in figs. 7C and 7D).
Regarding claim 2, Sato discloses the vibration actuator according to claim 1, wherein the elastic support part includes a plurality of the elastic support parts (two units 40A and 40B shown in fig. 6), wherein the elastic support parts are disposed at both ends of the flat plate base part and the plate-shaped body in the moving direction (see elastic members in annotated fig. 6; see the horizontal movement direction in figs. 7C and 7D).
Regarding claim 3, Sato discloses the vibration actuator according to claim 1, but does not disclose: wherein the elastic support part is a leaf spring disposed perpendicular to the surface, and is fixed to the flat plate base part at one end and fixed to the plate-shaped body at the other end.
However, leaf springs are known to a person having ordinary skills in the art and they are obvious elastic support options with predictable outcomes because they have been commonly used in vibration actuators.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that: the elastic support part is a leaf spring disposed perpendicular to the surface, and is fixed to the flat plate base part at one end and fixed to the plate-shaped body at the other end.
Regarding claim 5, Sato discloses a vibration presentation device comprising a touch panel in which the vibration actuator according to claim 1 is mounted (para [0023]: “The operation device 100 includes a base 110, a holder 120, a touchpad 130, an actuator 140, a frame 150, a gap sensor 160, dampers 170A and 170B, and a controller 180.”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 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
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/MASOUD VAZIRI/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/OLUSEYE IWARERE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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