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 .
Response to Amendments/Arguments
Inoue US 11,637,543
Applicant's amendments/arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues “[a] shielding electrode is not an integrated passive device” (Remark Page 6). The Examiner disagrees. A shielding electrode qualifies as an integrated passive device (IPD) because it is a passive element, integrated into the whole acoustic wave filter device/module, and affects signal by preventing interference as used by Inoue or block/reduce signal if the signal is transmitted by radiating wave (not used by Inoue but in general for the shielding electrode). As such, the conductive portion 16 which functions as a shielding electrode is an IPD.
Applicant (and original specification) provides a list of examples of passive devices, however, they are non-limiting examples and the integrated passive device (IPD) is not defined or limited to those examples.
As a further supporting reference, Sparks US 9,039,976, discloses shielding structures 708, 808 as passive shield structures (Col. 11 lines 55-57), which clearly show that shield structures (and by extension, shielding electrodes) are passive elements or devices.
Liu US 2023/0121565
Applicant’s amendments/arguments have been fully considered and are persuasive. The corresponding rejections have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Inoue US 11,637,543 of record.
1. Inoue discloses an acoustic filter device (Fig. 2) comprising: an acoustic filter (12); one or more structural layers (14) forming one or more curved domes that define a one or more cavities (17) of the acoustic filter; and one or more integrated passive device (IPD) layers (16) on the one or more structural layers, wherein the one or more IPD layers are contoured to correspond to a shape of the one or more curved domes (see Fig. 2).
20. Inoue discloses a method of fabricating (realized by) an acoustic filter device (Fig. 2), the method comprising: forming one or more structural layers (14) on an acoustic filter (12); forming one or more curved domes (the shape of item 14) in at least one of the one or more structural layers, the one or more curved domes defining one or more cavities (17) of the acoustic filter; and forming one or more integrated passive device (IPD) layers (16) on the one or more structural layers, wherein the one or more IPD layers are contoured to correspond to a shape of the one or more curved domes (see Fig. 2).
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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The cited reference does not disclose the one or more IPD layers correspond to at least one of a capacitor, a resistor, an inductor, a impedance matching network, a balun, a coupler, divider, or a diplexer, in addition to the other limitations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
/A.W/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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