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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 5 and 7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 14; and Claim 5, line 3, the examiner suggests rewriting “the electrode fingers” to -- the at least one pair of electrode fingers-- to provide consistency in the claim language.
Claim 7, lines 2-3, the examiner suggests rewriting “is a region in which the adjacent electrode fingers overlap each other when seen from a direction” to --is a region in which the at least one pair of electrode fingers are adjacent to each other when seen from a direction-- to provide consistency in the claim language.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 16, note that the relationship is unclear between the recited “the electrode finger” and the previous recited “at least one pair of electrode fingers” recited in line 7, therefore causing ambiguity in the claim (i.e. is the recited “the electrode finger” referring to one of the fingers of the previous recited “pair” of fingers or is it referring to “each” of the electrode fingers of the pair?). Clarification is required. Identical issue also occurs in: claim 1, lines 21, 24, 26-27, 32-33, and claim 4, lines 3-5 and 11. By virtue of dependency from claim 1, claims 2-20 have also been rejected under 35 USC 112(b). For the purpose of examination, the examiner has interpreted that the recited “the electrode finger” is referring to “each” of the fingers of the previously recited “pair of electrode fingers”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The most relevant prior art reference is Yamane et al. (US2022/0216844 A1, cited by applicant). Yamane et al. teaches in Figs. 1 and 2 an acoustic wave device comprising:
A piezoelectric substrate (2 and 4) including a support that includes a support substrate (2), and a piezoelectric layer (4) that is provided on the support and includes lithium tantalate or lithium niobate (see paragraph [0055]);
A functional electrode (IDT formed by electrodes 51 and 52) provided on the piezoelectric layer and including at least one pair of electrode fingers (51 and 52); and
Based on related Fig. 28A, a dielectric film (41) provided on the piezoelectric layer to cover the at least one pair of electrode fingers;
Based on Fig. 2, an acoustic reflection portion (26) is provided at a position overlapping at least a portion of the functional electrode in plan view;
Based on Paragraph [0088], in a case where a thickness of the piezoelectric layer is d and a center-to-center distance between the electrode fingers adjacent to each other is p, d/p is 0.24 which is about 0.5 or less;
Based on Fig. 2, each of the electrode fingers includes a first/bottom surface and a second/top surface that face each other in a thickness direction, and a side surface that is connected to the first surface and the second surface, the first surface being located on a piezoelectric layer side;
Based on Fig. 2, the side surface of the electrode finger includes a first/left side surface portion and a second/right side surface portion that face each other in a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular a direction in which the electrode finger extends;
Based on Fig. 28A, the dielectric film (41) includes a first/left side surface cover portion that covers the first side surface portion of the electrode finger, and a second/right side surface cover portion that covers the second side surface portion, the first side surface cover portion including a first outer surface, the second side surface cover portion including a second outer surface; and
In a case where an angle of a corner defined by the first surface and the first side surface portion of the electrode finger is θ1 = 90°, an angle of a corner defined by the first surface and the second side surface portion is θ2 = 90°, an angle of a corner defined by a first virtual plane extending parallel or substantially parallel to the first surface from an edge portion of the first outer surface of the dielectric film on the piezoelectric layer side toward a second side surface cover portion side, and the first outer surface is θ3 = 90°, and an angle of a corner defined by a second virtual plane extending parallel or substantially parallel to the first surface from an edge portion of the second outer surface on the piezoelectric layer side toward a first side surface cover portion side, and the second outer surface is θ4 = 90°.
However, in regards to claim 1, Yamane et al. does not teach: at least one of θ1 ≠ θ3 or θ2 ≠ θ4 is satisfied. Therefore, the applicants’ claimed invention has been determined to be novel and non-obvious. By virtue of dependency from claim 1, claims 2-20 have also been determined to be novel and non-obvious over the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Michigami et al. (US2023/0022219 A1) in Fig. 1, an acoustic wave device comprising an IDT electrode (3) having a plurality of fingers (4b and 5b), and a dielectric layer (41) located between tip portions of each of the plurality of fingers and a piezoelectric substrate (2). Based on Figs. 2 and 3, the dielectric layer (41) has protrusion section forming an angle of 15°.
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/JORGE L SALAZAR JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843