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 without traverse of Group I- Claims 1-7 in the reply filed on April 21, 2026 is acknowledged.
Non-elected claims 8 ad 9 are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et.al. (WO2022/264654A1), hereinafter Suzuki.
As to Claim 1, Suzuki teaches a piezoelectric film device( a transducer with a piezoelectric element, abstract) comprising: a substrate (substrate 4) having a first surface and a second surface facing opposite directions ( Figure 3, the substrate 4 having a top and bottom surface) ; a support portion ( cantilever 40 ) supporting the first surface and fixed to an installation surface( connecting portion 7a); and a piezoelectric film( piezoelectric element 10) provided on the second surface( portion of the piezoelectric element 10 placed on the vibrating membrane 7 (the entire piezoelectric element 10 in this embodiment, Figure 3) and displaced in a first direction together with the substrate in response to application of a bias voltage and a drive voltage,( the cantilever 40 is deformed around the fixed end 40a. When a voltage corresponding to the audio signal is continuously applied between the lower electrode 11 and the upper electrode 13, the cantilever 40 vibrates so that the free end 40b of the cantilever 40 reciprocates in the Z direction. See at least page 7 lines 3-10) wherein the substrate (substrate 4) has a first region( fixed end 40a) supported by the support portion (cantilever portion 4) and a second region( free end 40b) not supported by the support portion ( cantilever portion 4) as regions of the first surface, and in a state where the bias voltage and the drive voltage are not applied( that is neutral position), the substrate is formed to be warped such that the second region is located closer to the installation surface side in the first direction than the first region, ( the neutral position of the cantilever 40, the cantilever 40 is held in a warped posture such that the free end 40b hangs down toward the cavity 5 with respect to the fixed end 40a. The neutral position of the cantilever 40 refers to the position (orientation) of the cantilever when the piezoelectric element is not deformed by an input electrical signal or an input sound wave. See at least page 6, [0005]).
As to Claim 7, Suzuki teaches the limitations of Claim 1, and a transducer comprising the piezoelectric film device according to claim 1 as a transducer comprising: a support having a cavity; a vibration film provided opposite the cavity and capable of vibrating in the opposite direction; a piezoelectric element of which at least a part is formed on the vibration film; and an insulating film disposed on the vibration film. See at least abstract.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 are 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUNITA JOSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7227. The examiner can normally be reached 8-3.
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/SUNITA JOSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
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