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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/23/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 9 and 10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 9 and 19 recite “wherein the filter includes an acoustic wave resonator.” In order to differentiate from the acoustic wave resonators recited previously in claim 1, it is suggested to revise as follows:
Claim 9:
--wherein the filter includes an additional acoustic wave resonator--
Claim 10:
--wherein the additional acoustic wave resonator of the filter--
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejection - 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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), as failing to set forth the subject matter which the inventor, or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 12 recite a “a mass coefficient M of an acoustic wave resonator connected closest to the first input/output terminal among the plurality of acoustic wave resonators is equal to or more than about 0.95 × 0.054 and equal to or less than about 1.05 × 0.054.”
The term “about” renders these claims ambiguous and therefore indefinite because there is nothing in the specification to provide any indication as to what range is covered by the term. MPEP 2173.05(b).III.A.
For examination purposes, the term “about” will be understood as referring to any value within the range from 0.95 × 0.054 to 1.05 × 0.054.
Claims 2-11 and 13-14 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as dependent on the rejected claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action, and to include all 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 prior art identified to date does not disclose or render obvious the feature of “a mass coefficient M of an acoustic wave resonator connected closest to the first input/output terminal among the plurality of acoustic wave resonators is equal to or more than about 0.95 × 0.054 and equal to or less than about 1.05 × 0.054”, in combination with the remaining limitations of the respective independent and intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0208382 A1, published 6/29/2023 (“Nagatomo”) discloses an acoustic wave device including an IDT formed on a piezoelectric layer and a Bragg mirror, but does not disclose the feature of mass coefficient (Fig. 24, Abstract, ¶¶52, 69, 142).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0007852 A1, published 1/11/2007 (“Kando”) discloses surface acoustic wave resonators including an IDT formed on a piezoelectric layer, but does not disclose the feature of mass coefficient (Figs. 1-2, ¶¶32-33).
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/VICTOR COLE/
Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843