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 .
US National Stage of PCT
Acknowledgment is made that this application is the US national phase of international application PCT/CN2023/123441 filed 8 October 2023 which designated the U.S. and claims the benefit of CN 202211337594.6, filed 28 October 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made that the information disclosure statement has been received and considered by the examiner. If the applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending applications not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.56 to disclose the same.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figures 2, 5, 7, 9, and 12 are informal. Specifically, the shading used in the figures makes it difficult to discern the features. This problem will be exacerbated in future reproductions. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 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 beYou’e fore the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 9-11 and 19 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Han et al. (Chinese Patent Publication No CN 114550611 A) hereinafter referred to as Han.
Per Claim 1, Han discloses a display module device, (see description, paragraphs [0080]-[0162], and figures 1-9) comprising
a display panel (see figure 1) having a display side (top) and a non-display side (bottom), wherein the display panel includes a plurality of first holes (filled with electrode 35), and the first holes penetrate the display panel;
a base layer (10) disposed on the non-display side of the display panel;
a vibration film (33) disposed on the display side of the display panel; and
a sound wave driving structure capacitive micromechanical transducer ((30) is a Capacitive Microelectromechanical Micro-machined Transducer, (CMUT)) including a first electrode layer (31) and a second electrode layer (34), wherein the first electrode layer (31) is disposed on a surface of the base layer (10) proximate to the display panel (as in figure 1), and the second electrode layer (34) is disposed on the vibration film (33); and an orthographic projection of the first electrode layer (31) and an orthographic projection of the second electrode layer (34) on the base layer (10) cover at least orthographic projections of the plurality of first holes on the base layer (see figures 1-2 which clearly show the side view and top view. Hence the claimed orthographic projection covering is inherently shown).
Per Claim 2, Han discloses the device of claim 1, (see figures 1 and 4) including where material of the second electrode layer (34) includes a transparent conductive material (see provided translation page 8 paragraph 8), and the second electrode layer is of a continuous whole-layer structure (as shown in figure 4).
Per Claim 9, Han discloses the device of claim 1, (see figures 1 and 4) including where the orthographic projection of the first electrode layer (31) on the base layer (10) overlaps the orthographic projection of the second electrode layer (34) on the base layer. (see figures 1-2 which clearly show the side view and top view. Hence the claimed orthographic projection covering is inherently shown).
Per Claim 10, Han discloses the device of claim 1, (see figures 1 and 4) including where the first electrode layer (31) is of a continuous whole- layer structure (as shown in figure 5a).
Per Claim 11, Han discloses the device of claim 1, (see figures 1 and 4) including where a material of the first electrode layer (31) includes at least one of a transparent conductive material, metal, and or alloy (see provided translation page 8 paragraph 8).
Per Claim 19, Han discloses the device of claim 1, (see figures 1 and 4) including where the material of the second electrode layer (34) includes indium tin oxide and/or indium zinc oxide (see page 8 paragraph 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8, 12-18 and 20 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.
Cited Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicants are directed to consider additional pertinent prior art included on the Notice of References Cited (PTOL 892) attached herewith.
Zhang (US 2021/0099808) is cited for teaching an analogous device that includes a vibration module.
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant.
Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMI VALENTINE MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-9786. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 7am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eva Montalvo can be reached on (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Jami Valentine Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
Prosecution Insights