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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/16/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6, 8-12, 16, & 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iwaki et al. (US PGPub 20170170808)
As per claim 1:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
A method of manufacturing an acoustic wave resonator, the method comprising:
forming an acoustic wave resonator structure ([0137]) with a temperature compensation layer (insulating films 37a-c, formed of silicon oxide ([0140]), a known temperature compensation material) over an interdigital transducer electrode (20), interdigital transducer electrode including a first plurality of fingers (14) extending from a first bus bar (18) and a second plurality of fingers (14) extending from a second bus bar (18), the second plurality of fingers spaced between the first plurality of fingers; and
forming at least a first patterned conductive layer (additional film 35, formed of metal, [0136]) within the temperature compensation layer (between 37a and 37b/c) with portions of the temperature compensation layer positioned above and below the first patterned conductive layer (as seen in Figs. 29C & E), the first patterned conductive layer including conductive portions that are positioned laterally between, and do not overlap, the first and second plurality of fingers (as seen in Figs. 28A & 29C).
As per claims 2 & 12:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
the first patterned conductive layer has a density that is at least as high as a density of the interdigital transducer electrode ([0136]).
As per claim 6 & 16:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
the temperature compensation layer is a silicon dioxide layer ([0140]).
As per claim 8 & 18:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
the conductive portions do not overlap the first and second bus bars of the interdigital transducer electrode (as seen in Fig. 28A).
As per claim 9 & 19:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
the first plurality of fingers are laterally spaced between with the second plurality of fingers and the conductive portions are located in areas between the first and second plurality of fingers (as seen in Fig. 28A, wherein additional films 35 are in a region between the electrode fingers).
As per claim 10 & 20:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
the conductive portions are islands separated from each other by portions of the temperature compensation layer (as seen in Figs. 28A and 29C).
As per claim 11:
Iwaki et al. discloses in Figs. 28A & 29C:
A method of manufacturing an acoustic wave resonator, the method comprising:
forming an acoustic wave resonator structure ([0137]) with a temperature compensation layer (insulating films 37a-c, formed of silicon oxide ([0140]), a known temperature compensation material) over an interdigital transducer electrode (20), interdigital transducer electrode including a first plurality of fingers (14) extending from a first bus bar (18) and a second plurality of fingers (14) extending from a second bus bar (18), the second plurality of fingers spaced between the first plurality of fingers; and
forming at least a first plurality of conductive portions (additional film 35, formed of metal, [0136]) within the temperature compensation layer (between 37a and 37b/c) with portions of the temperature compensation layer positioned above and below (as seen in Figs. 29C & E), the first plurality of conductive portions, the first plurality of conductive portions are positioned laterally between, and do not overlap the first and second plurality of fingers (as seen in Figs. 28A & 29C).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7, 13-15, & 17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the limitations of the objected to claims overcome the closest found prior art as disclosed above, and were further not disclosed or rendered obvious over a further search of the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL S OUTTEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7123. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30AM-6:00PM.
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/Samuel S Outten/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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