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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03 February 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-18, 20-25, and 27-28 are pending with claims 19, 26, and 29 canceled.
Claim Interpretation
Applicant’s claims are replete with language expressing functional limitations. In the case of such functional language, any structure in the prior art which is capable of performing the stated function will necessarily read onto those claims, even if that prior art does not explicitly disclose the function itself (see MPEP §2173.05(g) for discussion on functional limitations and their examination).
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, 13, 25, and 27 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, 13, and 27 each recite “the first electrode receives a modulation-driving signal, and the second electrode receives a demodulation-driving signal.” The claims are indefinite because while these claims begin by reciting a product, they further include a process of using the product. A single claim that includes both a product and a process of using the product is indefinite (See MPEP 2173.05(p)(II)). It is unclear if infringement would occur when the device is created as an apparatus or when the device is used as recited in claims 1, 13, and 26. For the purposes of examination the process limitation will be treated as an intended result limitation (i.e. the product must be capable of receiving the claimed modulation-driving and demodulation-driving signals).
Examiner further notes that all of additional pending claims 2-12, 14-18, 20-25, and 28 are rejected under 35 USC §112(b) due to their dependence upon the above rejected claims.
Claims 25 recites “wherein the film structure is actuated by the modulation-driving signal…the film structure is actuated by the demodulation-driving signal…”. For similar reasons as those discussed for claims 1, 13, and 27, this limitation represents a process of using the product and is rejected for the same reasons.
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, 8-10, 12, and 27-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by the combination of US 20220225031 (hereinafter “Liang-A”) and US 20220315412 (hereinafter “Liang-B”).
As to Claim 1, Liang-A teaches an airflow generating package, comprising:
a base (Liang-A Fig 13, base 115) and a covering structure (comprising left and right 111 and cap 104); and
a film structure (comprising flaps 102c), disposed between the base and the covering structure (flaps 102c between 115 and 104), comprising a flap pair comprising a first flap (one of two flaps 102c) and a second flap (the other of two flaps 102c);
wherein the flap pair vibrates at an ultrasonic rate (device may create air pulses with frequency of 48kHz [0131]) to form an air pressure variation with a pressure variant frequency (vibration of flap pair forms pressure variation 105a) and to form a vent opening at an opening rate (113c opens at same rate of flap movement), so that the airflow generating package produces an airflow (airflow 116 generated by movement of flaps);
wherein the pressure variant frequency and the opening rate are synchronous with the ultrasonic rate (generated pressure variation will inherently follow the frequency of the piezoelectric structures);
wherein a first air opening (107) is formed on the covering structure (107 formed on left 111).
Liang-A further teaches an actuator with first and second electrodes ([0098]), but fails to explicitly teach the disposition of those electrodes or their being configured to receive modulation-driving and demodulation-driving signals.
Liang-B teaches a device in which an actuator comprises first and second electrodes with an actuating layer disposed therebetween (Liang-B Fig 8A, two 120 with two 110) wherein the first electrode is configured to receive a modulation-driving signal, and the second electrode is configured to receive a demodulation-driving signal (flaps 110 open opposite to each other; see Liang-B Fig 8A and Liang-B [0116]. Examiner interprets this to mean one electrode is configured to receive a modulation-driving signal and the other electrode a demodulation-driving signal to generate the disclosed motion. See “Response to Arguments” for further discussion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the airflow generating package taught by Liang-A with the ability for each of the flaps to receive an independent driving signal taught by Liang-B in order to allow for more modes of operation for a user, increasing the possible utility of the package.
As to Claim 8, the combination of Liang-A and Liang-B teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-A teaches the package further comprising:
a fin-type heat conductive component (cap 104 may have fins for heat conduction and dissipation [0129]);
wherein the fin-type heat conductive component has contact with a heat source (104 may directly contact a heat generating component [0129]);
wherein the airflow flows through the fin-type heat conductive component and is configured to dissipate a heat from the heat source (airflow 116 through fins facing inside chamber 105 to improve heat dissipation [0129]).
As to Claim 9, the combination of Liang-A and Liang-B teaches the airflow generating package of claim 8. Liang-A teaches the package further comprising:
a first airflow generating chip disposed by a first side of the fin-type heat conductive component and configured to form the airflow inward (first chip comprising flaps 102c by left side of 104, forms airflow 116 toward center of 104 in view of 102c); and
a second airflow generating chip disposed by a second side of the fin-type heat conductive component and configured to form the airflow outward (second chip comprising flaps 102d by right side of 104, forms airflow 116 away from center of 104 in view of 102d).
As to Claim 10, the combination of Liang-A and Liang-B teaches the airflow generating package of claim 8. Liang-A in Fig 15 shows a combination of two exemplary devices, i.e., the devices shown in Fig 13 may reasonably be stacked in an analogous way. This combination teaches:
a first airflow generating chip disposed by a first side of the fin-type heat conductive component (Liang-A Fig 13, first chip comprising flaps 102c by left side of 104, which contributes to airflow 116) (first chip 102c by left side of 104);
a second airflow generating chip disposed by a second side of the fin-type heat conductive component (Liang-A Fig 13, second chip comprising flaps 102d by right side of 104, which contributes to airflow 116);
a third airflow generating chip and a fourth airflow generating chip (Liang-A Fig 15 shows mirror image of device 300 from Fig 13, with respect to the mirror plane left-right through base 115 and direction into plane of Fig 13. Third chip comprises mirror-copy of first chip; fourth chip comprises mirror-copy of second chip);
wherein the first airflow generating chip and the third airflow generating chip are stacked, and the second airflow generating chip and the fourth airflow generating chip are stacked (first and third airflow chips aligned vertically in mirrored figure; second and fourth airflow chips aligned vertically in mirrored figure).
As to Claim 12, the combination of Liang-A and Liang-B teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-A further teaches:
wherein the airflow generating package is disposed adjacent to a fin-type heat sink (Fig 13, cap 104 may have fins for heat conduction and dissipation [0129]);
wherein the airflow generating package generates the airflow to dissipate a heat on the fin-type heat sink (airflow 116 through fins facing inside chamber 105 to improve heat dissipation [0129]).
As to Claim 27, Liang-A teaches an airflow generating package (Liang-A Fig 13) comprising:
a fin-type heat conductive component (cap 104 which may also have fins [0129]), wherein the fin-type heat conductive component is disposed on a heat source (104 makes physical contact with a heat generating component [0129]);
a first airflow generating chip disposed by a first side of the fin-type heat conductive component and configured to generate an airflow inward (first chip comprising flaps 102c and supports for those flaps. First chip by left side of 104 and arrow 116 shows airflow inward (i.e., towards center of 104) by first chip);
a second airflow generating chip disposed by a second side of the fin-type heat conductive component and configured to generate the airflow outward (second chip comprising flaps 102d and supports for those flaps. Second chip by right side of 104 and arrow 116 shows airflow outward (i.e., away from center of 104) by second chip); and
a covering structure, wherein a first air opening is formed on the covering structure (comprising left-side and right-side 111 and base 115, first air opening 107);
wherein one of the first airflow generating chip and the second airflow generating chip comprises a flap pair (first chip comprise flap pair 102c);
wherein the flap pair vibrates at an ultrasonic rate (device may create air pulses with frequency of 48kHz [0131]) to form an air pressure variation with a pressure variant frequency (vibration of flap pair forms pressure variation 105a) and to form a vent opening at an opening rate (113c opens at same rate of flap movement), so that the airflow generating package produces an airflow (airflow 116 generated by movement of flaps);
wherein the pressure variant frequency and the opening rate are synchronous with the ultrasonic rate (generated pressure variation will inherently follow the frequency of the piezoelectric structures);
wherein the airflow flows through the fin-type heat conductive component and is configured to dissipate a heat from the heat source (airflow indicated by 116 flows through fins to function for heat dissipation of heat source [0129]).
Liang-A further teaches an actuator with first and second electrodes ([0098]), but fails to explicitly teach the disposition of those electrodes or their being configured to receive modulation-driving and demodulation-driving signals.
Liang-B teaches a device in which an actuator comprises first and second electrodes with an actuating layer disposed therebetween (Liang-B Fig 8A, two 120 with two 110) wherein the first electrode is configured to receive a modulation-driving signal, and the second electrode is configured to receive a demodulation-driving signal (flaps 110 open opposite to each other; see Liang-B Fig 8A and Liang-B [0116]. Examiner interprets this to mean one electrode is configured to receive a modulation-driving signal and the other electrode a demodulation-driving signal to generate the disclosed motion. See “Response to Arguments” for further discussion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the airflow generating package taught by Liang-A with the ability for each of the flaps to receive an independent driving signal taught by Liang-B in order to allow for more modes of operation for a user, increasing the possible utility of the package.
As to Claim 28, the combination of Liang-A and Liang-B teaches the airflow generating package of claim 27. Liang-A teaches the package wherein the flap pair comprises a first flap and a second flap opposite to each other (each flap within pairs 102c, 102d are opposite to one another).
Claims 1-7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang-B and further in light of US 20190187459 (Matsumaru et al).
As to Claim 1, Liang-B teaches an airflow generating package, comprising:
a base (Fig 3A, base BS) and a covering structure (housing structure HSS); and
a film structure (film structure FS comprising elements 110, 120 on both the left and right sides of opening 130), disposed between the base and the covering structure (100 above base BS and below top side of housing HSS), comprising a flap pair (two membranes 110) comprising a first flap (left-most 110) and a second flap (right-most 110) and an actuator configured to actuate the film structure (120)
wherein the flap pair (pair of 110) vibrates to form an air pressure variation with a pressure variant frequency ([0072]) and to form a vent opening at an opening rate (slit 130 opens at same rate as the flap pair) so that the airflow generating package produces an airflow (oscillation of flaps 110 necessarily generates movement of air, which is being reasonably interpreted as the claimed airflow);
wherein the pressure variant frequency and the opening rate are synchronous with the ultrasonic rate (generated pressure variation will inherently follow the frequency of the piezoelectric structures);
wherein the actuator comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and an actuating layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode (two 120 and flap pair therebetween), the first electrode receives a modulation-driving signal, and the second electrode receives a demodulation-driving signal (two electrodes may drive flaps in opposite directions as shown in Fig. 8A. Examiner is interpreting this as being configured for one electrode to receive a modulation-driving signal and the other electrode to receive a demodulation-driving signal. See “Response to Arguments below for further discussion”)
wherein a first air opening (first housing opening HO1) is formed on the covering structure (opening on HSS).
While Liang-B does not explicitly limit the vibration of the flap pair to rates below ultrasonic (may produce waves up to 20 kHz but is not limited so [0153]), Liang-B does not explicitly teach that the flap pair vibrates at an ultrasonic rate, specifically that the piezoelectric actuators performing the movement of the flaps (in the instant application, flaps are actuated by piezoelectric actuators 120 [0069])
Matsumaru teaches a device utilizing piezoelectric actuators and explicitly discloses that piezoelectric actuators are capable of ultrasonic vibration (Matsumaru, piezoelectric actuators oscillate at 30 kHz [0049], which is above the commonly-cited threshold for human hearing of 20 kHz)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the airflow generating chip utilizing piezoelectric actuators to generate airflow, as taught by Liang-B, with the teaching that piezoelectric actuators are capable of vibrating at ultrasonic frequencies, as taught by Matsumaru. The combination teaches that the device taught by Liang-B inherently satisfies all the limitations of the instant claim.
As to Claim 2, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B further teaches the first air opening is formed on a top part of the covering structure (H01 on top part of housing HSS).
As to Claim 3, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B further teaches that the first air opening is formed on a sidewall of the covering structure (opening HO2 in side portion of housing HSS).
As to Claim 4, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B further teaches that a second air opening is formed on the base (opening BVT within base BS).
As to Claim 5, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B further teaches:
An air channel is formed within the airflow generating package and connected to a second air opening (the air channel comprising the path between first opening HO1, through film structure 100, through opening BVT, and to second opening HO2);
Wherein the airflow flows through the air channel (airflow generated by the device necessarily flows through the channel as described);
Wherein a flowing direction of the airflow is perpendicular to a normal direction of the film structure (portion of airflow through the second opening HO2 moves horizontally in the view of Fig 3A. This horizontal direction is perpendicular to the normal of the film structure, where that direction is vertical in the view of Fig 3A).
As to Claim 6, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B also teaches that the package further comprises:
an anchor structure (anchor structure 140);
wherein the film structure (comprising 110 and 120) is anchored on the anchor structure (FS anchored by anchor structure 140 [0063]);
wherein an air channel is formed within the anchor structure and connected to a second air opening, and the airflow flows through the air channel within the anchor structure (channel comprising the path between first opening HO1, through film structure 100, between adjacent portions of anchor structure 140, through opening BVT, and to second opening HO2. Airflow generated necessarily flows through this air channel within the anchor structure).
As to Claim 7, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B further teaches an air channel formed within the base and connected to a second air opening, and that the airflow flows through the air channel within the base (channel comprising the path between first opening HO1, through film structure 100, between adjacent portions of anchor structure 140, through opening BVT, and to second opening HO2. Airflow generated necessarily flows through this air channel within the base).
As to Claim 11, the combination of Liang-B and Matsumaru teaches the airflow generating package of claim 1. Liang-B further teaches that a flowing direction of the airflow produced by the film structure is reversible (oscillation of flaps 110 of the film structure create an oscillation of the air molecules within. In other words, the operation of the film structure is capable of reversing the direction of airflow produced).
Claims 13-18 and 20-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20170276149 (Dusseau et al) further in light of US 20190172816 (Kim et al), Liang-A, and Liang-B.
As to Claim 13, Dusseau teaches a semiconductor device, comprising:
an operational component (electronic components disclosed in [0019]), wherein the operational component produced a heat while operating (generation of heat is inherent to electronic components); and
an airflow generating chip (Fig 2A, airflow generator 110 comprising all of the parts shown in the figure), and configured to generate an airflow to dissipate the heat produced by the operational component (operation of device 112 shown in steps of Fig 2A to Fig 2C, generating airflow represented by arrows 140 in Fig 2B and 142 in Fig 2C respectively);
wherein the airflow generating chip comprises a flap pair (110 may be provided in plural down the length of 112, i.e., may comprise a pair of flaps 120 [0013]);
wherein the flap pair vibrates to form an air pressure variation with a pressure variant frequency to form a vent opening at an opening rate, so as to generate the airflow (piezoelectric structures 124 change volume of space 115 thereby creating a pressure variation [0014], and adjacent structures 124 may oscillate in opposite directions to form a vent opening therebetween [0018]);
wherein the pressure variant frequency and the opening rate are synchronous with the vibration rate (generated pressure variation will inherently follow the frequency of the piezoelectric structures).
While Dusseau teaches use of the airflow generating chip to dissipate heat from the operational component, it does not explicitly teach the relative positions between the airflow generating chip and the operational component, nor does it teach the flap pair vibrating at an ultrasonic rate.
Kim teaches a semiconductor device in which an operational component (Kim Fig 5, chip 210) is attached to a device configured to dissipate heat produced by the operational component (heat sink 310), and further teaches that the heat sink is disposed on the operational component (310 on 210).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to substitute the heat sink taught by Kim with the airflow generating chip taught by Dusseau. The claim would have been obvious because the substitution of one known element for another would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. In this case, the substitution of the heat sink (310) in Kim with the airflow generating chip (110) in Dusseau would have been obvious, and the substitution of this element would have provided predictable results since both elements have the same basic function of dissipating heat from a device.
Still, the combination of Dusseau and Kim does not explicitly teach the airflow generating chip being a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) chip being fabricated via a semiconductor manufacturing process, nor does it teach the flap pair vibrating at an ultrasonic rate.
Liang-A teaches a device similar to that of Dusseau and Kim, teaching an airflow generating chip being explicitly fabricated as a MEMS device (Liang-A [0026]), and that the piezoelectric structures therein may operate at ultrasonic frequencies (device may create air pulses with frequency of 48kHz [0131]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the semiconductor device taught by Dusseau and Kim with the airflow generating device being a MEMS structure and capable of ultrasonic vibration taught by Liang-A in order to combine manufacture of both the operational component and the airflow generating device into a single semiconductor manufacturing process, thereby simplifying manufacturing processes.
The above combination fails to explicitly teach a film structure with actuator configured to actuate the film structure comprising a flap pair, or details of the electrode configuration.
Liang-B teaches a device in which an actuator comprises first and second electrodes with an actuating layer disposed therebetween (Liang-B Fig 8A, two 120 with two 110) wherein the first electrode is configured to receive a modulation-driving signal, and the second electrode is configured to receive a demodulation-driving signal (flaps 110 open opposite to each other; see Liang-B Fig 8A and Liang-B [0116]. Examiner interprets this to mean one electrode is configured to receive a modulation-driving signal and the other electrode a demodulation-driving signal to generate the disclosed motion. See “Response to Arguments” for further discussion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the airflow generating package taught by Dusseau, Kim, and Liang-A with the ability for each of the flaps to receive an independent driving signal taught by Liang-B in order to allow for more modes of operation for a user, increasing the possible utility of the package.
As to Claim 14, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Kim, as applied to claim 13, further teaches a plurality of thermal conductive balls (Kim Fig 5, 270) disposed between the airflow generating chip and the operational component (270 between 210 and 310, where 310 corresponds to the airflow generating chip 110 taught by Dusseau in the substitution of claim 13).
As to Claim 15, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Kim, as applied to claim 13, further teaches that the device comprises a heat conductive component (heat sink 310, corresponding to the airflow generating chip 110 of Dusseau in the substitution of claim 13) disposed on the operational component (310 disposed on chip 210).
As to Claim 16, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Kim, as applied to claim 13, further teaches that the operational component (chip 210) and the airflow generating chip (heat sink 310 in Kim, which corresponds to airflow generating chip 110 taught by Dusseau in the substitution of claim 13) are overlapped in a normal direction of a top surface of the operational component (heat sink 310 stacked normal to top surface of 210).
As to Claim 17, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Kim, as applied to claim 13, further teaches that the semiconductor device is disposed within a 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) or three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor package (stack of chips 210 in Kim Fig 5 constitutes a 3D semiconductor package).
As to Claim 18, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Kim, as applied to claim 13, further teaches the operational component (210) comprises an application processor (AP), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), a tensor processing unit (TPU) or a memory (210 may be, for example, a CPU [0029]).
As to Claim 20, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Dusseau further teaches that a flowing direction of the airflow produced by the airflow generating chip is reversible (airflow direction 140 in Dusseau Fig 2B reversed from airflow direction 142 in Dusseau Fig 2C).
As to Claim 21, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Liang-A, as applied to claim 13, further teaches wherein an air channel is formed between the operational component and the airflow generating chip (Liang-A Fig 13, channel 105 between operational component attached to cap 104 above [0129] and airflow generating chip comprising flaps 102c.)
As to Claim 22, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Dusseau further teaches a first air opening (Fig 2A, first air opening being space above members 120) formed on a top of the airflow generating chip and a second air opening (second air opening being space between members 120 and object 112) formed on a bottom of the airflow generating chip.
As to Claim 23, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Liang-A, as applied to claim 13, further teaches:
wherein the film structure (Liang-A Fig 13, film structure being flaps 102c) is configured to be actuated to generate a plurality of air pulses at an ultrasonic pulse rate, and the airflow consists of the plurality of air pulses (device of Fig 13 may drive air pulses at rate of e.g., 48 kHz [0131]);
wherein the plurality of air pulses produces a net air movement or a net airflow toward one single direction (device drives airflow 116 towards the right in Fig 13).
As to Claim 24, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Dusseau further teaches the flap pair comprises a first flap (a first of two adjacent 220) and a second flap (a second of two adjacent 220) disposed opposite to each other (the two adjacent 220 structures opposite one another).
As to Claim 25, the combination of Dusseau, Kim, Liang-A, and Liang-B teaches the semiconductor device of claim 13. Dusseau further teaches:
wherein the film structure (plurality of 220) is actuated by the modulation-driving signal (220 actuated by individual piezoelectric structures 224 via controllable electric source [0010]) to perform a common mode movement (plurality of 220 capable of flexing in same directions at the same time, i.e., performing a common-mode movement [0018]);
wherein the film structure (plurality of 220) is actuated by the demodulation-driving signal to perform a differential mode movement to form the vent opening (individual 220 capable of flexing opposite to their neighboring 220 structures, i.e., performing a differential mode movement [0018]. The space between two adjacent 220 during differential mode movement constitutes a vent opening between air channels 215A and 215B).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03 February 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the prior art of record fails to teach the opposite sides of the actuating layer receiving different types of signals (see remarks pg. 11 beginning on line 5). As discussed in the 112(b) rejection above, examiner is interpreting these limitations to instead refer to the opposite sides of the actuating layer being capable of receiving different types of signals.
More specifically, applicant argues that prior art Liang-B fails to disclose or teach the modulation-driving and demodulating-driving signals (see remarks pg. 11 beginning on line 14). Examiner disagrees with this assertion. As described in applicant’s specification, e.g. ¶0077 and Fig. 2, the modulation and demodulation modes refer to modes S2 and S3 in which the two flaps move in a same direction and a different direction from one another, respectively. In this sense, the structure is capable of receiving a modulation-driving and demodulation-driving signal if the mode S3 can be achieved. Examiner then concludes that, since prior art Liang-B teaches a mode of operation corresponding to S3, it is capable of receiving the signals as claimed and therefore teaches the claim limitation at question.
Conclusion
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/CM/
Examiner, Art Unit 2899 /ZANDRA V SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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