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). The certified copy of Japan Application No. 2024-031943 was received on 04 April 2025 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03 March 2025have been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 03 March 2025 are accepted.
Specification
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 Objections
Claim 14 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 12. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
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 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.
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)(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 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nishimura et al. (JP 2004/087547 A), hereinafter Nishimura, using a machine translation.
With regard to Claim 1, Nishimura discloses a liquid ejecting head (¶0003) comprising:
a piezoelectric element (¶0040, piezo element 29) including an individual electrode (¶0040, individual electrode 34), a piezoelectric layer (21), and a common electrode (27); and
a vibration plate (diaphragm 26), wherein
the individual electrode is individually provided for each of a plurality of piezoelectric elements (¶0022-0023; ¶0034-0035),
the common electrode is provided in common for the plurality of piezoelectric elements (¶0033-0039),
the piezoelectric layer is made of a piezoelectric material containing lead as a constituent element (¶0004),
each of the individual electrode and the common electrode contains lead (¶0007-0008, 0025), and
a lead content in the individual electrode is lower than a lead content in the common electrode (¶0025; ¶0031-0032).
With regard to Claim 15, Nishimura discloses a liquid ejecting head (¶0003) comprising:
a first piezoelectric element (¶0040, piezo element 29) which includes a first individual electrode (¶0040, individual electrode 34),
a first piezoelectric layer (21) and a common electrode (27);
a second piezoelectric element which includes a second individual electrode, a second piezoelectric layer and the common electrode (¶0011; 0022); and
a vibration plate (diaphragm 26), wherein the first piezoelectric layer is made of a piezoelectric material containing lead as a constituent element (¶0004),
each of the first individual electrode and the common electrode contains lead (¶0007-0008, 0025), and
a lead content in the first individual electrode is lower than a lead content in the common electrode (¶0025; ¶0031-0032).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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 primary reasons for allowance of Claim 2 is that applicants claimed invention includes a liquid ejecting head having a first mixed layer that is disposed between the common electrode and the piezoelectric layer and in which a first electrode material constituting the common electrode and lead are mixed or alloyed. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Claims 3-6 and 8 are allowed because they depend from Claim 2.
Claim 7 is 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 primary reasons for allowance of Claim 7 is that applicants claimed invention includes a liquid ejecting head wherein when lead in each of the piezoelectric layer and the common electrode is measured by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, a peak value indicating lead in the common electrode is larger than a peak value indicating lead in the piezoelectric layer. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Claim 12 is allowable because it depends from Claim 7.
Claim 9 is 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 primary reasons for allowance of Claim 9 is that applicants claimed invention includes a liquid ejecting head wherein the vibration plate, the common electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the individual electrode are stacked in order in a stacking direction. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Claim 10 is allowable because it depends from Claim 9.
Claim 11 is 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 primary reasons for allowance of Claim 11 is that applicants claimed invention includes a liquid ejecting head wherein the vibration plate, the individual electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the common electrode are stacked in order in a stacking direction, and the piezoelectric layer includes a plurality of layers made of the piezoelectric material. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Claim 13 is 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 primary reasons for allowance of Claim 13 is that applicants claimed invention includes a liquid ejecting head wherein the vibration plate, the individual electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the common electrode are stacked in order in a stacking direction. It is this limitation, expressed in the claim combination not found, taught, or suggested in the prior art that makes this claim allowable over the prior art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPub 2023/0249462 A1 to Mori discloses a lead diffusion suppression layer (Fig. 7; Yk, ¶0096-0098) disposed between the common electrode (Figs. 6-7; common electrode Qb; ¶0107) and the vibration plate (Figs. 6-7; diaphragm 24, ¶0105)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT A. RICHMOND whose telephone number is (313)446-6547. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-6:00 PM.
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/SCOTT A RICHMOND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
