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 .
2. This office action is responsive to the application Nº 19/069,354 filed on March 04th, 2025 in which claims 1-10 are pending and ready for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1449. These IDS have been considered.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
5. The examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 03/04/2025 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Double Patenting
6. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
7. A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321© or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
8. The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07€ and 714.13.
9. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
10. Claims 1-10 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 4-8, 10 and 13-15 of copending Application No. 19/068,078 with publication number 2025/0276520 also to Koike et al. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are essentially directed to the same subject matter.
11. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
The Table below shows how the claims are anticipated:
Instant application 19/069,354:
Copending application 19/068,078:
1.
A liquid ejection head comprising: a piezoelectric element having a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode and a vibration plate, wherein the first electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the second electrode are laminated in this order in a lamination direction which is a direction directed from the vibration plate to the piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric layer is formed of a piezoelectric material containing lead as a constituent element, the first electrode has an electrode layer and a lead-containing layer disposed between the electrode layer and the vibration plate and containing lead, and when, of two regions arranged in a crossing direction, which is a direction crossing the lamination direction, when seen in the lamination direction, a region farther away from a center of the first electrode is a first region and a region closer to the center of the first electrode is a second region, a first lead content percentage in the lead-containing layer in the first region is higher than a second lead content percentage in the lead-containing layer in the second region.
1.
A liquid ejection head comprising: a piezoelectric element having a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode and a vibration plate, wherein the first electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the second electrode are laminated in this order in a lamination direction which is a direction directed from the vibration plate to the piezoelectric element, the piezoelectric layer is formed of a piezoelectric material containing lead as a constituent element, the first electrode has an electrode layer and a lead-containing layer which is disposed between the electrode layer and the vibration plate and contains lead, and when, of two regions arranged in a crossing direction, which is a direction crossing the lamination direction, when seen in the lamination direction, a region farther away from a center of the first electrode is a first region and a region closer to the center of the first electrode is a second region, a first lead content percentage in the lead-containing layer in the first region is higher than a second lead content percentage in the lead-containing layer in the second region.
2.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode has a first mixture layer disposed between the electrode layer and the lead-containing layer in the first region and formed of a mixed material of lead and a material forming the electrode layer.
4.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode has a first mixture layer which is disposed between the electrode layer and the lead-containing layer in the first region and is formed of a mixed material of lead and a material forming the electrode layer.
3.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 2, wherein the first electrode has a second mixture layer disposed between the electrode layer and the lead-containing layer in the second region and formed of a mixed material of lead and a material forming the electrode layer, and thickness of the first mixture layer is thinner than thickness of the second mixture layer.
5.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 4, wherein the first electrode has a second mixture layer which is disposed between the electrode layer and the lead-containing layer in the second region and is formed of a mixed material of lead and a material forming the electrode layer, and thickness of the first mixture layer is thicker than thickness of the second mixture layer.
4.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element further has a first lead diffusion inhibition layer which is disposed between the first electrode and the vibration plate in each of the first region and the second region and which inhibits diffusion of lead from the first electrode to the vibration plate, the first lead diffusion inhibition layer contains titanium, and a first titanium content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region is lower than a second titanium content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the second region.
6.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element further has a first lead diffusion inhibition layer which is disposed between the first electrode and the piezoelectric layer at least in the second region and which inhibits diffusion of lead from the piezoelectric layer to the first electrode.
5.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 4, wherein a first titanium oxide content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region is higher than a second titanium oxide content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the second region.
8.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 7, wherein a first titanium oxide content percentage in the second lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region is higher than a second titanium oxide content percentage in the second lead diffusion inhibition layer in the second region.
6.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element further has a first lead diffusion inhibition layer which is disposed between the first electrode and the vibration plate in each of the first region and the second region and which inhibits diffusion of lead from the first electrode to the vibration plate, the first lead diffusion inhibition layer contains titanium oxide, and a first titanium oxide content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region is higher than a second titanium oxide content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the second region.
7.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric element further has a second lead diffusion inhibition layer which is disposed between the first electrode and the vibration plate in each of the first region and the second region and which inhibits diffusion of lead from the first electrode to the vibration plate, the second lead diffusion inhibition layer contains titanium, and a first titanium content percentage in the second lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region is higher than a second titanium content percentage in the second lead diffusion inhibition layer in the second region.
7.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 5, further comprising a second lead diffusion inhibition layer containing titanium and disposed between the piezoelectric layer and the vibration plate in a third region which is, when seen in the lamination direction, a region opposite from the second region in the crossing direction and connected to the first region, wherein a third titanium content percentage in the second lead diffusion inhibition layer in the third region is higher than the first titanium content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region.
10.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 6, wherein the first lead diffusion inhibition layer is provided over a range including the first region, the second region, and a third region which is, when seen in the lamination direction, a region opposite from the second region in the crossing direction and connected to the first region, and a third titanium content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the third region is higher than a first titanium content percentage in the first lead diffusion inhibition layer in the first region.
8.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the vibration plate has an insulating layer containing zirconium, and the insulating layer is disposed offset to a location closer to the first electrode in a direction of thickness of the vibration plate.
13.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the vibration plate has an insulating layer containing zirconium, and the insulating layer is disposed offset to a location closer to the first electrode in a direction of thickness of the vibration plate.
9.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric layer contains at least one element selected from V, Nb, Ta, N, P, As, Sb, and Bi, and a first content percentage of the at least one element in the lead-containing layer in the first region is lower than a second content percentage of the at least one element in the lead-containing layer in the second region.
14.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric layer contains at least one element selected from V, Nb, Ta, Ni, P, As, Sb, and Bi, and a first content percentage of the at least one element in the lead-containing layer in the first region is higher than a second content percentage of the at least one element in the lead-containing layer in the second region.
10.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein in the first region, an angle formed between a surface of the first electrode which is opposite from the vibration plate and a plate surface of the vibration plate is no less than 10 degrees and less than 60 degrees.
15.
The liquid ejection head according to claim 1, wherein in the first region, an angle formed between a surface of the first electrode which is opposite from the vibration plate and a plate surface of the vibration plate is no less than 10 degrees and less than 60 degrees.
Allowable Subject Matter
12. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Applicant disclosed in independent claim 1, the limitation “when, of two regions arranged in a crossing direction, which is a direction crossing the lamination direction, when seen in the lamination direction, a region farther away from a center of the first electrode is a first region and a region closer to the center of the first electrode is a second region, a first lead content percentage in the lead-containing layer in the first region is higher than a second lead content percentage in the lead-containing layer in the second region”. This limitation is found to be novel and not disclosed or rendered obvious in the prior art of record.
Conclusion
13. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
14. U.S. Patent publication number 9,573,372 to Tanaka disclosed a similar invention in Fig. 4.
15. Chinese Patent application publication number 108928123 to Yamasaki et al. also disclosed a similar invention in Fig. 20.
16. U.S. Patent application publication number 2002/0130929 to Murai also disclosed a similar invention in Fig. 3B.
17. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YAOVI M. AMEH whose telephone number is (571)272-4578. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
18. 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.
19. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RICARDO MAGALLANES can be reached at (571)272-5960. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YAOVI M AMEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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