CTNF 19/134,088 CTNF 87247 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-27 AIA Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP15163852 , filed on 04/16/2015 . Claim Status This Office Action is in response to communications filed on 5/29/2025. Claims 1-7 are pending for examination . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/29/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim 1, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by over Takenaka et al. (JP 2005352927) . Regarding claim 1, Takenaka teaches a haptic feedback device (a touch panel type input device in which a sensor and actuator of a housing are disposed; ¶011, also see Figs 3-13 & 19-21), comprising: a vibrator (housing) on which a user operation (a user pressing force) is performed (a sheet-like sensor in which an electrical state changes according to a pressing force; ¶011) and a first vibration actuator configured to vibrate the vibrator (an actuator that generates vibration by the driving signal; ¶011), wherein the vibrator (housing) includes a vibration member (touch panel) to be vibrated by the first vibration actuator; ¶011), the vibration member including at least one slit (two slits are provided on an outer side of a portion where a switch image is provided, two slits are provided so as to sandwich the sensor, the actuator, and the switch image, a switch portion provided with one or a plurality of switch images indicating switch positions is provided at a position overlapping the pressing detection portion of the sensor, and the actuator vibrates the switch portion of the housing between the slits more strongly than the other portions of the housing; ¶011), and an elastic resin at least including a portion closing the at least one slit (a housing of a relatively thin and hard electronic device made of a synthetic resin or the like… sensor 2 and actuator 3 are disposed in device housing 1; ¶015; also see and ¶015-¶038, ¶045-¶057 for relevant details) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takenaka et al. (JP 2005352927) . Regarding claim 2, Takenaka teaches the haptic feedback device according to claim 1, and Takenaka teaches wherein the elastic resin fills the at least one slit (a housing of a relatively thin and hard electronic device made of a synthetic resin or the like… sensor 2 and actuator 3 are disposed in device housing 1; ¶015; also see and ¶015-¶038). Takanaka does not explicitly recite covers a surface of the vibration member. However Takenaka’s housing of a relatively thin and hard electronic device made of synthetic resin with sensor 2 and actuator 3 being disposed in the device housing 1 (¶015 and actuator 3 may be attached to the inside of the housing 1; FIG. 7; ¶025 ; Examiner interprets elastic/synthetic resin housing as covering a surface of the components therein or being functionally equivalent thereto). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to try using an arrangement with the elastic resin covering a surface of the vibration member as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp. Regarding claim 3, Takenaka teaches the haptic feedback device according to claim 2, and Takenaka further teaches wherein the first vibration actuator is a first piezoelectric element (piezoelectric actuator of a thin sheet shape; ¶025). Regarding claim 4, Takenaka teaches the haptic feedback device according to claim 3, and Takenaka teaches further comprising: a controller (a controller including a sensor driver 21, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 22, a memory 23, and an actuator driver 24 disposed in, for example, an electronic device is used together with the sensor 2 and the actuator 3; ¶066) configured to determine that the vibrator is operated based on an electromotive force generated in the first piezoelectric element, ( CPU 22 receives a detection signal supplied from the sensor driver 21, determines a pressing force from the received detection signal, and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the determined pressing force... if/when the determined pressing force is equal to or greater than the predetermined value; ¶069 and cause the first piezoelectric element to vibrate when determining that the vibrator is operated (the CPU 22 determines a detection place, a pressing force, and the like from the detection signal supplied from the sensor driver 21, and outputs vibration waveform data corresponding to the determined result. The vibration waveform data is data for driving the actuator 3. The vibration waveform data may output a vibration waveform signal such as a sine wave, for example; ¶071; also see ¶070-¶075). Regarding claim 5, Takenaka teaches the haptic feedback device according to claim 4, and Takenaka further teaches wherein the vibrator includes a first operable portion (portion approached by switch operation) and a second operable portion (portion touched by switch operation); operable by a user (By detecting the change in the capacitance value, it is possible to detect whether or not the finger 4 is approaching or touching; ¶023, also see capacitive sensing ¶022-¶024; characteristics such as the material of the housing 1 so that at least the finger 4 is given a desired vibration to the housing 1 at a portion touched by the switch operation; ¶039), a degree by which the first piezoelectric element bends when the first operable portion is operated is different from a degree by which the first piezoelectric element bends when the second operable portion is operated (a multi-step input corresponding to the pressing force can be easily realized; ¶024, also see FIG. 12A, the bimorph piezoelectric actuator 12 is configured such that one piezoelectric element 14 extends and the other piezoelectric element 15 contracts due to application of a voltage. Accordingly, when a drive voltage is applied to the piezoelectric elements 14 and 15, the piezoelectric element 14 contracts and the piezoelectric elements 14 and 15 are bent as shown in FIG. 12B. The bimorph type piezoelectric actuator 12 uses this bending; ¶037), and the controller is configured to determine (via capacitance value of the capacitive sensor; ¶024), of the first operable portion and the second operable portion, an operation portion being operated based on the electromotive force generated in the first piezoelectric element (.a multi-step input corresponding to the pressing force can be easily realized by software or the like. In addition, by using the plurality of detection units, the capacitance type sensor can sense the movement of the finger 4 such as the moving speed and the acceleration from the change of the pressing force of each of the detection position and the detection unit for example, with respect to the "tracing input" by the finger 4. This makes it possible to perform an analog input by an operation at an arbitrary speed by the finger 4; ¶024) Conclusion 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 6 and 7 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANCIL H LITTLEJOHN JR whose telephone number is (571)270-3718. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5 (CST). 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, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at (571) 272-3114. 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. /MANCIL LITTLEJOHN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2685 /QUAN ZHEN WANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2685 Application/Control Number: 19/134,088 Page 2 Art Unit: 2685 Application/Control Number: 19/134,088 Page 3 Art Unit: 2685
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