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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN101383599. (cited by the applicant as an X reference in Search Report in IDS filed on 5/30/2025).
Regarding claim 1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 an oscillator master board (FIG 4), comprising: a frame (110) which includes an outer frame (outer portion) and connecting frames (L1) that are disposed within said outer frame and that are connected to said outer frame, said connecting frames extending along a first direction (y-axis or vertical) and being spaced apart from each other along a second direction (L2) that intersects the first direction; oscillators (11, 13 and 14, FIG 4 shows nine oscillators) which are spaced apart from each other, each of said oscillators being disposed adjacent to a corresponding one of said connecting frames and including an oscillator substrate (11) which has an upper surface and a lower surface that are opposite to each other, said upper surface having a center portion and an outer edge portion (12) that surrounds said center portion, a top frame (upper portion of 12) which is formed on said outer edge portion of said oscillator substrate, a top electrode unit (13) which includes a top electrode (13) that is formed on said center portion, and a back electrode unit (14) which includes a back electrode (14) that is formed on said lower surface of said oscillator substrate and that is located within an orthographic projection of said center portion on said lower surface; and connecting portions (40) which are disposed to connect said oscillators to said connecting frames (L1), each of said oscillators being connected to said corresponding one of said connecting frames through at least a corresponding one of said connecting portions, a thickness of each of said connecting portions (40) being
Although CN101383599 does not show a thickness of each of said connecting portions (40) being equal to a thickness of said oscillator substrate (11), one of ordinary skilled in the art would not recognize the effect of the oscillators because of the thickness of the connecting portion therefore, it would have been obvious to try any thickness including being equal to the thickness of the oscillator substrate.
Regarding claim 2|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 an oscillator master board (FIG 4) except wherein: said oscillator substrate, said connecting portions and said top frame are each made of a material including quartz; said oscillator substrate of each of said oscillators is integrally connected as one piece with said at least a corresponding one of said connecting portions and said corresponding one of said connecting frames; and said thickness of each of said connecting portions and said thickness of said oscillator substrate are each not greater than 30 µm. As known in the art such material and shape and thickness range are used in the oscillators and therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to such features because such a modification would have been a mere substitution of art recognized equivalent material and shape.
Regarding claim 3|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 an oscillator master board (FIG 4) except wherein each of said oscillators is connected to said corresponding one of said connecting frames through two corresponding ones of said connecting portions that extend from a same side edge of said corresponding one of said connecting frames and are connected to said corresponding one of said connecting frames. As known in the art such connecting portions are used in the oscillators and therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to such features because such a modification would have been a mere substitution of art recognized equivalent configuration.
Regarding claim 4|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 an oscillator master board (FIG 4) except wherein: said top frame has a notch which exposes said outer edge portion of said upper surface of said oscillator substrate; said top electrode unit further includes a top extending electrode that extends from said top electrode through said notch; and said back electrode unit further includes a back extending electrode that extends from said back electrode through a side edge of said oscillator substrate to said outer edge portion of said upper surface where said top extending electrode is located. As known in the art such layout is used in the oscillators and therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to such features because such a modification would have been a mere substitution of art recognized equivalent configuration.
Regarding claim 5|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 an oscillator master board (FIG 4) except wherein each of said oscillators is connected to said corresponding one of said connecting frames through two corresponding ones of said connecting portions that are separately disposed on a same side edge of said oscillator substrate. As known in the art such layout is used in the oscillators and therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to such features because such a modification would have been a mere substitution of art recognized equivalent configuration.
Regarding claim 6|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 a method for making oscillators, comprising the steps of: forming the oscillator master board (FIG 4-10), the oscillator master board including the oscillators (100); and separating each of the oscillators from the at least a corresponding one of the connecting portions to obtain the oscillators that are independent and separated from each other.
Regarding claim 7|6|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 oscillators (FIG 3, FIG 4), which are made by the method.
Regarding claim 8|7|6|1, CN101383599 discloses in FIG 1-10 the oscillators except wherein said thickness of said oscillator substrate is not greater than 30 µm. As known in the art, such values are used in the oscillators and therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use such values because such a modification would have been an obvious optimization and workable range.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-12 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: none of the cited references discloses nor suggests the claimed invention including “extends in one-piece form from a side edge of the corresponding one of the intermediate substrates to be connected to a corresponding one of the thinned connecting frame regions” as set forth in claims 9-12.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yoshimatsu (US 2009/0174286) discloses a piezoelectric frame showing excitation electrodes and connecting portion.
Ikeda (US 2020/0014366) discloses a quartz crystal resonator showing a frame surrounding a body portion and excitation electrodes.
Matsuo (US 2024/0113687) discloses resonator element and quartz crystal wafer and linkage sections.
Higuchi (US 2023/0361740) discloses resonators showing coupling members in FIG 9.
Yamauchi (US 2028/0062614) discloses crystal elements with connecting parts that connect the crystal elements showing in FIG 3.
Murase (US 7,868,707) discloses manufacturing steps of crystal oscillators.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph Chang whose telephone number is (571)272-1759. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00- 17:00.
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, Menatoallah M Youssef can be reached at 571-270-3684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH CHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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