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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3, line 1, “couple” should be coupled.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, and 6-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Davlantes et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0337096.
In reference to claim 1, Davlantes teaches a metasurface(Figure 3A, 100, paragraph [0050] one or more metasurfaces) for wireless power transfer (paragraph [0050] redirect and/or refocus the incident RF power (e.g., into one or more beam-like modes), preferably directing this power toward another mesh node), the metasurface comprising:
an insulated support structure (Paragraph [0051] insulator);
a plurality of magnetically coupled resonators insulated and supported by the insulated support structure (Figure 3B, impedance sheets 101, Paragraph [0053], that are made up of reactive cell that include one or more electromagnetic resonator networks, Paragraph [0051] the impedance sheets separated by insulators which would necessarily be supporting them), the plurality of coupled resonators being configured and arranged to couple within and shape a magnetic near field distribution from a transmitter into a target distribution toward a target receiver (Figure 1F-G, paragraph [0030] relay nodes 11c are couples between the transmit and receive nodes, Paragraph [0050] a beam-like mode (e.g., Gaussian beam) is directed toward a relay node by an upstream node, the metasurface can function to redirect and refocus the beam-like mode toward a downstream node (e.g., into a Gaussian beam having different characteristics from the Gaussian beam incident on the relay node, Paragraph ), wherein the plurality of coupled resonators comprises a non-uniform impedance distribution pattern to provide the shape of the target distribution (Paragraph [0052] three or more impedance sheets can enable substantially arbitrary modulation).
In reference to claim 6, Davlantes teaches wherein the non-uniform impedance distribution pattern is predetermined according to a predetermined position and distance relationship between a receiver and a transmitter (Paragraph [0086]).
In reference to claim 7, Davlantes teaches wherein the predetermined position and distance relationship is defined from one or more of the following: a body surface position and the position of an implant; a device surface position and the position of a receiver for a power source of the device; the orientation of a receiver for the power source of a device; multiple devices' positions and the relative positions of the receivers for the devices (Paragraph [0086]).
In reference to claim 8, Davlantes teaches wherein the resonators comprise a compensation capacitor (Paragraph [0054] variable capacitors).
In reference to claim 9, Davlantes teaches wherein the non-uniform impedance distribution pattern is adjustable via the compensation capacitors of the resonators (Paragraphs [0053-4]impedance sheets tune using the variable capacitors).
In reference to claim 10, Davlantes teaches a wireless power transfer system including the metasurface of claim 9 (Figure 1F-H, 11c), a power transmitter(Figure 1F-H, 11a), a power receiver(Figure 1F-H, 11b), and a controller sets the compensation capacitors to set the the non-uniform impedance distribution pattern according to information about the position between the power transmitter and the receiver (Paragraph [0082-83] controlling a relay node to relay RF power to a downstream node (or nodes) along a desired transmission path …The relay node is preferably controlled based on: known incident power characteristics (e.g., incoming phase characteristics and/or beam-like mode characteristics); downstream node position (e.g., relative to the relay node being controlled); characteristics of the relay node being controlled and the downstream node, such as characteristics related to the size (e.g., aperture radius, width area, etc.) of the electromagnetic element (e.g., phase-shifting surface, phased array, receiver, etc.) of the nodes and/or any other suitable information).
In reference to claim 11, Davlantes teaches multiple receivers, wherein the controller adjusts the impedance of individual resonators according to information about the position between a transmitter and the multiple receivers (Figure 2B, 7C Paragraph [0095] multiple receivers).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 2-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davlantes et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0337096 in view of Fan et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0045953.
In reference to claims 2, 4, and 5, Davlantes teaches claim 1 as described above. Davlantes does not teach wherein the insulated support structure is flexible, such as a patch, and is sized in the range of 5 cm to 20 cm in diameter. Fan teaches mounting metasurfaces onto flexible substrates that can include clothing, contact lenses, prescription glasses, goggles, watches, and flexible medical devices (Paragraph [0291]. Accordingly, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to incorporate the teachings of Fan mounting metasurfaces onto a flexible substrate to directly integrate the metasurface into a wearable device such as a patch ranged in a size of 5 cm to 20 cm in diameter using the metasurface of Davlantes as taught in claim 1 because it would allow for the redirection of wireless power to a receiver that is on or in the user of the wearable insulated support structure containing the metasurface which would improve the efficiency of the power transmission.
In reference to claims 3, Davlantes in view of Fan teaches wherein the plurality of coupled resonators are arranged to reshape the magnetic near field through mutual induction between the resonators (Davlantes, Paragraph [0053]).
Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davlantes et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0337096 in view of Yoon et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0320908.
In reference to claims 13-14, Davlantes teaches claim 1 as described above. Davlantes further teaches wherein the resonators are three-dimensional resonators arranged in respective X, Y and Z planes, a plurality of the resonators in a primary plane and at least one resonator arranged in the other of the respective X, Y, and Z planes (Figures 4a showing the x and y planes, with the plurality of resonators in a primary x and y plane, Figure 5 D showing the z plane with two registers in the Z plane). Davlantes does not teach wherein the resonators are coils. Yoon teaches a metasurface wherein the resonators are coils (Figures 2A, 3, and 4). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use coils of Yoon as the resonators in the metasurface of Davlantes because it would help to focus the power transfer in the far-field scale.
In reference to claims 15, Davlantes teaches claim 1 as described above. Davlantes does not teach wherein the resonators comprise concentric coil traces of metal. Yoon teaches a metasurface wherein the resonators comprise concentric coil traces of metal (Figure 2A, 3, Paragraph 30). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use coils of Yoon as the resonators in the metasurface of Davlantes because it would help to focus the power transfer in the far-field scale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 16 is allowed.
Claim 12 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Prior are of record does not teach or clearly suggest:
A method for setting a non-uniform impedance distribution pattern of a metasurface that comprises an insulated support structure and a plurality of magnetically coupled resonators insulated and supported by the insulated support structure, the method comprising setting a position and size of a receiver coil, determining a Gaussian beam fitting the position and size, and setting the impedance distribution according to:
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Conclusion
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/B.B/Examiner, Art Unit 2851
/JACK CHIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2851