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 Status
Claims 1-6, 9-17, and 20 are pending. Claims 7-8 and 18-19 are canceled. Claims 1 and 12 are amended. Claims 2 and 14 are previously presented. Claims 3-6, 9-11, 13, 15-17, and 20 are original.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/16/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to arguments that primary reference LEE does not disclose the dielectric separation material disposed between the antenna and the shielding material, and does not disclose the dielectric separation material is in physical contact with the antenna, it is submitted that LEE discloses dielectric separation material (1, Fig. 1, which is part of “magnetic field shield sheet” 10) has shielding material (2, Fig. 1) located on one side, and Figure 17 and paragraph 0154 discloses the antenna (6, Fig. 17) is attached to dielectric separation material on the other side. Therefore, it is maintained that LEE discloses the argued recitations, and LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the receiver system as applied to claim 1, and LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the method as applied to claim 12.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 9/16/2025. These drawings are acceptable.
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) 1, 3-4, 9-13, 15-16, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE (US PG Pub 2015/0123604; cited on IDS with date 1/7/2025) and “Performance of Plastic Materials” (cited on IDS with date 1/7/2025 and provided by Applicant; it is noted that this reference is relied upon to show that a characteristic not disclosed in the primary reference is inherent) in view of ABER (US PG Pub 2012/0150291; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 1, LEE discloses a receiver system for a wireless charging system (¶ 0154: a magnetic field shield sheet according to the present invention is applied to a reception device for a wireless charger; ¶ 0156: an assembly of the secondary coil 6 and the magnetic field shield sheet 10), comprising:
a receiver antenna (6, Fig. 17) forming a first planar layer (¶ 0159-0160: secondary coil 6 may be assembled into a thin film structure by directly forming the spiral coil 6a on a single adhesive sheet….the spiral coil 6a that plays a role of receiving power wirelessly, may be also formed by winding a general coil in the form of a planar inductor);
a shielding material (2, Figure 1) adjacent to the receiver antenna (as shown in Figure 1, shielding material 2 is part of “magnetic field shield sheet 10”; as shown in Figure 17, “magnetic field shield sheet 10” is adjacent to receiver antenna 6, therefore shielding material 2 is also adjacent to the receiver antenna 6), the shielding material forming a second planar layer (¶ 0009: a magnetic body such as an amorphous ribbon, a ferrite sheet, or a polymer sheet containing magnetic powder is used as the magnetic field shield sheet; ¶ 0067: a magnetic field shield sheet 10 for a wireless charger according to the present invention includes: at least one layer (or a multi-layer) thin magnetic sheet 2; while the “magnetic field shield sheet 10” comprises multiple layers, one of ordinary skill would recognize magnetic sheet 2 to be the main shielding element, as the other layers include protective film 1, double-sided tape 3, and release film 4 as shown in Fig. 1 and disclosed in ¶ 0067); and
a dielectric separation material (1, Figure 1; ¶ 0079: protective film 1 may be implemented by using a resin film 11 including a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, a polyimide film, a polyester film, polyphenylene sulfade (PPS) film, a polypropylene (PP) film; e.g., one of ordinary skill would recognize polypropylene to be a dielectric material) disposed between and in physical contact with the receiver antenna and the shielding material (¶ 0067: a protective film 1 that is adhered on an upper portion of the thin magnetic sheet 2; ¶ 0154: a receiving-side secondary coil 6 of the wireless charger is attached on an upper portion of a protective film [1] of a magnetic field shield sheet 10),
wherein the dielectric separation material comprises a thickness of 0.1 mm or higher (¶ 0080: the protective film 1 is 1 to 100 µm, in thickness; it is noted that 100 µm is equal to .1 mm) and a dissipation factor of 0.01 or lower at a 1 MHz frequency (LEE discloses the dielectric separation material could be polypropylene, and the “Performance of Plastic Materials” discloses polypropylene has a dissipation factor at 1Mhz of 0.0002 ~ 0.0006 on page 2),
wherein the dielectric separation material is configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor “Q” value of the receiver antenna by acting as a physical buffer between the receiver antenna and the shielding material (¶ 0163: the magnetic field shield sheet 10 according to the present invention includes a multi-layer magnetic sheet 2….to thereby increase a quality factor (Q); it is noted that the instant specification does not disclose how the dielectric separation material is “configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor” other than its thickness and material composition; LEE discloses the “magnetic field shield sheet 10”, which includes the dielectric separation material (1, Fig. 1), is designed to increase the quality factor, and it therefore follows that the disclosed material composition and thickness of the dielectric separation material is part of the design which allows the “magnetic field shield sheet 10” to increase the quality factor of the receiver antenna), and
wherein one or more properties of the dielectric separation material is selected to maintain an intrinsic efficiency of the receiver antenna when the receiver antenna is in physical contact with the dielectric separation material (¶ 0022: it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic field shield sheet for a wireless charger, which greatly reduces a loss due to eddy currents by a flake treatment process of an amorphous ribbon, to thereby block an effect of a magnetic field influencing upon a main body and a battery of a portable mobile terminal device and simultaneously to increase a quality factor (Q) of a secondary coil, and to thus exhibit excellent electric power transmission efficiency; ¶ 0163: the magnetic field shield sheet 10 according to the present invention includes a multi-layer magnetic sheet 2 that is flake treated and separated into a plurality of fine pieces 20, to thereby increase a quality factor (Q), and to thus increase electric power transmission efficiency. In addition, the magnetic field shield sheet 10 is flake treatment processed, to thereby reduce a surface area of the ribbon and to accordingly prevent a heat generation problem caused by the eddy currents generated by the AC magnetic field).
LEE fails to disclose the dielectric separation material is configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor “Q” value of the receiver antenna above a target intrinsic Q value of at least 100.
However, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize configuring the dielectric material that is part of the receiver system in LEE to maintain a target intrinsic Q value would be an obvious design consideration. For example, ABER discloses configuring a dielectric material which is adjacent to a receiver antenna (¶ 0081: a receiving resonant coil 335) such that the receiver antenna has an intrinsic Q value above a target intrinsic Q value (¶ 0103: the inductance of resonant coil…335….with turns made from copper or silver foil separated by one or more insulating dielectric materials such as PTFE, low-loss PTFE, polyethylene, polypropylene…. it is important that the materials have a low dielectric dissipation factor to not detrimentally impact the overall coil Q factor. To maintain an overall coil Q factor sufficiently high for adequate power transfer, the one or more insulating materials should have a dielectric dissipation factor of 0.01 or less at the coil resonant frequency). ABER teaches the target intrinsic Q value is a result effective variable (¶ 0103), and it would be an obvious optimization to design the receiver system to obtain the recited target intrinsic Q value.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the dielectric separation material is configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor “Q” value of the receiver antenna above a target intrinsic Q value in order to lower energy losses and improve power transfer efficiency.
Regarding claim 3, LEE discloses the dielectric separation material comprises a material with a dielectric constant of around 4 or lower at a 1 MHz test frequency (LEE discloses the dielectric separation material could be polypropylene, and the “Performance of Plastic Materials” discloses polypropylene has a dielectric constant of 2.0 ~ 2.2 on page 2).
Regarding claim 4, LEE discloses the dielectric separation material comprises polypropylene plastic (¶ 0079).
Regarding claim 9, LEE discloses the dielectric separation material has a dissipation factor of around 0.0003 and a dielectric constant of around 2.2 at 1 MHz (LEE discloses the dielectric separation material could be polypropylene, and the “Performance of Plastic Materials” discloses polypropylene has a dissipation factor at 1Mhz of 0.0002 ~ 0.0006 and a dielectric constant of 2.0 ~ 2.2 on page 2).
Regarding claim 10, LEE discloses the receiver antenna is configured to receive wireless power from a wireless charging transmitter (¶ 0161-0162).
Regarding claim 11, LEE discloses the receiver antenna is configured to provide power to an electronic device (¶ 0161-0162).
Regarding claim 12, LEE discloses a method for fabricating a receiver system for a wireless charging system (¶ 0154: a magnetic field shield sheet according to the present invention is applied to a reception device for a wireless charger; ¶ 0156: an assembly of the secondary coil 6 and the magnetic field shield sheet 10), comprising:
forming a receiver antenna (6, Fig. 17) on a first planar layer (¶ 0159-0160: secondary coil 6 may be assembled into a thin film structure by directly forming the spiral coil 6a on a single adhesive sheet….the spiral coil 6a that plays a role of receiving power wirelessly, may be also formed by winding a general coil in the form of a planar inductor);
forming a first dielectric separation material (1, Figure 1; ¶ 0079: protective film 1 may be implemented by using a resin film 11 including a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, a polyimide film, a polyester film, polyphenylene sulfade (PPS) film, a polypropylene (PP) film; e.g., one of ordinary skill would recognize polypropylene to be a dielectric material) on a second planar layer (¶ 0067: a protective film 1 that is adhered on an upper portion of the thin magnetic sheet 2; ¶ 0154: a receiving-side secondary coil 6 of the wireless charger is attached on an upper portion of a protective film [1] of a magnetic field shield sheet 10);
forming a shielding material (2, Figure 1) on a third planar layer (¶ 0009: a magnetic body such as an amorphous ribbon, a ferrite sheet, or a polymer sheet containing magnetic powder is used as the magnetic field shield sheet; ¶ 0067: a magnetic field shield sheet 10 for a wireless charger according to the present invention includes: at least one layer (or a multi-layer) thin magnetic sheet 2; while the “magnetic field shield sheet 10” comprises multiple layers, one of ordinary skill would recognize magnetic sheet 2 to be the main shielding element, as the other layers include protective film 1, double-sided tape 3, and release film 4 as shown in Fig. 1 and disclosed in ¶ 0067),
wherein the second planar layer is disposed between and in physical contact with the first planar layer and the third planar layer (¶ 0067: a protective film 1 that is adhered on an upper portion of the thin magnetic sheet 2; ¶ 0154: a receiving-side secondary coil 6 of the wireless charger is attached on an upper portion of a protective film [1] of a magnetic field shield sheet 10),
wherein the first dielectric separation material is configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor “Q” value of the receiver antenna by acting as a physical buffer between the receiver antenna and the shielding material (¶ 0163: the magnetic field shield sheet 10 according to the present invention includes a multi-layer magnetic sheet 2….to thereby increase a quality factor (Q); it is noted that the instant specification does not disclose how the dielectric separation material is “configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor” other than its thickness and material composition; LEE discloses the “magnetic field shield sheet 10”, which includes the dielectric separation material (1, Fig. 1), is designed to increase the quality factor, and it therefore follows that the disclosed material composition and thickness of the dielectric separation material is part of the design which allows the “magnetic field shield sheet 10” to increase the quality factor of the receiver antenna),
wherein one or more properties of the first dielectric separation material is selected to maintain an intrinsic efficiency of the receiver antenna when the receiver antenna is in physical contact with the first dielectric separation material (¶ 0022: it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic field shield sheet for a wireless charger, which greatly reduces a loss due to eddy currents by a flake treatment process of an amorphous ribbon, to thereby block an effect of a magnetic field influencing upon a main body and a battery of a portable mobile terminal device and simultaneously to increase a quality factor (Q) of a secondary coil, and to thus exhibit excellent electric power transmission efficiency; ¶ 0163: the magnetic field shield sheet 10 according to the present invention includes a multi-layer magnetic sheet 2 that is flake treated and separated into a plurality of fine pieces 20, to thereby increase a quality factor (Q), and to thus increase electric power transmission efficiency. In addition, the magnetic field shield sheet 10 is flake treatment processed, to thereby reduce a surface area of the ribbon and to accordingly prevent a heat generation problem caused by the eddy currents generated by the AC magnetic field), and
wherein the first dielectric separation material has a dissipation factor of 0.01 or lower at a 1 MHz frequency (LEE discloses the dielectric separation material could be polypropylene, and the “Performance of Plastic Materials” discloses polypropylene has a dissipation factor at 1Mhz of 0.0002 ~ 0.0006 on page 2), and a thickness of 0.1 mm of larger (¶ 0080: the protective film 1 is 1 to 100 µm, in thickness; it is noted that 100 µm is equal to .1 mm).
LEE fails to disclose the dielectric separation material is configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor “Q” value of the receiver antenna above a target intrinsic Q value of at least 100.
However, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize configuring the dielectric material that is part of the receiver system in LEE to maintain a target intrinsic Q value would be an obvious design consideration. For example, ABER discloses configuring a dielectric material which is adjacent to a receiver antenna (¶ 0081: a receiving resonant coil 335) such that the receiver antenna has an intrinsic Q value above a target intrinsic Q value (¶ 0103: the inductance of resonant coil…335….with turns made from copper or silver foil separated by one or more insulating dielectric materials such as PTFE, low-loss PTFE, polyethylene, polypropylene…. it is important that the materials have a low dielectric dissipation factor to not detrimentally impact the overall coil Q factor. To maintain an overall coil Q factor sufficiently high for adequate power transfer, the one or more insulating materials should have a dielectric dissipation factor of 0.01 or less at the coil resonant frequency). ABER teaches the target intrinsic Q value is a result effective variable (¶ 0103), and it would be an obvious optimization to design the receiver system to obtain the recited target intrinsic Q value.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the dielectric separation material is configured to maintain an intrinsic quality factor “Q” value of the receiver antenna above a target intrinsic Q value in order to lower energy losses and improve power transfer efficiency.
Regarding claim 13, LEE discloses forming a second dielectric separation material on a fourth planar layer, wherein the fourth planar layer is disposed between the third planar layer and an electronic device (¶ 0082-0086).
Regarding claim 15, LEE discloses the first dielectric separation material comprises a material with a dielectric constant of around 4 or lower at a 1 MHz test frequency (LEE discloses the dielectric separation material could be polypropylene, and the “Performance of Plastic Materials” discloses polypropylene has a dielectric constant of 2.0 ~ 2.2 on page 2).
Regarding claim 16, LEE discloses the first dielectric separation material comprises at least one of a polypropylene plastic or a polycarbonate plastic (¶ 0079).
Regarding claim 20, LEE discloses the receiver antenna is configured to receive wireless power from a wireless charging transmitter and to provide the wireless power to an electronic device (¶ 0161-0162).
Claim(s) 2 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” in view of ABER as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 9-13, 15-16, and 20 above, and further in view of PARTOVI (US PG Pub 2013/0285604; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 2, LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the receiver system as applied to claim 1 but fails to disclose a core disposed around or in a center of the receiver antenna to confine a magnetic flux generated by the receiver antenna to an area around the receiver antenna.
PARTOVI discloses a core disposed around or in a center of the receiver antenna to confine a magnetic flux generated by the receiver antenna to an area around the receiver antenna (¶ 0084, 0250).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the core as recited in order to improve the efficiency and power handling capability of the system (PARTOVI, ¶ 0250).
Regarding claim 14, LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the method as applied to claim 12 but fails to disclose forming a core around or in a center of the receiver antenna to confine a magnetic flux generated by the receiver antenna to an area around the receiver antenna.
PARTOVI discloses forming a core around or in a center of the receiver antenna to confine a magnetic flux generated by the receiver antenna to an area around the receiver antenna (¶ 0084, 0250).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the core as recited in order to improve the efficiency and power handling capability of the system (PARTOVI, ¶ 0250).
Claim(s) 5-6 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” in view of ABER as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 9-13, 15-16, and 20 above, and further in view of DIAZ (US PG Pub 2021/0259096; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 5, LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the receiver system as applied to claim 1 but fails to disclose the dielectric separation material comprises polycarbonate plastic.
DIAZ discloses the dielectric separation material comprises polycarbonate plastic (¶ 0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the dielectric separation material comprising polycarbonate plastic in order to utilize the known characteristics of polycarbonate as a matter of design choice.
Regarding claim 6, LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the receiver system as applied to claim 1, and LEE further discloses the shielding material comprises ferrite (¶ 0015, 0073, 0150, claims 3 and 4); and the dielectric separation material has a combined thickness of approximately 0.1 mm or greater (¶ 0080).
LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER fails to disclose the dielectric separation material comprises one or more polycarbonate sheets.
DIAZ discloses the dielectric separation material comprises one or more polycarbonate sheets (¶ 0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the dielectric separation material comprises one or more polycarbonate sheets in order to utilize the known characteristics of polycarbonate as a matter of design choice.
Regarding claim 17, LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER teaches the method as applied to claim 12, and LEE further discloses the shielding material comprises ferrite (¶ 0015, 0073, 0150, claims 3 and 4); and the first dielectric separation material has a combined thickness of approximately 0.1 millimeters or greater (¶ 0080).
LEE and “Performance of Plastic Materials” as modified by ABER fails to disclose the first dielectric separation material comprises one or more polycarbonate sheets.
DIAZ discloses the first dielectric separation material comprises one or more polycarbonate sheets (¶ 0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the first dielectric separation material comprising one or more polycarbonate sheets in order to utilize the known characteristics of polycarbonate as a matter of design choice.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANUEL HERNANDEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9a-5p ET.
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/Manuel Hernandez/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 12/11/2025
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859