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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 12/23/2025 has been entered. Claims 9, 11, 21, 24 have been cancelled. Claims 14-18 have been withdrawn. Claims 1-8, 12-20, 22-23 remain pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/15/2025, 12/24/2025, 12/31/2025, 01/08/2026, 01/12/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 19-20, 22-23 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 19, line 12, delete “te” and replace with “the”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 10, 13, 19-20, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. US Pub 2019/0260238 (hereinafter Cho) in view of Kurs et al. US Pub 2015/0270719 (hereinafter Kurs).
Regarding claim 1, Cho teaches a wireless charging system for a vehicle seat of a vehicle, comprising:
a first transmitter (fig. 1 and 2, element 500) coupled to a power source of the vehicle (¶ 0071; the power transmitting unit 230 receives power from a battery or a generator inside the vehicle),
wherein the first transmitter comprises an amplifier (¶¶ 0146, 0157; the wireless power transmitter includes a power conversion unit includes an oscillator, an amplifier, a matching unit, and a sensor unit) coupled to one or more resonant capacitors (fig. 11; transmitting resonator, and a resonator includes a coil and a capacitor) and one or more transmitter antennas (¶ 0054; transmitting coil 520);
a first receiver (fig. 2, element 400) embedded in the vehicle seat of the vehicle (fig. 2 and ¶ 0040),
wherein the first receiver comprises one or more receiver antennas wirelessly coupled to the one or more transmitter antennas to receive power wirelessly from the first transmitter (¶¶ 0060-0061);
a rectifier circuit (fig. 6 and ¶ 0081) coupled to the one or more receiver antennas,
wherein the rectifier circuit is configured to convert an alternating current to a direct current (¶¶ 0081, 0083); and
a regulator circuit coupled to the rectifier circuit, wherein the regulator circuit is configured to generate a constant output voltage (¶ 0083; a rectified output and transmits it to the DC/DC converter).
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However, Cho fails to teach wherein the amplifier is disposed on an amplifier printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the one or more resonant capacitors are disposed on a resonant capacitor PCB, and wherein the amplifier PCB is physically separate from the resonant capacitor PCB.
Kurs discloses wherein the amplifier is disposed on an amplifier printed circuit board (PCB) (fig. 40, element 2504 and ¶ 0219, 0252; power amplifier), wherein the one or more resonant capacitors are disposed on a resonant capacitor PCB (fig. 40, element 102S; a resonator includes a capacitor), and wherein the amplifier PCB is physically separate from the resonant capacitor PCB (See fig. 40; the element 2504 is separate from the element 102S).
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It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cho to incorporate with the teaching of Kurs by separating the amplifier and the source resonator as suggested by Kurs, because it would be advantageous to reduce parasitic losses, and further shorten high-current flow to the transmitting coil.
Regarding claim 2, Cho teaches wherein at least one of the one or more transmitter antennas or at least one of the one or more receiver antennas comprises a planar antenna (fig. 2-3 above), an electrodeposited antenna, or a three-dimensional antenna.
Regarding claim 3, Cho teaches wherein the electrodeposited antenna comprises a continuous conductor with no breaks or radio frequency discontinuities (wirelessly transmitting/receiving coils) deposited directly on a floor panel or a vehicle part embedded into the vehicle (see fig. 5, element 210; below the vehicle seat).
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Regarding claim 4, Cho teaches wherein the three-dimensional antenna comprises a surface spiral coil comprising a continuous conductor with no breaks (see fig. 3) or radio frequency discontinuities wound around a dielectric material at an angle to diminish a proximity effect at an operating frequency of the wireless charging system (see fig. 5 above), and to maintain a high intrinsic quality factor (Q) of the surface spiral coil at the operating frequency (¶¶ 0188-0189; Q-factor).
Regarding claim 5, Cho teaches wherein the regulator circuit (see fig. 6, element 213) is configured to provide at least one regulated output to at least one of an electronic device disposed in the vehicle seat (fig. 5; element 213 is a part of element 210) or a rechargeable battery.
Regarding claim 6, Cho teaches the wireless charging system further comprising one or more additional receivers (¶ 0013; the power receiving unit includes receiving coils), wherein the first receiver and the one or more additional receivers are configured to provide power to one or more electronic devices embedded in the vehicle seat (see fig. 5).
Regarding claim 7, Cho teaches wherein the first transmitter is disposed above a floor panel of the vehicle, and/or
wherein the amplifier comprises at least one of a Class D amplifier or a Class E amplifier (see fig. 14, element 722).
Regarding claim 8, Cho teaches wherein a degree or curvature of at least one of the one or more transmitter antennas is at least 10 degrees, and/or
wherein at least one receiver antenna of the one or more receiver antennas is disposed under the vehicle seat at an angle between 0 degrees and 180 degrees (see fig. 5).
Regarding claim 10, Cho teaches wherein at least one of the first transmitter or the first receiver comprises a ferrite sheet disposed between a conducting surface of the vehicle and the first transmitter or the first receiver (¶¶ 0065, 0078-0079, 0104).
Regarding claim 13, Cho teaches the wireless charging system further comprising: a second transmitter disposed within a back support portion of the vehicle seat (Fig. 3 and ¶ 0054; transmitting coils 520, 524, 528) and configured to wirelessly transfer power to one or more passenger devices positioned behind the vehicle seat (see fig. 1 and fig. 6, element 10), wherein the second transmitter is powered by the first receiver (¶ 0049).
Regarding claim 19, Cho teaches a wireless charging system for a vehicle seat of a vehicle, comprising:
a transmitter (fig. 1 and 2, element 500) coupled to a power source of the vehicle (¶ 0071),
wherein the transmitter comprises an amplifier (¶¶ 0146, 0157) coupled to one or more transmitter antennas (520), and
wherein the transmitter is configured to wirelessly charge one or more electronic devices (¶ 0052; the wireless power receive 420 includes a battery).
However, Cho fails to teach wherein the amplifier is disposed on an amplifier printed circuit board (PCB), wherein the one or more resonant capacitors are disposed on a resonant capacitor PCB, and wherein the amplifier PCB is physically separate from the resonant capacitor PCB.
Kurs discloses wherein the amplifier is disposed on an amplifier printed circuit board (PCB) (fig. 40, element 2504 and ¶ 0219, 0252; power amplifier), wherein the one or more resonant capacitors are disposed on a resonant capacitor PCB (fig. 40, element 102S; a resonator includes a capacitor), and wherein the amplifier PCB is physically separate from the resonant capacitor PCB (See fig. 40; the element 2504 is separate from the element 102S).
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It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cho to incorporate with the teaching of Kurs by separating the amplifier and the source resonator as suggested by Kurs, because it would be advantageous to reduce parasitic losses, and further shorten high-current flow to the transmitting coil.
Regarding claim 20, Cho teaches wherein the transmitter is embedded in a vehicle seat cushion and/or disposed on a bottom of the vehicle seat (see fig. 1-2 and 4).
Regarding claim 22, Cho teaches wherein at least one of the one or more transmitter antennas comprises a planar antenna (fig. 2-3 above), an electrodeposited antenna, or a three-dimensional antenna.
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.
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Kurs as applied to claim 19 above, and further in view of Yamamoto et al. US Pub 2021/0083519 (hereinafter Yamamoto).
Regarding claim 23, Cho in view of Kurs teaches the wireless charging system further comprising: a second transmitter disposed within a back support portion of the vehicle seat and configured to wirelessly transfer power to the one or more electronic devices (fig. 2-3 and ¶¶ 0039-0040, 0044, 0047, 0051).
Cho in view of Kurs fails to disclose wherein the one or more electronic devices comprise wireless devices untethered from the vehicle seat.
However, Yamamoto discloses wherein the one or more electronic devices comprise wireless devices untethered from the vehicle seat (see fig. 8, element 160).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Cho in view of Kurs to incorporate with the teaching of Yamamoto by charging the terminal device while the person in a seated position, because it would be advantageous to eliminate the need for physical connector and further reduce wear on charging ports.
Allowable Subject Matter
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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 12, the prior art fails to teach or suggest further inclusion of wherein the first transmitter comprises: one or more filters contained in a filter PCB, wherein the filter PCB is physically separate from the amplifier PCB.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 12/23/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 USC § 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Kurs et al. US Pub 2015/0270719 (hereinafter Kurs).
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 ZIXUAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)272-6739. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 02/25/2026