DETAILED ACTION
Receipt is acknowledged of a request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) and a submission, filed on 07/24/2026. In virtue of this request:
Claims 3-12 and 14-16 were previously canceled;
Claim 1 is currently amended; and thus,
Claims 1-2, 13, 17 and 18 are pending;
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 .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 07/10/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of application 17,937,588, 17/937,671 and 17/698,299 and has been reviewed and is accepted.
The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Double Patenting
The rejection to claims 1-2, 13 and 17-18 on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-3, 6, 9-10, 13 and 16-17 of co-pending Application No. 17/698,299 (reference application) is withdrawn in view of the terminal disclaimer.
The rejection to claims 1-2, 13 and 17-18 on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-2, 13 and 17 of co-pending Application No. 17,937,671 (reference application) is withdrawn in view of the terminal disclaimer.
The rejection to claims 1-2, 13 and 17-18 on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-3, 9-10 and 13-16 of co-pending Application No. 17,937,588 (reference application) is withdrawn in view of the terminal disclaimer.
Claim Objections
The previous objection to claim 1 is withdrawn in view of the amendment made to the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The previous rejection to 1-2, 13 and 17-18 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph is withdrawn in view of the amendment made to the claim.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Regarding claim 18, the claim recites the relative permittivity is between 2 and 500 with a thickness of 3 mm or less; which is a broader range of the permittivity and thickness recited in claim 1 of between 100 to 500 and less 1mm respectively
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2, 13 and 17 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance, this statement is not intended to necessarily state all the reasons for allowance or all the details why the claims are allowed and has not been written to specifically or impliedly state that all the reasons for allowance are set forth (MPEP 1302.14).
Regarding claim 1, none of the prior art of record alone or in combination thereof discloses or renders obvious all of the claimed limitation recited in the claims.
Regarding claims 2, 13 and 17 the claims are allowed based upon dependency of allowed independent claim 1 and may not be allowable when presented independently without all the claimed limitation of the base claim.
Claim 18 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 4th paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND R CHAI whose telephone number is (571)270-0576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Taningco can be reached at 571-242-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Raymond R Chai/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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