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 . As per the pre-appeal conference, the confrere reviewed and commented on the amended claim limitation of “a boost power rail”, which has a new matter issues. All rejections to claims have been maintained. Claims 1-24 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The limitation “a boost power rail” as recited in claims 1 and 12 do not have support in the specification as originally filed. Claims 2-11 and 13-24 are also rejected as all claims are dependent on rejected claims 1 and 12 respectively.
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 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 present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Perry et al. (US 2022/0052540) (Hereinafter, Perry) in view of Hu et al. (US 2015/0069956).
With respect to claims 1 and 12, Perry discloses an electronic device comprising: a battery (Fig. 2, 22) ; and a power converter coupled to the battery and configured to be coupled between the battery and a power source (Fig. 2, power converter 20A), the power converter further configured to: in a first mode, couple to the power source having a source voltage and charge the battery with a charging voltage significantly smaller than the source voltage (Para. # 0021, 0027: including a buck mode in which power converter 20A may convert supply voltage V.sub.SUPPLY into battery voltage V.sub.BAT lesser than or equal to supply voltage V.sub.SUPPLY in order to recharge battery 22);
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and in a second mode, couple between at least one downstream component of the electronic device and the battery to provide electrical energy to the at least one downstream component from the battery at a boost voltage significantly larger than a battery voltage generated by the battery (Para. # 0021, 0025: Power converter 20A may include any system, device, or apparatus configured to operate in a boost mode to receive battery voltage V.sub.BAT generated by battery 22 and convert such battery voltage V.sub.BAT into supply voltage V.sub.SUPPLY greater than or equal to battery voltage V.sub.BAT. In addition, as described in greater detail below, power converter 20A may also operate bidirectionally, including a buck mode in which power converter 20A may convert supply voltage V.sub.SUPPLY into battery voltage V.sub.BAT lesser than or equal to supply voltage V.sub.SUPPLY in order to recharge battery 22).
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Perry, does not expressly disclose selectively coupling between battery and power source or between the battery and a boost power rail that is electrically isolated from power source.
Hu, on the other hand, discloses selectively coupling between battery and power source or between the battery and a boost power rail that is electrically isolated from power source (See Para. # 0029: selectively couple the second side of inductor 130 to optional battery 122 (although it should be appreciated that optional switch 128 or another element may selectively control the connection between the second side of inductor 130 to optional battery 122); figure 1 below depicts a power converter configured to selectively coupled between the power rail 100 or the buck-boost circuit 116 and the battery 122).
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Perry and Hu are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely power supply with bidirectional battery and universal power adapter.
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a power circuitry with switches to selectively coupling power converter and battery or between battery and boost power rail to the power supply device of Perry in view of Hu for the benefit of using alternative power source, such as from power adapter or from battery, and when additional high power is needed, the converter boosts the output as needed and help prolong the battery life.
With respect to claims 2 and 13, the combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the power converter comprises a charge pump power converter (Para. # 0019: power converter 10 may comprise a capacitive power converter or “charge pump”).
With respect to claims 3 and 14, the combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the power converter comprises a switched-capacitor power converter (Para. # 0019: power converter 10 may comprise a capacitive power converter or “charge pump”).
With respect to claims 4 and 15, the combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the power converter comprises a switched-inductor power converter (Para. # 0019: power converter 10 may comprise an inductor-based power converter).
With respect to claims 5, 16 and 24, the combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses where the power converter is integrated to a master charger having an input configured to be coupled to the power source and an output that provides a regulated system voltage for powering that at least one downstream component at a system voltage when coupled to the power source during the first mode (Para. # 0017, 0027-0028: integral to portable electronic device 1, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, portable electronic device 1 may include a battery charger 16, a power converter 10, a battery 22, a power converter 20A, and one or more downstream components 18).
With respect to claims 6, 17 and 23, The combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, further comprising a master charger coupled to the battery and configured to be coupled between the battery and the power source and configured to provide electrical energy to the at least one downstream component at a system voltage when coupled to the power source during the first mode (Para. # 0027-0028).
With respect to claims 7 and 18, The combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the at least one downstream component comprises an amplifier (Para. # 0022).
With respect to claims 8 and 19, The combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the amplifier is configured to drive a transducer (Para. # 0022 and 0016).
With respect to claims 9 and 20, The combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the amplifier comprises selection logic for selecting a power supply for the amplifier between the system voltage and the boost voltage (See Fig. 5, 30: selection logic control 30 operates on switch 40 to pick a phase 2A4 operation or a phase 24B operation to output voltage supply to amplifier).
With respect to claims 10 and 21, The combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the at least one downstream component comprises an amplifier (Para. # 0022: include any suitable functional circuits or devices of portable electronic device 1, including without limitation processors, audio coder/decoders, amplifiers, display devices, etc.).
With respect to claims 11 and 22, The combined references of Perry and Hu disclose the electronic device, further Perry discloses comprising: the battery and a power converter as described above, wherein the amplifier is configured to drive a transducer (Par. # 0016: used in connection with a variety of audio transducers, including without limitation, headphones, earbuds, in-ear earphones, and external speakers).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A DUNN can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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