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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 9941598 (“Suh” or “S”) in view of US 2010/0188306 (“Kitayoshi” or “K”).
1: S teaches a device (that of fig 2A) comprising: a first antenna (220), having a first polarization (perpendicular to the length of 210/220), operating at a first frequency (column 4, lines 12-32), and located along a first length from a first end to a second end (the length of 220); and a second antenna (210), having a second polarization (along the length of 210/220), operating at a second frequency (4:12-32), and located along a second length from a third end to a fourth end (the length of 210), wherein the first polarization is orthogonal to the second polarization (as shown), the first frequency of the first antenna and the second frequency of the second antenna are within the same frequency band (4:12-32), and the first antenna and the second antenna are parallel and adjacent along the first length and the second length (as shown), the second antenna being proximate to the first antenna along the first length and the second length (210 is located within 220, as stated in 4:12-32).
However, S fails to teach (using explicit words) the second antenna being proximate to but not within the first antenna.
Nevertheless, K teaches locating a dipole antenna over a slot (0046).
Thus, it would have been obvious to provide that the second antenna is proximate to but not within the first antenna along the first length and the second length.
A sufficient motivation would have been to tune the antenna’s impedance to provide for maximum power transfer.
2: S fails to teach a housing that encloses the first antenna and the second antenna. However, radomes were old and well-known. The motivation to use a radome is to protect antennas from the elements.
3, 4: S fails to teach the first and second frequencies are within the Ultra High Frequency band or are within the range of 800MHz to 1GHz. However, it was old and well-known that any antenna can be scaled to operate at any frequency. Thus, it would have been obvious to scale S’s antennas to operate in the recited ranges in order to take advantage of services operating in those ranges.
5: S teaches that the first length and second length are substantially coplanar (as shown, 210 is located within 220).
6: S teaches that the first antenna is a slot antenna with a vertical first polarization (as shown) and the second antenna is a dipole with a horizontal second polarization (as shown), and the first end and third end are within one tenth of a wavelength of each other and the second end and fourth end are within one tenth of a wavelength of each other, relative to either the first frequency or the second frequency (210 is located within 220; see column 4).
7: S teaches that first antenna is a slot antenna with a vertical first polarization (as shown) and the second antenna is a dipole with a horizontal second polarization (as shown), and the first end and third end are within one quarter of a wavelength of each other and the second end and fourth end are within one quarter of a wavelength of each other, relative to either the first frequency or the second frequency (210 is located within 220; see column 4).
8: S teaches that the first antenna and second antenna are askew within 5 degrees of each other along the first length and second length (they are parallel, so within 5 degrees).
9: S teaches a primary radiation direction, wherein the primary radiation direction is away from the first antenna, and the second antenna is configured to radiate in the primary radiation direction, and the first antenna is configured to reflect energy radiated by the second antenna into the primary radiation direction (this is inherent due to 210 being located within 220).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that S and K fail to teach “the second [dipole] antenna being proximate to but not within the first [slot] antenna along the first length and the second length.” While K was relied upon for a teaching that dipole antennas can be located over a slot (and being over a slot is not being within a slot), Applicant nevertheless argues that K’s teaching that “the dipole antenna is bonded over the slot to the thin slot antenna having a cavity according to the present invention” (emphasis added) implies that K’s dipole antenna is “co-located” with K’s slot antenna, and, that, therefore, K fails to teach that K’s dipole is “not within” K’s slot, as would be required by the claims. The Examiner fails to understand how a teaching of being over a slot is compatible with or teaches being within a slot. Being over a slot seems to require not being within the slot. (In addition, S’s Fig 2A implies that S’s dipole is not located within S’s slot. The figure shows that the ends of 210 overlap the top surface of the material forming S’s slot 220. Thus, while S fails to explicitly use words to teach the second antenna being proximate to but not within the first antenna, persons of skill would know that the only way to achieve the shown overlap would be for S’s 210 to lie over the slot of S’s 220.)
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 GRAHAM P SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1568. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am - 6pm.
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/GRAHAM P SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845