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 02/12/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-20 are pending
Continued Examination
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12 February 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 1-6 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Kamgaing ‘165 and Kamo’, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 Fluhler (US8451189 B1).
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 7-8 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Kamgaing ‘165, Kamo’ and Suravarapu, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 7-8 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 of claim 1 in view of Fluhler ( US8451189 B1), so claims 7-8 remain rejected
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 9-10 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, and Svantesson, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 9-10 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 of claim 1 in view of Fluhler ( US8451189 B1), so claims 9-10 remain rejected.
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 11-13 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, and Tayfeh, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 11-13 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The metamaterial of Tayfeh has control over the electrical distance as it can change the permittivity. If Tayfeh integrates the resonator within the ground layer or establishes it as a part of the ground layer then it effectively wouldn’t be changing the physical distance as it is defined as a part of the structure. In this way as the resonator controls the electrical fields changing the electrical distance the physical distance wouldn’t be changing. Either way as the electrical distance is being controlled/changed the physical distance at the start of the operation of the device wouldn’t be changing.
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 14 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Tayfeh, and Wall, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered. The Examiner respectfully disagrees, please see section (6).
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 15 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Tayfeh, and Smith, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered. The Examiner respectfully disagrees, please see section (6).
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 16 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Tayfeh, and Suravarapu, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 16 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered. The Examiner respectfully disagrees, please see section (6).
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 18 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Tayfeh, and Kamgaing ‘882 (additional embodiment), filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 18 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered. The Examiner respectfully disagrees, please see section (6).
Applicant’s arguments, see ‘Rejection of Claims 17, 19, and 20 under 35 U.S.C 103—Kamgaing ‘882, Tayfeh, and Kamo, filed 02/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 17, 19, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered. The Examiner respectfully disagrees, please see section (6).
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.
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Fluhler ( US8451189 B1), further in view of Kamo (US 20200194862 A1).
Regarding claim 1 Kamgaing-1 discloses
An antenna comprising: a first multi-band antenna element (Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" which includes a multi-band) positioned in a first plane (Figure 1 element 127; Paragraph 0036, "the antenna package (e.g., the asymmetric millimeter-wave package) 100 can further include a second antenna element 127" where antenna 127 can be designated first); a ground plane spaced from the first multi-band antenna element such that the ground plane is positioned in a second plane parallel to the first plane (Figure 1 element 117; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 117 can be designated the second layer); and an intermediate antenna element positioned in a third plane between the first plane and the second plane and parallel to the first plane, the intermediate antenna element comprising a complementary metamaterial (Figure 1 element 118; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 118 can be designated the intermediate layer/third plane; Paragraph 0019, "In example embodiments, the antenna package may be constructed of various materials. For example, the antenna package may use higher dielectric constant (high-k)/tunable/ultra-low-k/metamaterials/magnetic materials"; Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" which includes a metamaterial antenna). While Kamgaing discloses a complementary metamaterial (Paragraph 0019, “the antenna package may use higher dielectric constant (high-k)/tunable/ultra-low-k/metamaterials/magnetic materials”), and adjusting the thickness of its layers (Paragraph 0024, “The layers in the substrate can be disparate and of different thicknesses”) Kamgaing-1 does not disclose the complementary metamaterial is configured to space the ground plane from the first multi-band antenna element by an effective λ/4 distance, where the effective λ/4 distance is not equal to a physical λ/4 distance. Additionally, while Kamgaing-1 further teaches it can use any antenna, it does not specifically disclose that the antenna has I-slots. However, in analogous art, Kamo teaches the I shaped slot configuration.
Fluhler discloses
Spacing the ground plane from the first multi-band antenna element by an effective λ/4 distance, where the effective λ/4 distance is not equal to a physical λ/4 distance. (Figure 1B with the pi phase shift reflection which is the same as a electrical distance of lambda/4 on reflection; Column 4 lines 38-42, " Hence, a short propagation distance from an AMC layer close to a PEC reflector and back can be made to appear electrically like a much longer path length that wraps a full cycle in a physical distance much shorter than a wavelength. This arrangement then behaves like an AMC" where the AMC can replace the ground plane).
Kamgaing-1 discloses a ground plane and being able to have multiple sizes of tis layers but it does not disclose and effectively λ/4 distance without an actual λ/4 distance. It would be advantageous to replace the ground layer with the AMC of Fluhler so that the ground plane can create an electrical distance of λ/4 in a smaller space while the reflections off the ground plane have constructive interference with the antenna’s direct waves. As Kamgaing discloses a layer for a metamaterial antenna that creates space/distance between the ground plane and the top antenna layer, and adjusting the thickness of its layers, there would be a reasonable expectation of success in replacing the ground layer to adjust the distance between the top antenna layer (127) and the ground plane. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve Kamgaing-1 with Fluhler to replace the ground layer (with the metamaterials) to change the distance between the top antenna layer and the ground plane to have constructive interference in a smaller space.
Kamo discloses
An antenna with a slot (Paragraph 0116, "Each of the plurality of slot antenna elements 312 in the radiating section has an I-shaped slot 312I on the front side that extends obliquely with respect to the Y direction, and an H-shaped slot 312H on the rear side that is continuous with the I-shaped slot 312").
Kamgaing-1 and Kamo are considered analogous art as they both disclose antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial antenna and states that it can be any antenna but does not explicitly state that the metamaterial antenna can have slots. Slots with the metamaterial layer can facilitate improved control over the metamaterials resonant frequencies and miniaturization of the system. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Kamo to add slots to the metamaterial layer to improve its control over the resonant frequencies and facilitate the miniaturization of the system.
Regarding claim 2 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. Kamgaing-1 further discloses further comprising a first dielectric layer between the first plane and the third plane and a second dielectric layer between the second plane and the third plane (Figure 6 elements 116 and 125 which separate the planes 127, 118, and 117).
Regarding claim 3 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. Kamgaing-1 further discloses further comprising a second multi-band antenna element positioned in the first plane (Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" where patch antennas can be multi-band; Paragraph 0026, "In various embodiments, the antenna packaging may implement a phased array using one or more antenna elements").
Regarding claim 4 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 3. Kamgaing-1 further discloses further comprising a second intermediate antenna element positioned in the third plane (Figure 1 element 118; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 118 can be designated the intermediate layer/third plane; Paragraph 0026, "In various embodiments, the antenna packaging may implement a phased array using one or more antenna elements").
Regarding claim 5 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. Kamgaing-1 further discloses wherein the first multi-band antenna element is a patch antenna (Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna").
Regarding claim 6 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. Kamgaing-1 further teaches it can use any antenna but it does not specifically disclose that the antenna has I-slots. However, in analogous art, Kamo teaches the I shaped slot configuration.
Kamo discloses
Wherein the slot comprises an I-shaped slot (Paragraph 0116, "Each of the plurality of slot antenna elements 312 in the radiating section has an I-shaped slot 312I on the front side that extends obliquely with respect to the Y direction, and an H-shaped slot 312H on the rear side that is continuous with the I-shaped slot 312").
Kamgaing-1 and Kamo are considered analogous art as they both disclose antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial antenna and states that it can be any antenna but does not explicitly state that the metamaterial antenna can have I shaped slots. I shaped slots can have multiple frequency resonances meaning they can improve the control the system has over its frequency characteristics. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Kamo to add I shaped slots in the metamaterial to increase the systems control over its frequency characteristics.
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Fluhler ( US8451189 B1), further in view of Kamo (US 20200194862 A1) further in view of Suravarapu (US20190149104A1).
Regarding claim 7 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the slot comprises an LC circuit having an effective length of λ/4.
Kamo discloses
An antenna with a slot (Paragraph 0116, "Each of the plurality of slot antenna elements 312 in the radiating section has an I-shaped slot 312I on the front side that extends obliquely with respect to the Y direction, and an H-shaped slot 312H on the rear side that is continuous with the I-shaped slot 312").
Kamgaing-1 and Kamo are considered analogous art as they both disclose antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial antenna and states that it can be any antenna but does not explicitly state that the metamaterial antenna can have slots. Slots with the metamaterial layer can facilitate improved control over the metamaterials resonant frequencies and miniaturization of the system. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Kamo to add slots to the metamaterial layer to improve its control over the resonant frequencies and facilitate the miniaturization of the system.
Suravarapu discloses
An LC circuit having an effective length of λ/4 (Paragraph 0004, "or using lumped LC circuits which are equivalent to the transmission line with characteristic impedance √{square root over (N)} Z0 and length λ/4").
Kamgaing-1 and Suravarapu are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 with Kamo discloses a metamaterial layer/antenna with a slot but does not disclose an LC circuit. LC circuits are useful for tuning the frequency of an antenna which can affect what the antenna transmits and receives. This is useful for tunning the metamaterial and giving the system greater control over its operational frequency. At a length of λ/4 a LC circuit is also good for configuring the impedance of the system which can improve the power transfer within the circuit. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve Kamgaing-1 with Suravarapu to give it the ability to tune the metamaterial, grant the system greater control over its operational frequency, and improve the impedance of the system.
Regarding claim 8 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. As in claim 1 Kamgaing-1 discloses an intermediate antenna element (Figure 1 element 118; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 118 can be designated the intermediate layer/third plane; Paragraph 0019, "In example embodiments, the antenna package may be constructed of various materials. For example, the antenna package may use higher dielectric constant (high-k)/tunable/ultra-low-k/metamaterials/magnetic materials"; Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" which includes a metamaterial antenna). But Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the intermediate antenna element comprises an LC circuit.
Suravarapu discloses
An LC circuit (Paragraph 0004, "or using lumped LC circuits which are equivalent to the transmission line with characteristic impedance √{square root over (N)} Z0 and length λ/4").
Kamgaing-1 and Suravarapu are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial layer/antenna for the intermediate layer but does not disclose an LC circuit. LC circuits are useful for tuning the frequency of an antenna which can affect what the antenna transmits and receives. This is useful for tunning the metamaterial and giving the system greater control over its operational frequency. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve Kamgaing-1 with Suravarapu to give it the ability to tune the metamaterial and grant the system greater control over its operational frequency.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Fluhler ( US8451189 B1), further in view of Kamo (US 20200194862 A1) further in view of Svantesson (2001). PDF of non-patent literature will be attached
Regarding claim 9 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1 which includes the antenna in the third plane. Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the antenna is configured to be polarized by an electric field in the third plane.
Svantesson discloses
The antenna is polarized by an electric field from another antenna in another location (Section 3 Paragraph 1, “The principal function of an antenna is to convert an electromagnetic field into an induced voltage or current
to be measured… Essentially, the received voltage on each element will
induce a current on the element which in turn radiates a field which affects the surrounding element, i.e. the elements are said to be mutually coupled” where the polarization in the Electromagnetic-field will be the polarization of the antenna that it affects).
Kamgaing-1 and Svantesson are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses multiple antennas, including metamaterial antennas, in close proximity but does not disclose how one antenna can induce a polarization on the other. Metamaterials antenna can affect other antennas through their electric fields which includes its polarization. It would be advantageous to use different polarization between multiple antenna elements to enact polarization division multiplexing which can increase the data throughput. Additionally, Svantesson notes that Section 1 Paragraph 4 “In this paper, it is found that mutual coupling, on the contrary, actually can increase the channel capacity for scenarios with closely spaced antennas.” Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Svantesson to use mutual coupling to add polarization division multiplexing to increase the systems information throughput.
Regarding claim 10 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Fluhler, and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 1. Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the antenna is configured to be polarized by a magnetic field perpendicular to the first plane.
Svantesson discloses
The antenna is polarized by a magnetic field perpendicular to the first plane (Section 3 Paragraph 1, “The principal function of an antenna is to convert an electromagnetic field into an induced voltage or current
to be measured… Essentially, the received voltage on each element will
induce a current on the element which in turn radiates a field which affects the surrounding element, i.e. the elements are said to be mutually coupled” where the polarization in the Electromagnetic field will polarize the antenna in the same way and if the E-field is parallel to the plane the magnetic field will be perpendicular).
Kamgaing-1 and Svantesson are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses multiple antennas, including metamaterial antennas, in close proximity but does not disclose how one antenna can induce a polarization on the other. Metamaterials antenna can affect other antennas through their electric fields which includes its polarization. It would be advantageous to use different polarization, including horizontal, between multiple antenna elements to enact polarization division multiplexing which can increase the data throughput. Additionally, Svantesson notes that Section 1 Paragraph 4 “In this paper, it is found that mutual coupling, on the contrary, actually can increase the channel capacity for scenarios with closely spaced antennas.” Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Svantesson to use mutual coupling to add polarization division multiplexing to increase the systems information throughput.
Claims 11, 12, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1 in view of Tayfeh (US 10340599 B2).
Regarding claim 11 Kamgaing-1 discloses
An antenna comprising: a first substrate having a first side and a second side, the first substrate having a first antenna element and a second antenna element positioned on the first side (Figure 1 element 127; Paragraph 0036, "the antenna package (e.g., the asymmetric millimeter-wave package) 100 can further include a second antenna element 127" where 127 can be designated first; Paragraph 0023, “According to example embodiments, the antenna package may include a substrate” where the antenna can be placed on either side; Paragraph 0026, "In various embodiments, the antenna packaging may implement a phased array using one or more antenna elements" where the device can have more than one antenna element on a layer); a second substrate having a ground element associated therewith (Figure 1 element 117; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 117 can be designated the second layer); and a middle layer comprising a first metamaterial element associated with the first antenna element and a second metamaterial element associated with the second antenna element, wherein the middle layer is positioned adjacent to the second side (Figure 1 element 118 and 127; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 118 can be designated the intermediate layer/third plane; Paragraph 0019, "In example embodiments, the antenna package may be constructed of various materials. For example, the antenna package may use higher dielectric constant (high-k)/tunable/ultra-low-k/metamaterials/magnetic materials"; Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" where the device can have a metamaterial layer and/or a metamaterial antenna; Paragraph 0026, "In various embodiments, the antenna packaging may implement a phased array using one or more antenna elements" where the device can have more than one metamaterial antenna element on a layer). Kamgaing-1 discloses wherein the first metamaterial element is configured to space the first antenna element from the ground element (Figure 1 element 118; Paragraph 0034, "The dielectric layer 116 can further include an antenna ground layer 117 and can further include a first antenna element 118 and a first via 120" where 118 can be designated the intermediate layer/third plane; Paragraph 0019, "In example embodiments, the antenna package may be constructed of various materials. For example, the antenna package may use higher dielectric constant (high-k)/tunable/ultra-low-k/metamaterials/magnetic materials" where the metamaterial is creating space between the ground layer and top layer antenna). Kamgaing-1 does not disclose the first metamaterial element changes an effective electrical distance there between; and wherein the first metamaterial element comprises negative space within a conductive plane.
Tayfeh discloses
The first metamaterial element changes an effective electrical distance there between (Abstract, "The antennas have metal inclusions embedded in the resonator body which can be configured to control electromagnetic field patterns, which serves to enhance the effective permittivity of the resonator body, while creating an anisotropic material with different effective permittivity and polarizations in different orientations"; Claim 5, "The dielectric metamaterial resonator antenna of claim 1, wherein the plurality of coupled metal inclusions are provided in a pattern that creates a different effective electrical permittivity in different orientations through the resonator body" where changing the permittivity changes the electrical distance a signal has to travel); and wherein the first metamaterial element comprises negative space within a conductive plane (Claim 1, "the resonator body formed of a dielectric material, the resonator body having … a plurality of coupled metal inclusions provided within the resonator body"; Claim 10, "The dielectric metamaterial resonator antenna of claim 1, wherein the dielectric material is air" where the metal inclusions create a conductive layer filled with air or a void/negative space).
Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial between an antenna layer and a ground layer but it does not specify that the metamaterial affects the electrical distance nor has a cavity or negative space.
A metamaterial that affects the electrical distance would be desirable to, as Tayfeh states, Column 2 lines 37-39, “provide control over internal electromagnetic fields that are not readily available with traditional materials” which provides advantages such as facilitating the optimization of multiple wavebands simultaneously or improving isolation for phased antenna arrays.
A resonating metamaterial that has a cavity can be placed within or effectively be a part of the ground layer making no physical distance to the defined ‘preexisting’ configuration. Additionally, as Kamgaing 882’ already states that it can change the thicknesses of its layers Kamgaing 882’ can pick a configuration where the physical distances are set and won’t change throughout the operation of the device. In this way the resonator of Tayfeh would be affecting the electrical distance through various controls, as cited above, but the physical distance wouldn’t change. The resonator, made partially of air, would be desirable as the air is providing a low loss dielectric where the signal will lose relatively little energy which improves efficiency.
As such it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Tayfeh so that the metamaterial of Kamgaing-1 can change the electrical distance and contain negative space in order to optimize multiple wavebands and improve the energy efficiency.
Regarding claim 12 the combination of Kamgaing-1 and Tayfeh discloses
The antenna of claim 11. Kamgaing-1 further discloses wherein the first antenna element is configured to operate at two frequencies (Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" where patch antennas are designed to be multiband but the antenna could be any dual-band antenna or multiband antenna).
Regarding claim 13 the combination of Kamgaing-1 and Tayfeh discloses
The antenna of claim 11. Kamgaing-1 further discloses wherein the first and second antenna elements are configured to provide signal measurements for angle of arrival calculations (Paragraph 0026, "In various embodiments, the antenna packaging may implement a phased array using one or more antenna elements" where phased array antennas can determine angle of arrival).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Tayfeh (US 10340599 B2) further in view of Wall (US 11041936 B1).
Regarding claim 14 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Tayfeh, and Wall discloses
The antenna of claim 11. Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the first antenna element comprises a copper material.
Wall discloses
Wherein the antenna element comprises a copper material (Col 11 lines 32-33, "the patch antenna 212 were assumed to be etched in PEC (Perfect Electric Conductor) such as copper").
Kamgaing-1 and Wall are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses the use of a patch antenna but does not detail if it has copper components or not. Copper is one of the best conductors and an antennas use of it can improve its performance in a circuit. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Wall to specify that the antennas have copper so that the device can have a more efficient circuit.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Tayfeh (US 10340599 B2) further in view of Smith (US 10461433 B2).
Regarding claim 15 the combination of Kamgaing-1 and Tayfeh discloses
The antenna of claim 11. Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the first substrate comprises an FR4 material.
Smith discloses
Wherein the first substrate comprises an FR4 material (Col 16 lines 66-67, "we fabricated the two designed samples using copper clad FR4 printed circuit board substrate").
Kamgaing-1 and Smith are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a substrate and that it may be made of various things but does not specifically disclose that it may be made of FR4. FR4 is advantageous as it is flame retardant and can make the invention more robust to a variety of adverse environments. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Smith to make the invention more physically robust to flame/fire.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Tayfeh (US 10340599 B2) further in view of Suravarapu (US20190149104A1).
Regarding claim 16 the combination of Kamgaing-1 and Tayfeh discloses
The antenna of claim 11. Kamgaing-1 does not disclose wherein the first metamaterial element comprises an LC circuit.
Suravarapu discloses
An LC circuit (Paragraph 0004, "or using lumped LC circuits which are equivalent to the transmission line with characteristic impedance √{square root over (N)} Z0 and length λ/4").
Kamgaing-1 and Suravarapu are both considered analogous art as they both concern antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial layer/antenna but does not disclose an LC circuit. LC circuits are useful for tuning the frequency of an antenna which can affect what the antenna transmits and receives. This is useful for tunning the metamaterial and giving the system greater control over its operational frequency. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve Kamgaing-1 with Suravarapu to give it the ability to tune the metamaterial and grant the system greater control over its operational frequency.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Tayfeh (US 10340599 B2) further in view of another embodiment of Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1).
Regarding claim 18 the combination of Kamgaing-1 and Tayfeh discloses
The antenna of claim 11, wherein the first antenna element comprises a patch antenna (Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" where patch antennas can be configured for ultra-wide band). In another embodiment Kamgaing-1 also discloses configured to operate at ultrawideband frequencies (Paragraph 0104, “In one embodiment, the wireless antenna interface 878 operates in accordance with, but is not limited to, the IEEE 802.11 standard and its related family, Home Plug AV (HPAV), Ultra Wide Band (UWB)”).
Kamgaing-1 discloses the use of a patch antenna and it is known in the art that patch antennas can be configured to be ultra-wide band. In another embodiment Kamgaing-1 also discloses the use of ultra-wide band. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the patch antenna to be ultra-wide band to improve the frequency range the invention can use during operation.
Claim 17, 19, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamgaing (US 20190333882 A1), designated Kamgaing-1, in view of Tayfeh (US 10340599 B2) further in view of Kamo (US 20200194862 A1).
Regarding claim 17 the combination of Kamgaing-1 and Tayfeh discloses
The antenna of claim 11 and a metamaterial antenna. Kamgaing-1 further teaches it can use any antenna but it does not specifically disclose that the antenna has I-shaped slots. However, in analogous art, Kamo teaches the I shaped slot configuration.
Kamo discloses
Wherein a layer has an I-shaped slot (Paragraph 0116, "Each of the plurality of slot antenna elements 312 in the radiating section has an I-shaped slot 312I on the front side that extends obliquely with respect to the Y direction, and an H-shaped slot 312H on the rear side that is continuous with the I-shaped slot 312").
Kamgaing-1 and Kamo are considered analogous art as they both disclose antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial antenna and states that it can be any antenna but does not explicitly state that the metamaterial antenna can have slots. I shaped slots can have multiple frequency resonances meaning they can improve the control the system has over its frequency characteristics. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Kamo to add I shaped slots to the metamaterial antenna to increase the systems control over its frequency characteristics.
Regarding claim 19 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Tayfeh and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 17 and a metamaterial antenna that can be designated ‘first’. Kamgaing-1 further teaches it can use any antenna but it does not specifically disclose that the antenna has I-shaped slots. However, in analogous art, Kamo teaches the I shaped slot configuration.
Kamo discloses
Wherein an antenna comprises a second, I-shaped slot (Paragraph 0116, "Each of the plurality of slot antenna elements 312 in the radiating section has an I-shaped slot 312I on the front side that extends obliquely with respect to the Y direction, and an H-shaped slot 312H on the rear side that is continuous with the I-shaped slot 312").
Kamgaing-1 and Kamo are considered analogous art as they both disclose antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses a metamaterial antenna and states that it can be any antenna but does not explicitly state that the metamaterial antenna can have slots. I shaped slots can have multiple frequency resonances meaning they can improve the control the system has over its frequency characteristics. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Kamo to add I shaped slots to the metamaterial antenna to increase the systems control over its frequency characteristics.
Regarding claim 20 the combination of Kamgaing-1, Tayfeh and Kamo discloses
The antenna of claim 19. Kamgaing-1 discloses wherein the second metamaterial element (Paragraph 0026, "In various embodiments, the antenna packaging may implement a phased array using one or more antenna elements" where the device can have more than one antenna element on a layer; Paragraph 0019, "In example embodiments, the antenna package may be constructed of various materials. For example, the antenna package may use higher dielectric constant (high-k)/tunable/ultra-low-k/metamaterials/magnetic materials"; Paragraph 0034, "The antenna element 118 can include a patch antenna, a spiral antenna, or any other kind of antenna" where the device can have a metamaterial layer and/or a metamaterial antenna). Kamgaing-1 further teaches it can use any antenna but it does not specifically disclose that the antenna comprises two I-shaped slots. However, in analogous art, Kamo teaches the I shaped slots configuration.
Kamo discloses
Wherein an antenna comprises a second, I-shaped slot (Paragraph 0116, "Each of the plurality of slot antenna elements 312 in the radiating section has an I-shaped slot 312I on the front side that extends obliquely with respect to the Y direction, and an H-shaped slot 312H on the rear side that is continuous with the I-shaped slot 312").
Kamgaing-1 and Kamo are considered analogous art as they both disclose antenna systems that can determine the angle of arrival of a signal. Kamgaing-1 discloses multiple metamaterial antennas and states that it can be any antenna but does not explicitly state that the metamaterial antennas can have slots. I shaped slots can have multiple frequency resonances meaning they can improve the control the system has over its frequency characteristics. Multiple antennas with multiple I-shaped slots would allow for even greater control. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kamgaing-1 with Kamo to add I shaped slots to the metamaterial antennas to increase the systems control over its frequency characteristics.
Conclusion
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/PETER DAVON DOZE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/RESHA DESAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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