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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bennett et al (USP 6,348,920).
Regarding claim 1, Bennett’s Fig. 5 shows an integrated circuit comprising:
a transistor (254); and
a driver (252) coupled to a gate of the transistor, wherein the driver controls an operation of the transistor, wherein the driver is operable in a first configuration as a low- side gate driver (see abstract, lines 1-8) for a voltage regulator (when the load is a battery, a voltage regulator is inherent), wherein the transistor is operable in the first configuration as a low-side switch for the voltage regulator, wherein the driver is operable in a second configuration as a high-side gate driver for the voltage regulator, and wherein the transistor is operable in the second configuration as a high-side switch (see abstract, lines 1-8) for the voltage regulator.
As to claim 2, Bennett’s Fig. 5 shows the integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the transistor comprises Ga and N (Power FET 254 can be replaced by any power transistor including a GaN power transistor without affecting the overall functionality of the circuit).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 are 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.
Conclusion
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/WILLIAM HERNANDEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849