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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "wherein r is a radius of the silicon ball" in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "wherein r is a radius of the silicon ball" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7, 12-14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong et al. (US 2019/0103671) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2001/0022639).
As to claim 1, Dong discloses in figures 2 and 8, a liquid crystal phase shifter comprising a metal trace layer 108, a frame sealing adhesive 1042, and two separately arranged transparent substrates 101 and 102; the frame sealing adhesive 1042 is disposed between the two transparent substrates 101 and 102, the frame sealing adhesive 1042 encloses a first cavity, a first part of the metal trace layer 108 is located inside the first cavity, and a second part of the metal trace layer is located outside the first cavity; the second part is disposed on first surfaces of the two transparent substrates, wherein the first surfaces refer to surfaces that face each other of the two transparent substrates.
Dong does not disclose metal cushion layers provided between the frame sealing adhesive and the first surfaces of the two transparent substrates, whereby a spacing between the two transparent substrates tends to be constant. Kwak discloses in figures 7-8, metal cushion layers 36 provided between the frame sealing adhesive 30 and the first surface of substrate 20, whereby a constant cell gap between the upper and lower plates can be obtained. This provides an excellent cell gap uniformity. See paragraph [0033]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dong by providing metal cushion layers provided between the frame sealing adhesive between the frame sealing adhesive and the first surfaces of the two transparent substrates as disclosed by Kwak in order to obtain excellent cell gap uniformity.
As to claim 2, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Dong further discloses in figure 8, wherein the metal trace layer 108 comprises at least two metal trance strips arranged parallel to each other. Kwak further discloses in figure 7, each of the metal cushion layers 36 provided on two sides of the metal trace strips 15 comprises three metal cushion blocks separately arranged.
As to claim 3, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Kwak further in figure 8, wherein a dimension of each of the metal cushion layers in a first direction and a dimension of the metal trace layer 15 in the first direction are equal, wherein the first direction refers to a direction perpendicular to the planes where the transparent substrates are located.
As to claim 7, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 2, but does not disclose wherein distances from one instance of the metal cushion blocks that is disposed between the two metal-trace strips arranged parallelly to the metal-trace strips are greater than or equal to 0.9 micrometers, and less than or equal to 1.1 micrometers. However, it was known to optimize this distance based on the size of the device and the number of metal trace strips, which dictated the spacing between adjacent metal trace strips such that the claimed distance was half of this spacing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Dong wherein distances from one instance of the metal cushion blocks that is disposed between the two metal-trace strips arranged parallelly to the metal-trace strips are greater than or equal to 0.9 micrometers, and less than or equal to 1.1 micrometers because optimization of a result effective variable involved only routing experimentation. See MPEP 2144.05, Section II.
As to claim 12, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Dong further discloses an antenna device, wherein the antenna device comprises the liquid crystal phase shifter disclosed in figures 2 and 8. See abstract.
As to claim 13, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 12. Dong further discloses in figure 8, wherein the metal trace layer 108 comprises at least two metal trance strips arranged parallel to each other. Kwak further discloses in figure 7, each of the metal cushion layers 36 provided on two sides of the metal trace strips 15 comprises three metal cushion blocks separately arranged.
As to claim 14, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 12. Kwak further in figure 8, wherein a dimension of each of the metal cushion layers in a first direction and a dimension of the metal trace layer 15 in the first direction are equal, wherein the first direction refers to a direction perpendicular to the planes where the transparent substrates are located.
As to claim 18, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 13, but does not disclose wherein distances from one instance of the metal cushion blocks that is disposed between the two metal-trace strips arranged parallelly to the metal-trace strips are greater than or equal to 0.9 micrometers, and less than or equal to 1.1 micrometers. However, it was known to optimize this distance based on the size of the device and the number of metal trace strips, which dictated the spacing between adjacent metal trace strips such that the claimed distance was half of this spacing. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Dong wherein distances from one instance of the metal cushion blocks that is disposed between the two metal-trace strips arranged parallelly to the metal-trace strips are greater than or equal to 0.9 micrometers, and less than or equal to 1.1 micrometers because optimization of a result effective variable involved only routing experimentation. See MPEP 2144.05, Section II.
Claims 8-11 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong et al. (US 2019/0103671) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2001/0022639) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Wu et al. (US 2013/0335691).
As to claim 8, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein supporting assemblies are provided between the transparent substrates located inside the first cavity, and one instance of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on one of the two transparent substrates is cooperatively connected to one instance of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on the other of the transparent substrates. Wu discloses in figure 2, supporting assemblies (spacer 102) provided between the transparent substrates located inside the first cavity, and one instance (recess platform 207) of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on one (substrate 201) of the two substrates is cooperatively connected to one instance (columnar platform 209) of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on the other (substrate 202) of the transparent substrates. Wu discloses in paragraph [0042], the this spacer structure prevents the two substrates from sliding and shifting, increasing the elasticity and resist pressure of the spacer. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Dong by providing the spacer structure disclosed by Wu in order to prevent the two substrates from sliding and shifting and increase the elasticity and resist pressure of the spacer.
As to claim 9, Dong in view of Kwak and Wu discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 8. Wu further discloses in figure 2, wherein the supporting assemblies 102 comprise at least two snap-fitting members 209 and at least two biting members 207; one instance of the snap-fitting members 209 that is disposed on one (substrate 202) of the two transparent substrates is snap-fitted to one instance of the biting members 207 that is disposed on the other (substrate 201) of the transparent substrates; and one instance of the biting members 207 that is disposed on one (substrate 201) of the two transparent substrates is snap-fitted to one instance of the snap-fitting members 209 that is disposed on the other (substrate 202) of the transparent substrates.
As to claim 10, Dong in view of Kwak and Wu discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 9. Wu further discloses in figure 2, wherein a cross section of each of the snap-fitting members 209 in a second direction is trapezoidal (section 210 and 212 are both trapezoidal), and a cross section of each of the biting members 207 in the second direction has a trapezoidal slot 208, wherein the second direction refers to a direction perpendicular to planes where the transparent substrates are located.
As to claim 11, Dong in view of Kwak and Wu discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 10. Wu further discloses in figure 2, wherein the cross section of each of the snap-fitting members 209 in the second direction is an isosceles-trapezoidal cross section (section 210 and 212 are both isosceles-trapezoidal); the cross section of each of the biting members 207 in the second direction has an isosceles-trapezoidal slot 208; and a dimension of the isosceles-trapezoidal cross section in a first direction is two thirds of a distance between the two transparent substrates (the height of isosceles-trapezoidal shaped sections 210 and 212 combined is two thirds of the distance between the substrates).
As to claim 19, Dong in view of Kwak discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 12, but does not disclose wherein supporting assemblies are provided between the transparent substrates located inside the first cavity, and one instance of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on one of the two transparent substrates is cooperatively connected to one instance of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on the other of the transparent substrates. Wu discloses in figure 2, supporting assemblies (spacer 102) provided between the transparent substrates located inside the first cavity, and one instance (recess platform 207) of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on one (substrate 201) of the two substrates is cooperatively connected to one instance (columnar platform 209) of the supporting assemblies that is disposed on the other (substrate 202) of the transparent substrates. Wu discloses in paragraph [0042], the this spacer structure prevents the two substrates from sliding and shifting, increasing the elasticity and resist pressure of the spacer. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Dong by providing the spacer structure disclosed by Wu in order to prevent the two substrates from sliding and shifting and increase the elasticity and resist pressure of the spacer.
As to claim 20, Dong in view of Kwak and Wu discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 19. Wu further discloses in figure 2, wherein the supporting assemblies 102 comprise at least two snap-fitting members 209 and at least two biting members 207; one instance of the snap-fitting members 209 that is disposed on one (substrate 202) of the two transparent substrates is snap-fitted to one instance of the biting members 207 that is disposed on the other (substrate 201) of the transparent substrates; and one instance of the biting members 207 that is disposed on one (substrate 201) of the two transparent substrates is snap-fitted to one instance of the snap-fitting members 209 that is disposed on the other (substrate 202) of the transparent substrates.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 and 15-16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art taught or fairly suggested a liquid crystal phase shifter comprising the combination required by claim 4, wherein the frame sealing adhesive comprises a plurality of silicon balls; and one instance of the silicon balls is lap-joined to two neighboring instances of the metal cushion blocks, and a spacing d between the two neighboring instances of the metal cushion blocks is equal to 4m(2r-m)1/2, wherein r is a radius of the silicon ball, and m is a distance between a midpoint of a connecting line between contact points of the silicon ball with the two neighboring instances of the metal cushion blocks and a bottom of the silicon ball. Claim 5 is objected to by virtue of its dependency.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art taught or fairly suggested an antenna comprising the combination required by claim 15, wherein the frame sealing adhesive comprises a plurality of silicon balls; and one instance of the silicon balls is lap-joined to two neighboring instances of the metal cushion blocks, and a spacing d between the two neighboring instances of the metal cushion blocks is equal to 4m(2r-m)1/2, wherein r is a radius of the silicon ball, and m is a distance between a midpoint of a connecting line between contact points of the silicon ball with the two neighboring instances of the metal cushion blocks and a bottom of the silicon ball. Claim 16 is objected to by virtue of its dependency.
Conclusion
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/DAVID Y CHUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2871