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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/22/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/22/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Examiner appreciates the time and effort of the Applicant in the compact prosecution of this case. The amendment to claim 1, which is essentially the limitations of claim 3, has not place the application in condition for allowance.
Applicant argues in pages 6-7 “That is, the capacitor structure 36 in Wang is fixed and dependent on the shapes of the first radiator 34 and the second radiator 32, so that the capacitor structure 36 in Wang cannot be flexibly arranged and selected”. Examiner respectfully disagrees since Applicant is arguing limitations which are not claimed.
Applicant further argues in page 7 “the features of a terminal of the first radiation unit is provided with a feeding point, the feeding point is connected to the chip unit, and the first radiation unit is not grounded in claim 1 is not disclosed in Wang”. Examiner disagrees. The claim does not recite any particular order for the claimed elements, therefore Wang discloses these limitations.
Applicant also argues in page 8 “the feature of the coupling unit comprises a coupling branch for increasing a radiation area of the antenna in claim 1 is not disclosed in Wang”. Examiner disagrees. The coupling branch is the floating portion extending from the coupling end of the second radiation unit acting as a radiation extension of the second radiation unit as taught by Wang in Fig. 6.
If further efforts are made to clarify and fully define the invention, Applicant is advised to consider referencing specific paragraphs, column and line numbers, and/or figures from the cited prior art. While the citations provided are representative and mapped to individual claim limitations, other portions of the references may also be relevant. Incorporating such disclosures may assist the Applicant in preparing a more complete response to this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 20180351238).
Wang et al. disclose:
Regarding claim 1:
(in Figs. 1 and 6) an antenna (100c) for a mobile terminal, comprising: a first radiation unit (defined by 34c and 39c), a second radiation unit (defined by 32c, 37c and 38c adjacent to 37c), a coupling unit (defined by 36c and 38c), and a chip unit (defined by 20 in Fig. 1), wherein: the first radiation unit (defined by 34c and 39c), the second radiation unit (defined by 32c, 37c and 38c adjacent to 37c), the coupling unit (defined by 36c and 38c), and the chip unit (20) are arranged on a mainboard (defined by 200 in Fig. 1), a terminal of the first radiation unit (defined by 34c and 39c) is provided with a feeding point (defined by 40 in Fig. 1), the feeding point (40) is connected to the chip unit (20), another terminal of the first radiation unit (defined by 34c and 39c) is non-electrically connected to a terminal of the second radiation unit (defined by 32c, 37c and 38c adjacent to 37c) through the coupling unit (defined by 36c and 38c), the first radiation unit (defined by 34c and 39c) is not grounded (See Figs.), and another terminal of the second radiation unit (defined by 32c, 37c and 38c adjacent to 37c) is directly grounded (via 32c; See Fig. 6); and the coupling unit (defined by 36c and 38c) comprises a coupling branch (38c) for increasing a radiation area of the antenna (100c).
Regarding claim 9:
the first radiation unit (defined by 34c and 39c), the second radiation unit (defined by 32c, 37c and 38c adjacent to 37c) and the coupling unit (defined by 36c and 38c) form a loop antenna (See Figs.).
Regarding claim 13:
a mobile terminal, comprising the antenna for a mobile terminal (See Abstract; Para. 0002, Lines 1-2) according to claim 1.
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 2 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 20180351238).
Regarding claims 2, 4-5 and 7-8:
Wang et al. (in Figs. 1 and 6) are silent on that the coupling unit comprises a left coupling part and a right coupling part, the left coupling part is connected to a terminal of the second radiation unit, the right coupling part is connected to a terminal of the first radiation unit, and the left coupling part and the right coupling part intersect with each other with a non-electrically connection gap as required by claim 2;
the left coupling part and the right coupling part are configured to have mutually adapted concave-convex structures, and the first radiation unit and the second radiation unit are connected to each other through the mutually adapted concave-convex structures as required by claim 4;
the left coupling part and the right coupling part are configured to have serrated structures, and the first radiation unit and the second radiation unit are connected to each other through the serrated structures as required by claim 5;
the left coupling part and the right coupling part are configured to have U-shape structures with openings opposite each other, and the first radiation unit and the second radiation unit are connected to each other through the U-shape structures with openings opposite each other as required by claim 7; and
the left coupling part and the right coupling part are configured to have helical structures, and the first radiation unit and the second radiation unit are connected to each other through the helical structures as required by claim 8.
Wang et al. (in Figs. 4 and 5) disclose the coupling unit (36) comprises a left coupling part (37) and a right coupling part (35), the left coupling part (37) is connected to a terminal of the second radiation unit (32), the right coupling part (35) is connected to a terminal of the first radiation unit (34), and the left coupling part (37) and the right coupling part (35) intersect with each other with a non-electrically connection gap (See Figs.);
the coupling unit (36) comprises a left coupling part (37) and a right coupling part (35), the left coupling part (37) is connected to a terminal of the second radiation unit (32), the right coupling part (35) is connected to a terminal of the first radiation unit (34), and the left coupling part (37) and the right coupling part (35) intersect with each other with a non-electrically connection gap (See Figs.);
the left coupling part (35b) and the right coupling part (37b) are configured to have serrated structures (See e.g., Figs. 5 and 6), and the first radiation unit (34) and the second radiation unit (32) are connected to each other through the serrated structures (See Figs.);
the left coupling part (35b) and the right coupling part (37b) are configured to have U-shape structures (See e.g., Fig. 5) with openings opposite each other, and the first radiation unit (34) and the second radiation unit (32) are connected to each other through the U-shape structures with openings opposite each other (See Fig.); and
the left coupling part (35b) and the right coupling part (37b) are configured to have helical structures (See e.g., Fig. 5), and the first radiation unit (34) and the second radiation unit (32) are connected to each other through the helical structures (See Figs.).
it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to recognize such combinations of features in embodiments especially since combining two embodiments disclosed adjacent to each other in a prior art patent does not require a leap of inventiveness and the results would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. Boston Sci. Scimed, 554 F.3d at 991.
Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 20180351238) in view of Hsiao et al. (US 20190214730).
Regarding claims 6 and 12:
Wang et al. are silent on that the serrated structures are arranged with equal space distances, and a distance between adjacent serrations of each of the serrated structures ranges from 0.3 mm to 1 mm as required by claim 6; and a width of the gap ranges from 0.2 mm to 1.2 mm as required by claim 12.
Hsiao et al. disclose (e.g. in Fig. 8) the serrated structures (12A, 121 and 122) are arranged with equal space distances (See Fig.), and a distance between adjacent serrations of each of the serrated structures (12A, 121 and 122) ranges from 0.3 mm to 1 mm (See Claim 10); a width of the gap ranges from 0.2 mm to 1.2 mm (See Claim 10).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the gap within the claimed range as taught by Hsiao et al. into the device of Wang et al. for the benefit of allowing the two radiating portions is used to excite a resonant mode having a 0.25-wavelength of the loop antenna, so that the loop antenna operates in at least two frequency bands of a lower frequency band and a higher frequency band (Para. 0035, Lines 2-6).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 20180351238) in view of Mercer et al. (US 20180287650).
Regarding claim 10:
Wang et al. are silent on that comprising a matching unit, wherein the chip unit comprises an SAR control chip and a radio frequency chip, and the feeding point is electrically connected to the chip unit through the matching unit.
Mercer et al. (in Fig. 4) disclose comprising a matching unit (407, 411), wherein the chip unit (420) comprises an SAR control chip (412) and a radio frequency chip (410), and the feeding point (414) is electrically connected to the chip unit (420) through the matching unit (407, 411).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the matching unit with the SAR control chip as taught by Mercer et al. into the antenna device of Wang et al. for the benefit of preventing impedance mismatch and ensure effective power transfer as well known in the art.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 20180351238) in view of Mercer et al. (US 20180287650) as applied to claims 1 and 10 and further in view of Liu (US 20220349839).
Regarding claim 11:
Wang as modified are silent on that the matching unit comprises an inductor and a capacitor, the feeding point is connected to the SAR control chip through an inductor L1, and the feeding point is connected to the radio frequency chip through a capacitor C1 and an impedance adjustment unit.
Mercer et al. disclose (in Fig. 4) the matching unit (407, 411) comprises an inductor (411) and a
capacitor (407), the feeding point (414) is connected to the SAR control chip (412) and the feeding point (414) is connected to the radio frequency chip (410) through a capacitor C1 (407).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the matching unit using discrete elements and the radio frequency chip as taught by Mercer et al. into the device of Wang et al. for the benefit of achieving low insertion loss on the RF transmission line by ensuring higher forward RF power transmitted from the modem to the RF transmitting antenna (Para. 0054, Lines 10-19).
Mak as modified are silent on that the feeding point is connected to the SAR control chip through
an inductor L1 and an impedance adjustment unit.
Liu disclose (in Fig. 7) the feeding point (61 or 62) is connected to the SAR control chip (1) through an inductor L1 (L3 or L8) and an impedance adjustment unit (21 or 22).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the feeding point connected to the SAR control chip through
an inductor and an impedance adjustment unit as taught by Liu into the modified device of Mak so that
the radio frequency signals between an antenna and a power control circuit will not affect a detection port of the SAR sensor and a big capacitance will not affect the SAR detection (Para. 0059, Lines 4-7).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAMIDELE A. IMMANUEL whose telephone number is (571)272-9988. The examiner can normally be reached General IFP Schedule: Mon.-Fri. 8AM - 7PM (Hoteling).
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/BAMIDELE A IMMANUEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845