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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 12, 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by Hashimoto (US 2022/0239256).
Hashimoto teaches a superconducting quantum circuit (para. 0002) comprising a first resonator configured to have a SQUID and a capacitor that forms a closed loop together with the SQUID (fig. 27; para. 0144), a control line configured to be connected to a first control port and magnetically coupled to the SQUID (does not require a connection to a control port, only that the control is able to be connected to a first control port; para. 0080), a first line configured to have a characteristic impedance that indicates a first impedance value and a second line configured to be provided closer to a portion magnetically coupled to the SQUID than the first line and have a characteristic impedance that indicates a second impedance value being different from the first impedance value (tip of the branch 11041 (first line) is wider than the portion of the branch (second line) such that the impedance of the first line is necessarily different from the second line (para. 0083).
Regarding claim 12, Hashimoto teaches that impedance of the control line is 50 ohms (para. 0208).
Regarding claim 14, Hashimoto teaches the control line has a curved portion being partially curved (fig. 2, #1104; para. 0080).
Regarding claim 15, Hashimoto teaches an air bridge configured to be formed to surround the control line (para. 0103).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashimoto.
Regarding claim 13, Hashimoto teaches that the impedance of the control line is 50 ohms. While Hashimoto does not explicitly teach the difference between the second and the first impedance value, it would have been obvious to provide the difference overlapping with the claimed difference through routine experimentation as Hashimoto teaches that the width of the control varies throughout the line (see fig. 3A, #11041; para. 0083).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-11 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: the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest supplying a control signal from outside to the first control port in combination with the limitations of claims 1 and 2.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest one end of the control line is connected to the first control port in combination with the limitations of claims 1 and 4.
The prior art fails to teach or suggest a third line such that the second line is sandwiched between the third line and the first line and having an impedance that indicates the first impedance in combination with the limitations of claims 1 and 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL A WARTALOWICZ whose telephone number is (571)272-5957. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9 am - 5 pm.
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/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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