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 December 23, 2025 has been entered. The Applicant amended claim 1. Claim 1 remains pending in the application.
Applicant's arguments filed December 23, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding claim 1, the applicant argues “In the rejection of claim 1, the Examiner concedes that Chou fails to disclose ‘wherein the mounting unit includes a plurality of directly opposing slits provided therein that extend in the second direction to define a narrow portion disposed between the plurality of directly opposing slits’ and further cites to Ng, at (j) in Fig. 26, as allegedly teaching the deficiencies. However, as shown in FIG. 26 of Ng reproduced below, Ng does not teach or suggest ‘wherein the grounding unit includes a plurality of directly opposing slits provided therein that extend in the second direction to define a narrow portion disposed between the plurality of directly opposing slits and a wide portion at opposing sides of the plurality of directly opposing slits in the first direction.’ As such, Chou and Ng, alone and in combination, fail to disclose the features of claim 1 and thus claim 1 is patentable over the cited art.” This argument is unpersuasive, Ng teaches in the (j) embodiment of Fig. 26, wherein the grounding unit includes a plurality of directly opposing slits (slits in (j)) provided therein that extend in a second direction to define a narrow portion (narrow portion of (j)) disposed between the plurality of directly opposing slits (slits in (j)) and a wide portion (top portion and bottom portion of (j)) at opposing sides of the plurality of directly opposing slits (slits in (j)) in the first direction.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou et al. (US PGPUB 2004/0135733 A1), hereinafter known as Chou, in view of Ng et al. (US PGPUB 2014/0320363 A1), hereinafter known as Ng.
Regarding claim 1, Chou teaches (Fig. 1-3) An antenna device (Fig. 1-3) comprising: an antenna substrate (12); and an antenna element (10) that is connected to the antenna substrate (12), wherein the antenna element (10) includes: an antenna unit (101-103) that is arranged at a position separated by a predetermined length from a substrate surface of the antenna substrate in a first direction that is a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface of the antenna substrate ([0020]), in such a way as to be parallel to the substrate surface of the antenna substrate (12); a grounding unit (side of 10 with 105; [0019]) that is connected continuous to the antenna unit (101-103) and grounded to the antenna substrate (12); and a feeding unit (104) that is connected continuous to the antenna unit (101-103) and feeds power to the antenna unit (101-103), the grounding unit (105) is provided with a grounding body (side of 10 with 105) that is connected continuous to the antenna unit (101-103) on one side in the first direction, and a mounting unit (105) that is connected continuous to another side of the grounding body (side of 10 with 105) in the first direction and mounted on the antenna substrate (12), and the mounting unit is provided with a plurality of mounting pieces (105) that are spaced apart along a second direction intersecting the first direction but does not specifically teach wherein the grounding unit includes a plurality of directly opposing slits provided therein that extend in the second direction to define a narrow portion disposed between the plurality of directly opposing slits and a wide portion at opposing sides of the plurality of directly opposing slits in the first direction.
However, Ng teaches (Fig. 26) wherein the grounding unit includes a plurality of directly opposing slits (slits in (j)) provided therein that extend in a second direction to define a narrow portion (narrow portion of (j)) disposed between the plurality of directly opposing slits (slits in (j)) and a wide portion (top portion and bottom portion of (j)) at opposing sides of the plurality of directly opposing slits (slits in (j)) in the first direction.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the antenna device of Chou with Ng to include “wherein the grounding unit includes a plurality of directly opposing slits provided therein that extend in the second direction to define a narrow portion disposed between the plurality of directly opposing slits and a wide portion at opposing sides of the plurality of directly opposing slits in the first direction,” as taught by Ng, for the purpose of improving bandwidth at a desired frequency (see also [0055]).
Conclusion
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the entire reference as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONCHAN J KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-3204. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/DAMEON E LEVI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/YONCHAN J KIM/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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