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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II in the reply filed on 09/12/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 7-9 and 14-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group I, Group II, and Group IV, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 09/12/25.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6, 10-13 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, 12, and 19, the claim limitation, “a second input port configured to receive an intermediate-frequency signal of a second mode sent by the RF transceiver”, renders the claims being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Is this RF transceiver the same as the one in the first mode or a different RF transceiver? Dependent claims 2-6 & 10-11, 13, and 20, respectively, are rejected for the same reasoning. Appropriate correction required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 11-13, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin et al. (hereinafter “Lin”, US Pat No. 2016/0036390).
As per claim 1, Lin disclosed a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier module integrated duplexer (PA Mid) device (see fig. 1-2), arranged with a first input port configured to receive a high-frequency signal of a first mode sent by a RF transceiver (see fig. 1, 120, 0018), a second input port configured to receive an intermediate-frequency signal of a second mode sent by the RF transceiver, and a first antenna port configured to connect an antenna (see fig. 1, 150); wherein the RF PA Mid device comprises a first switch (see fig. 1, 130), comprising two first ends and a second end, wherein the two first ends of the first switch are respectively connected with the first input port and the second input port in one-to-one correspondence, and the first switch is configured to selectively output the high-frequency signal of the first mode or the intermediate-frequency signal of the second mode (see 0019); a plurality of first power amplifiers (see fig. 1, 140 and fig. 2, 210, 215 & 220), wherein each of the plurality of first power amplifiers comprises an input end and an output end, the input end of each of the plurality of first power amplifiers is connected with the second end of the first switch respectively (the input end of each amplifier is connected to the Input coupling Block 205 and wherein the block 205 is connected to the selector 130), and each of the plurality of first power amplifiers is configured to support amplification processing of the high-frequency signal and the intermediate-frequency signal (see 0021); and a first power combiner (see fig. 2, 230), comprising a plurality of input ends and an output end, wherein the plurality of input ends of the first power combiner are respectively connected with the output ends of the plurality of first power amplifiers in one-to-one correspondence (see fig. 2), the output end of the first power combiner is connected with the first antenna port, and the first power combiner is configured to combine output powers of the plurality of first power amplifiers to output an intermediate-frequency signal with target power or a high-frequency signal with target power.
As per claim 2, Lin disclosed a first power divider, comprising an input end and a plurality of output ends, wherein the input end of the first power divider is connected with the second end of the first switch, the plurality of output ends of the first power divider are respectively connected with the input ends of the plurality of first power amplifiers in one-to-one correspondence, and the first power divider is configured to perform power allocation processing on the high-frequency signal of the first mode and the intermediate-frequency signal of the second mode (it is clear that the Input coupling Block 205 carries out the function of a power divider depending on how the communication signal is/are coupled to the plurality of amplifiers).
As per claim 3, Lin disclosed the number of the plurality of first power amplifiers is two (see 0020).
As per claim 11, Lin disclosed the first mode is 2G communication mode, and the second mode is 4G communication mode (see 0015, 0018, 0019, and at least 0030).
As per claim 12, as rejected above in claim 1, Lin further disclosed RF transceiver (see fig. 1, 120 & 125); and an antenna set (see fig. 1, 150), connected to the antenna port of the RF PA Mid device and configured to transmit and receive a RF signal.
As per claim 13, Lin disclosed the RF PA Mid device comprises one antenna port, and the antenna set comprises a first antenna connected with the antenna port (see fig. 1).
As per claim 19, as rejected above in claim 1, Lin further disclosed a power module, connected with the RF PA Mid device and configured to provide a power voltage for the RF PA Mid device (see 0028-0029, it is inherently the communication apparatus required a power module to provide the needed anergy resource in order to operate).
As per claim 20, as rejected above in claim 19, Lin further disclosed the power module comprises a fixed voltage source or an adjustable voltage source (see 0028-0029).
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.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin.
As per claim 10, Lin further disclosed power supply are provide in accordance to communication signals of different communication protocols (see 0028-0029) but not explicitly in a range from 4.2V to 6V. However, such voltage range is not inventive and it is an obvious choice of normal design options.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Pablo Tran whose telephone number is (571)272-7898. The examiner normal hours are 9:30 -5:00 (Monday-Friday). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jinsong Hu, can be reached at (571)272-3965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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December 16, 2025
/PABLO N TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643