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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 June 29, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed June 29, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-4, 6-13, and 15-20 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the specification, drawings, and claims have overcome each and every objection and 35 U.S.C. § 112 rejection previously presented in the Final Office Action mailed April 28, 2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 29, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues, see pages 7-9, that previously presented prior art reference Van de Hiden et al. (Patent Publication Number CN 102,237,853 A), hereafter referred to as Van de Hiden, discloses an essential inductor element, and that therefore, a combination with prior art reference Qiu et al. (Patent Publication Number WO 2023/005458 A1), hereafter referred to as Qiu, would render Van de Hiden as unsatisfactory for its intended purpose and change the principle of operation of Van de Hiden. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
However, removing the inductor of Van de Hiden is not part of forming the combination of Van de Hiden and Qiu. Qiu discloses capacitors directly connected between balanced ports of a matching network and ground, but does not explicitly prohibit the presence of inductors. Qiu is used merely to provide capacitors directly connected between balanced ports of a matching network and ground, not to remove the inductors present in the circuit of Van de Hiden, as Qiu discloses that this kind of capacitor connection improves the bandwidth of the power amplifier (Qiu, Page 11, Paragraph 6, lines 1-5). Furthermore, Van de Hiden discloses in Fig. 7, an alternative embodiment with the series inductor-capacitor network of Fig. 5 replaced with a parallel inductor-capacitor network, which shows Van de Hiden recognizing the potential utility of including capacitors directly connected between balanced ports of the matching network and ground, as taught by Qiu. Therefore, the combination of Van de Hiden and Qiu does not render Van de Hiden as unsatisfactory for its intended purpose or change the principle of operation of Van de Hiden. Therefore, applicant’s arguments are unconvincing and the rejections of claims 1-4, 6-13, and 15-20 are maintained.
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.
Claims 1-3, 8-12, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van de Hiden in view of Qiu.
Regarding claim 1, Van de Hiden discloses:
An output matching network (Van de Hiden, Fig. 5, 502) comprising: a first transmission line (Fig. 5, see T1 in modified Fig. 5 below) and a second transmission line (Fig. 5, see T2 in modified Fig. 5 below) each having one end connected to a respective balanced port of a pair of balanced ports (Fig. 5, see connection between T1, T2, and 202 in modified Fig. 5 below) including a first balanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T1 and 202 in modified Fig. 5 below) and a second balanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T2 and 202 in modified Fig. 5 below); a third transmission line (Fig. 5, see T3 in modified Fig. 5 below) having one end connected to an unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T3 and 510 in modified Fig. 5 below); a fourth transmission line (Fig. 5, see T4 in modified Fig. 5 below); a first capacitor (Fig. 5, CS1) connected to the unbalanced port and a load (Fig. 5, see connection between CS1, 510, and RL); and a second capacitor (Fig. 5, CS2) connected to an end of the fourth transmission line (Fig. 5, see connection between CS2 and T4 in modified Fig. 5 below), wherein the third and fourth transmission lines are coupled to the first and second transmission lines, respectively, (Fig. 5, see connections between T1 and T3, and T2 and T4 in modified Fig. 5 below), but fails to disclose wherein the pair of balanced ports are directly connected to a pair of input capacitors including a first input capacitor and a second input capacitor connected to a ground, and wherein the first balanced port is connected to a first end of the first input capacitor and the second balanced port is connected to a second end of the second input capacitor.
However, Qiu teaches wherein the pair of balanced ports are directly connected to a pair of input capacitors (Qiu, Fig. 5, see connection between balanced ports of balun 40 and capacitors C52 and C53) including a first input capacitor (Fig. 5, C52) and a second input capacitor (Fig. 5, C53) connected to a ground (Fig. 5, see connections between capacitors C52 and C53 and ground), and wherein the first balanced port is connected to a first end of the first input capacitor (Fig. 5, see connection between balun 40 and capacitor C52) and the second balanced port is connected to a second end of the second input capacitor (Fig. 5, see connection between balun 40 and capacitor C53).
Van de Hiden and Qiu are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Qiu to include the capacitors of Qiu in the circuit of Van de Hiden, which would have the effect of increasing the bandwidth of the amplifier of Van de Hiden (Qiu, Page 11, Paragraph 6, lines 1-5).
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Regarding claim 2, Van de Hiden fails to disclose:
wherein a capacitance of the first capacitor differs from a capacitance of the second capacitor.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to make the first capacitor have a different capacitance than the second capacitor because it would have been obvious to try. When implementing the disclosed circuit of Van de Hiden, there would be only two options for the relationship between the first and second capacitances: the capacitances being the same, or the capacitances being different. The circuit of Van de Hiden is asymmetric on the side of the first and second capacitances, and therefore it would have been reasonable to expect that different capacitance values would provide optimum signal conversion.
Regarding claim 3, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein each of the first through fourth transmission lines has an electrical length of 90 degrees or less (Van de Hiden, Paragraph 90, lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 8, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein another end of the first transmission line is connected to another end of the second transmission line (Van de Hiden, see connection between T1 and T2 at VDD in modified Fig. 5 above).
Regarding claim 9, Van de Hiden discloses:
A power amplifier network (Van de Hiden, Fig. 5) comprising: a power amplifier (Fig. 5, 202) configured to amplify an input signal to provide an amplified input signal including first and second differential signals, at first and second balanced ports, respectively (Fig. 5, consider differential outputs of 202); an output matching network (Fig. 5, 502) including: an unbalanced port (Fig. 5, 510) at which an unbalanced output signal is output to a load (Fig. 5, see connection between 510 and RL); a balun circuit (Fig. 5, 502) including a plurality of transmission lines (Fig. 5, see T1, T2, T3, and T4 in modified Fig. 5 above) that receive the first and second differential signals (Fig. 5, see connection between T1, T2, and 202 in modified Fig. 5 above), wherein the balun circuit converts the first and second differential signals to the unbalanced output signal at the unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T3, T4, and 510 in modified Fig. 5 above); a first capacitor (Fig. 5, CS1) connected to the unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between CS1, 510, and RL); a second capacitor (Fig. 5, CS2) connected between an end of one transmission line of the plurality of transmission lines and a circuit node of reference potential; (Fig. 5, see connection between T4 and ground via CS2 in modified Fig. 5 above), but fails to disclose and a pair of input capacitors including a first input capacitor and a second input capacitor directly connected to the first and second balanced ports and a ground, wherein the first balanced port is connected to a first end of the first input capacitor and the second balanced port is connected to a second end of the second input capacitor.
However, Qiu teaches and a pair of input capacitors (Qiu, Fig. 5, C52 and C53) including a first input capacitor (Fig. 5, C52) and a second input capacitor (Fig. 5, C53) directly connected to the first and second balanced ports (Fig. 5, see connection between balanced ports of balun 40 and capacitors C52 and C53) and a ground (Fig. 5, see connections between capacitors C52 and C53 and ground), wherein the first balanced port is connected to a first end of the first input capacitor (Fig. 5, see connection between balun 40 and capacitor C52) and the second balanced port is connected to a second end of the second input capacitor (Fig. 5, see connection between balun 40 and capacitor C53).
Van de Hiden and Qiu are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Qiu to include the capacitors of Qiu in the circuit of Van de Hiden, which would have the effect of increasing the bandwidth of the amplifier of Van de Hiden (Qiu, Page 11, Paragraph 6, lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 10, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the one transmission line of the plurality of transmission lines is a fourth transmission line (Van de Hiden, Fig. 5, see T4 in modified Fig. 5 above), and the balun circuit further includes: a first transmission line (Fig. 5, see T1 in modified Fig. 5 above) having one end connected to the first balanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T1 and 202 in modified Fig. 5 above); a second transmission line (Fig. 5, see T2 in modified Fig. 5 above) having one end connected to the second balanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T2 and 202 in modified Fig. 5 above); and a third transmission line (Fig. 5, see T3 in modified Fig. 5 above) having one end connected to the unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T3, 510, and RL in modified Fig. 5 above).
Regarding claim 11, Van de Hiden fails to disclose:
wherein a capacitance of the first capacitor differs from a capacitance of the second capacitor.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to make the first capacitor have a different capacitance than the second capacitor because it would have been obvious to try. When implementing the disclosed circuit of Van de Hiden, there would be only two options for the relationship between the first and second capacitances: the capacitances being the same, or the capacitances being different. The circuit of Van de Hiden is asymmetric on the side of the first and second capacitances, and therefore it would have been reasonable to expect that different capacitance values would provide optimum signal conversion.
Regarding claim 12, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the first through fourth transmission lines each have an electrical length of 90 degrees or less (Van de Hiden, Paragraph 90, lines 1-2).
Regarding claim 16, Van de Hiden discloses:
A wireless communication device (Van de Hiden, Figs. 5 and 15) comprising: a processor (Fig. 15, 1501); a radio frequency (RF) transceiver (Fig. 15, 1503) configured to convert a digital signal generated by the processor into an RF signal (Paragraph 101, lines 1-5); front end circuitry (Fig. 15, 1506 and 1508); and an antenna (Fig. 15, VOUT(t), wherein the front end circuitry includes: a power amplifier (Fig. 5, 202) configured to amplify the RF signal to provide an amplified RF signal including first and second differential signals at first and second balanced ports, respectively (Fig. 5, consider differential outputs of 202); and an output matching network (Fig. 5, 502) including: an unbalanced port (Fig. 5, 510) at which an unbalanced output signal is output to a load (Fig. 5, see connection between 510 and RL); a balun circuit (Fig. 5, 502) including a plurality of transmission lines (Fig. 5, see T1, T2, T3, and T4 in modified Fig. 5 above) that receive the first and second differential signals (Fig. 5, see connection between T1, T2, and 202 in modified Fig. 5 above), wherein the balun circuit converts the first and second differential signals to the unbalanced output signal at the unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T3, T4, and 510 in modified Fig. 5 above); a first capacitor (Fig. 5, CS1) connected to the unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between CS1, 510, and RL); a second capacitor (Fig. 5, CS2) connected between an end of one transmission line of the plurality of transmission lines and a point of reference potential (Fig. 5, see connection between T4 and ground via CS2 in modified Fig. 5 above); wherein the antenna is configured to transmit the unbalanced output signal, (Fig. 15, see connection between antenna at VOUT(t) and power amplifiers 1506/1508), but fails to disclose and a pair of input capacitors including a first input capacitor and a second input capacitor directly connected to the first and second balanced ports and a ground, wherein the first balanced port is connected to a first end of the first input capacitor and the second balanced port is connected to a second end of the second input capacitor.
However, Qiu teaches and a pair of input capacitors (Qiu, Fig. 5, C52 and C53) including a first input capacitor (Fig. 5, C52) and a second input capacitor (Fig. 5, C53) directly connected to the first and second balanced ports (Fig. 5, see connection between balanced ports of balun 40 and capacitors C52 and C53) and a ground (Fig. 5, see connections between capacitors C52 and C53 and ground), wherein the first balanced port is connected to a first end of the first input capacitor (Fig. 5, see connection between balun 40 and capacitor C52) and the second balanced port is connected to a second end of the second input capacitor (Fig. 5, see connection between balun 40 and capacitor C53).
Van de Hiden and Qiu are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Qiu to include the capacitors of Qiu in the circuit of Van de Hiden, which would have the effect of increasing the bandwidth of the amplifier of Van de Hiden (Qiu, Page 11, Paragraph 6, lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 17, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the one transmission line of the plurality of transmission lines is a fourth transmission line (Van de Hiden, Fig. 5, see T4 in modified Fig. 5 above), and the balun circuit further includes: a first transmission line (Fig. 5, see T1 in modified Fig. 5 above) having one end connected to the first balanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T1 and 202 in modified Fig. 5 above); a second transmission line (Fig. 5, see T2 in modified Fig. 5 above) having one end connected to the second balanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T2 and 202 in modified Fig. 5 above); and a third transmission line (Fig. 5, see T3 in modified Fig. 5 above) having one end connected to the unbalanced port (Fig. 5, see connection between T3, 510, and RL in modified Fig. 5 above).
Regarding claim 18, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the load includes the antenna (Van de Hiden, Fig. 15, consider antenna at VOUT(t)).
Regarding claim 19, Van de Hiden fails to disclose:
wherein a capacitance of the first capacitor differs from a capacitance of the second capacitor.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to make the first capacitor have a different capacitance than the second capacitor because it would have been obvious to try. When implementing the disclosed circuit of Van de Hiden, there would be only two options for the relationship between the first and second capacitances: the capacitances being the same, or the capacitances being different. The circuit of Van de Hiden is asymmetric on the side of the first and second capacitances, and therefore it would have been reasonable to expect that different capacitance values would provide optimum signal conversion.
Regarding claim 20, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the first through fourth transmission lines each have an electrical length of 90 degrees or less (Van de Hiden, Paragraph 90, lines 1-2).
Claims 4, 7, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van de Hiden as applied to claims 1 (for claims 4 and 7) and 10 (for claim 13) above, and further in view of Ilkov et al. (Patent Publication Number US 2007/0057745 A1), hereafter referred to as Ilkov.
Regarding claim 4, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the first and third transmission lines are electromagnetically coupled to one another (Van de Hiden, Fig. 5, see connection between T1 and T3 in modified Fig. 5 above), and the second and fourth transmission lines are electromagnetically coupled to one another (Fig. 5, see connection between T2 and T4 in modified Fig. 5 above), but fails to disclose and [the first and third transmission lines] are disposed parallel to each other in a horizontal or vertical direction, and [the second and fourth transmission lines] are disposed parallel to each other in the horizontal or vertical direction.
However, Ilkov teaches and [the first and third transmission lines] are disposed parallel to each other in a horizontal or vertical direction (Ilkov, Fig. 8, see vertically parallel lines 1012 and 1004), and [the second and fourth transmission lines] are disposed parallel to each other in the horizontal or vertical direction (Fig. 8, see vertically parallel lines 1016 and 1008).
Van de Hiden and Ilkov are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Ilkov to implement the transformer of Van de Hiden with the layout structure of the transformer of Ilkov, which would have the effect of providing a transformer that can be implemented on a printed circuit board (Ilkov, Paragraph 7, lines 1-6).
Regarding claim 7, Van de Hiden fails to disclose:
wherein another end of each of the first and second transmission lines is grounded.
However, Ilkov teaches wherein another end of each of the first and second transmission lines is grounded (Ilkov, Fig. 8, see connection between 1012, 1016, and ground).
Van de Hiden and Ilkov are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Ilkov to implement the transformer of Van de Hiden with the layout structure of the transformer of Ilkov, which would have the effect of providing a transformer that can be implemented on a printed circuit board (Ilkov, Paragraph 7, lines 1-6).
Regarding claim 13, Van de Hiden further discloses:
wherein the first and third transmission lines are electromagnetically coupled to one another (Van de Hiden, Fig. 5, see connection between T1 and T3 in modified Fig. 5 above) and the second and fourth transmission lines are electromagnetically coupled to one another (Fig. 5, see connection between T2 and T4 in modified Fig. 5 above) but fails to disclose and [the first and third transmission lines] disposed parallel to each other in a horizontal or vertical direction, and [the second and fourth transmission lines] disposed parallel to each other in the horizontal or vertical direction.
However, Ilkov teaches and [the first and third transmission lines] disposed parallel to each other in a horizontal or vertical direction (Ilkov, Fig. 8, see vertically parallel lines 1012 and 1004), and [the second and fourth transmission lines] disposed parallel to each other in the horizontal or vertical direction (Fig. 8, see vertically parallel lines 1016 and 1008).
Van de Hiden and Ilkov are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Ilkov to implement the transformer of Van de Hiden with the layout structure of the transformer of Ilkov, which would have the effect of providing a transformer that can be implemented on a printed circuit board (Ilkov, Paragraph 7, lines 1-6).
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Van de Hiden as applied to claims 1 and 10, respectively, above, and further in view of Yao (Patent Publication Number CN 108,879,057 A), hereafter referred to as Yao.
Regarding claim 6, Van de Hiden fails to disclose:
wherein an odd-mode characteristic impedance and an even-mode characteristic impedance of each of the first through fourth transmission lines are adjusted based on the first and second capacitors.
However, Yao teaches wherein an odd-mode characteristic impedance and an even-mode characteristic impedance of each of the first through fourth transmission lines are adjusted based on the first and second capacitors (Yao, Page 4, lines 22-28).
Van de Hiden and Yao are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Yao to modify the odd and even mode characteristic impedances of the transmission lines of Van de Hiden based on the capacitors of Van de Hiden, which would have the effect of optimizing circuit performance (Yao, Page 4, lines 22-28).
Regarding claim 15, Van de Hiden fails to disclose:
wherein an odd-mode characteristic impedance and an even-mode characteristic impedance of each of the first through fourth transmission lines are adjusted based on the first and second capacitors.
However, Yao teaches wherein an odd-mode characteristic impedance and an even-mode characteristic impedance of each of the first through fourth transmission lines are adjusted based on the first and second capacitors (Yao, Page 4, lines 22-28).
Van de Hiden and Yao are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of improving power amplifiers used in radio frequency communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified Van de Hiden to incorporate the teachings of Yao to modify the odd and even mode characteristic impedances of the transmission lines of Van de Hiden based on the capacitors of Van de Hiden, which would have the effect of optimizing circuit performance (Yao, Page 4, lines 22-28).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Qureshi (Patent Publication Number US 2017/0077873 A1) discloses (Fig. 6) a transmission line transformer balun for output matching for a power amplifier.
Serebryakova et al “Reconstruction Filters for Switched-Mode Power Amplifier Systems” discloses (Fig. 2) a transmission line transformer with less than 90 degree transmission lines.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lance T Bartol whose telephone number is (703)756-1267. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 6:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CT, Alternating Fridays 6:30 - 3:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached at 571-272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LANCE TORBJORN BARTOL/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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