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 .
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)(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) s 1, 3, 5-7, 9, 11-15, 17, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mueller et al. (hereinafter, “Mueller”, US Pat No. 2012/0243446).
As per claim 1, Mueller disclosed a radio frequency front end system (see fig. 7-12) including a ganged filter (see at least fig. 7, ganged filter 600-2 & 600-1; fig. 8, ganged filter 600-2 & 600-1) configured to filter a transmit signal on a plurality of transmit bands (see at least 0048-0052 & 0063); a power amplifier (see at least fig. 7, 720; fig. 8, PA 820) configured to amplify the transmit signal, and directly coupled to the ganged filter; receive circuitry (see at least fig. 7, receiver module 730) configured to receive a receive signal on a plurality of receive bands (see at least 0048-0052 & 0063); and an antenna switch module (see at least fig. 7-8, 710) coupled to the ganged filter and an antenna (see at least fig. 7-8, 10), the antenna switch module having more than one throw connected to the ganged filter (see at least fig. 7, the antenna switch 710 comprises at least 2 throws and wherein the at 2 throws directly connected to the ganged filter), the antenna switch module configured to selectively combine at least one transmit path with at least one receive path according to the plurality of receive bands, the plurality of transmit bands and the plurality of receive bands having no frequency overlap when concurrently active (see 0040 and 0049-0059).
As per claims 3, 9, and 17, Mueller disclosed the plurality of transmit bands have no frequency overlap when concurrently active (see at least fig. 6A, 0049-0050 and 0072).
As per claims 5,11, and 20, Mueller disclosed the radio frequency front end system has no band select switch (see at least fig. 7, 720, 0048, it is clear that no switch is needed to selected the desired band) coupled between an output of the amplifier and the ganged filter.
As per claims 6, 12, and 19, Mueller disclosed the radio frequency front end system is a multi-input and multi-output module (see fig. 7-12).
As per claim 7, as rejected above in claim 1, a transceiver; and a radio frequency front end module coupled to the transceiver (see fig. 7-12).
As per claim 1, Mueller disclosed the ganged filter including a plurality of transmit filters ganged on a power amplifier output side (see at least fig. 7, transmit filers B1 Tx, B2 Tx, B3 Tx, B4 Tx, B5 Tx, and B8 Tx).
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) 2, 4, 8, 10, 16, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mueller.
As per claims 2, 4, 8, 10, 16, and 18, Muller does not explicitly disclose that the radio frequency front end system utilized an E-UTRAN New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) module. However, such is notoriously well known in the art that the examiner takes Official Notice of such. Therefore, it would been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the at the time of invention for Mueller to utilize such a Non Standalone feature, well-known, in order to make it possible for mobile devices to access both 5G and 4G LTE networks at the same time, which allows carriers to tap into the benefits of both network technologies simultaneously.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 04/01/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
As per claims 1, 7, and 13-14, the Applicant’s disclosed that, “Mueller does not disclose or suggest at least, the antenna switch module having more than one throw connected to the ganged filter, as presently recited in independent claim 1 or the antenna switch module having more than one throw connected to the ganged filter, as presently recited in independent claim 7”. In response to the applicant, see rejection above in claim 1.
As per claim 13, the Applicant’s disclosed that, “Mueller does not disclose or suggest at least, the ganged filter including a plurality of transmit filters ganged on a power amplifier output side, as presently recited in independent claim 13”. In response to the applicant, see rejection above in claim 13.
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 extension fee 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.
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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October 26, 2025
/PABLO N TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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