2DETAILED ACTION
1. This is the first action on the merits relating to U.S. Application Serial No. 18/387,067 filed on November 6, 2023. Currently claims 1-21 remain in the examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
3. Applicant’s claiming benefit of US provisional application is acknowledged (see paragraph 0001 of the specification).
Drawings
4. Drawings originally filed on November 6, 2023 is approved.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-6, 9, and 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2002/0045398 A1 to Havskjold et al. (cited by Applicant, hereinafter “Havskjold”).
Regarding claim 1, Havskjold discloses a wireless charging module 100 comprising an housing that defines an enclosure 190 (see figure 1B and paragraphs 0061 – 0063 and thereafter); an inductive charging coil 150 (see paragraph 0070) within the housing operably for transferring power wirelessly through a charging surface of the wireless charging module; an alignment magnet 122 and a corresponding magnet (see paragraphs 0066, 0067, and figure 1B and 2) for aligning the mobile device on the charging surface of the wireless charging module; and a near-field communication (NFC) antenna 140 extending across the inductive charging coil 150 (see figure 2).
Regarding claim 2, as shown in figures 1B, and 2-5, the NFC antenna 140 extends along a sufficient portion of an entirety or substantial entirety of the charging surface of the wireless charging module 100 (see paragraphs 0070 and 0077).
Regarding claim 3, a phone or any device to be charged can be placed on any side of the wireless charging module (see paragraph 0018, 0115, and figure 13).
Regarding claim 4, as shown in figure 17A, the magnetic alignment item can be enclosed within the circle which would be the outline of the NFC coil and other component (see figure 17A and paragraph 0138).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, as shown in figure 2 (also see paragraphs 0070 and 0077), the Near-field communication antenna 140 is a thin antenna disposed between the front surface and back surface. The components parts of the wireless charging module can be implemented with stamping, forging, metal-injection molding and 3-D printing (see paragraph 0215).
Regarding claim 9, as shown in figure 5, the magnetitic element can be in a fragmented circular form.
Regarding claim 13, NFC antenna is connected to the supporting circuitry (see paragraph 0114) which is a part of NFC subsystem (see paragraph 0201 and thereafter) and communicate with the NFC reader (see paragraph 0204).
Regarding claim 14, NFC communication coil 140 and additional charging coil 150 can be covered with E-shield 151 (see figure 2 and paragraph 0070).
Regarding claim 15, as shown in figure 17A, the magnetic element can be a circular form (see figure 17A and paragraphs 0038 and 0138), and figure 5 shows that the magnetic array 120 is bigger and surrounds the coil 140 (see paragraph 0067).
Regarding claim 16, as shown in figure 14A, the magnetic alignment system can be in full circle and in another embodiment, the magnetic alignment system is annular with an open end (see figure 5).
Regarding claim 17, as shown in figure 5, the magnetic array 120 can be attached to shield 160 (see paragraph 0071).
Regarding claim 18, see the description for claim 17 above. Figure 5 shows the structure of the wireless charging module’ structure enclosing and supporting the component parts.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 7, 8, 10-12, and 19-21 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.
9. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims are directed at a wireless charging module comprising:
a housing that defines an enclosure;
an inductive charging coil within the housing, the inductive charging coil configured to be operable for transferring power wirelessly through a charging surface of the wireless charging module;
a magnetic alignment component configured to magnetically couple with a complementary magnetic alignment component of a mobile device for aligning the mobile device on the charging surface of the wireless charging module;
a near-field communication (NFC) antenna extending across the inductive charging coil, whereby the NFC antenna is configured to enable communication with a mobile device having an NFC antenna when the mobile device is placed on the charging surface; and
wherein: the housing includes a top cover having opposite upper and lower sides; and the NFC antenna comprises antenna structure defined by selective metallization along either or both of the opposite upper and lower sides of the top cover.
The wireless charging module is neither disclosed nor suggested by the cited reference. Even if some teachings may be found in other references, Examiner finds no grounds to combine them. This is a combination of claims 1 and 7 as an example. The limitations in other objected claims are also allowable.
Conclusion
The pertinent prior arts made of record but not relied are listed in the attached form PTO-892. These are considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Applicant is respectfully suggested to carefully review these references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ahshik Kim whose telephone number is (571)272-2393. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday. Examiner’s fax phone number is (571)273-2393.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached on (571)272-3689. The fax phone number for this Group is (571)273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [ahshik.kim@uspto.gov].
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/AHSHIK KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
June 25, 2026
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