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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The claim 1 recited “compliant with RFID” is a new matter which does not described in the specification.
Claims 2-20 are rejected as dependent on claim 1.
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) 1-6, 9-15, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murata MFG, Co., LTD (WO 2017/145879 A1 and a English translation attachment) in view of Murata MFG, Co., LTD (JP 2011-134049 A) refer as Murata2.
Claim 1, Murata discloses a short-range wireless communication device compatible with NFC (see English translation attachment: para [0027]… The short-range wireless communication system is, for example, a system using NFC (Near Field Communication). NFC is a short-range wireless communication method that uses magnetic field coupling in the near field…) and compliant with RFID standard (new matter not consider) and having a power-receiving function (see para: [0026]-[0038], [0055]-[0065], Figs. 1-3, 16-19), the short-range wireless communication device comprising:
a power-receiving coil (coil 12, Fig. 16) configured for both power reception in
wireless power supply utilizing short-range radio and reception in wireless data
communication utilizing the short-range radio;
a power-receiving resonance circuit in which the power-receiving coil and two or
more resonance capacitors (L1 and C1-C4, Fig. 3) configure a resonance circuit; and
a wireless communication circuit compatible with NFC (communication 14, Fig. 16 and see English translation attachment: para [0027]… The short-range wireless communication system is, for example, a system using NFC (Near Field Communication)…) and compliant with RFID standard (new matter not consider) and a load circuit (load 11, Fig. 16) each of which is electrically connected with the power-receiving resonance circuit, the load circuit being configured to perform an operation using electric power, wherein the power-receiving resonance circuit includes
a receiving circuit (circuit 51 shows in Figs. 3 or 17 and described in "the circuit
51 and matching circuit 21 share capacitors C1, C3 and the communication IC 52 is
connected to the matching circuit 21 via the circuit 51" in para [0036]) in configured to
supply a communication voltage to the wireless communication circuit compatible with NFC (see English translation attachment: para [0027]… The short-range wireless communication system is, for example, a system using NFC (Near Field Communication)…) and compliant with RFID standard (new matter not consider) from the power-receiving coil, and
a power-receiving circuit (power receiving circuit 73, Fig. 16) configured to supply
a power-reception current to the load circuit from the power-receiving coil,
the receiving circuit and the power-receiving circuit have a common circuit
portion (C1 and C3, Figs. 3, 17),
the two or more resonance capacitors include a first resonance capacitor (C1,
Figs. 3, 17) and a second resonance capacitor (C3, Figs. 3, 17) in the common circuit
portion,
the second resonance capacitor is electrically connected in series to the power-
receiving coil to configure a series resonance circuit together with the power-receiving
coil, and the series resonance circuit is configured to perform a series resonance
operation at the frequency of the alternating magnetic field of the outside (capacitors
C1-C4, Figs. 3 and 17 which described in the recitation "the inductor L1 and capacitors
C1-C4 compose a resonant circuit that resonates at the frequency used by the
contactless power transmission system, and the capacitors C1-C4 correspond to the
above mentioned resonant capacitors" in para [0035]), and
with an impedance adjusting circuit (matching circuit 81, Fig. 16) including the
series resonance circuit, a wireless-communication output impedance of the receiving
circuit with respect to the wireless communication circuit, and
a power-reception output impedance of the power-receiving circuit with respect to the load circuit, and operations of both of the receiving circuit and the power-receiving
circuit are performed in parallel (Corresponding to the matter described in "when the
near-field wireless communication system is operating, the coil antenna 12 of the
antenna device 10 and the coil antenna 31 of the communication device 30 are
magnetically coupled, and communication thereby takes place between the communication circuit 14 of the antenna device 10 and the communication circuit 32 of
the communication device 30; when the contactless power transmission system is
operating, the coil antenna 12 of the antenna device 10 and the coil antenna 41 of the
power transmission device 40 are magnetically coupled, and power is thereby
transmitted from the power transmission circuit 42 of the transmission device 40 to the power reception circuit 13 of the antenna device 10" in para [0028]).
Thus, Murata discloses the invention substantially as claimed, but does not
disclose a resonance capacitor is electrically connected in parallel to the power-
receiving coil.
In the same field of endeavor, Murata2 discloses a resonant capacitor being
electrically connected in parallel with a power-receiving coil (secondary side antenna
coil 210 and resonant capacitor Cr shown in Fig. 2(B) and see para: [0051]-[0089]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention was made to combine the series resonant circuit of Murata with
a parallel resonant circuit of Murata2, in order to form a parallel series resonant circuit
for achieving input impedance matching between the wireless communication circuit
impedance and the load circuit impedance. Furthermore, the parallel series resonant
circuit would provide such that the wireless communication output impedance from the
receiving circuit to the wireless communication circuit at the communication frequency is
greater than or equal to a predetermined value for achieving load modulation, and the
power-reception output impedance from the power-receiving circuit to the load circuit at
the power-receiving frequency is lower than or equal to a second predetermined value
for achieving power supply.
Claim 2, Murata and Murata2 disclose the claimed invention except for wherein
the communication frequency and the power-receiving frequency are the same as each
other, and the second predetermined value is larger than the first predetermined value.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of
the claimed invention was made to provide the communication frequency and the
power-receiving frequency are the same as each other, and the second predetermined
value is larger than the first predetermined value, since it has been held that the
provision of adjustability, where needed, involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim 3, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according to Claim 1, wherein the power-receiving resonance circuit configures a
symmetric resonance circuit with respect to a reference potential (see Figs. 3).
Claim 4, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according to Claim 1, wherein a frequency band of the alternating magnetic field
is an ISM band (HF band of 13.56 MHz is an ISM band).
Claim 5, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according to Claim 4, wherein the frequency band of the alternating magnetic
field is 6.78 MHz or 13.56 MHz. The non-contact power transmission system is used,
for example, in an HF (High Frequency) band, particularly at a frequency near 6.78
The short-range wireless communication system is used, for example, in the
MHz HF band, particularly in the vicinity of 13.56 MHz).
Claim 6, Murata and Murata2 disclose the claim invention except for wherein
capacitance of the second resonance capacitor is smaller than capacitance of the first
resonance capacitor. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to implement the capacitance of
the second resonance capacitor is smaller than capacitance of the first resonance
capacitor, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a
component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of
ordinary skill in the art.
Claim 9, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according Claim 1, wherein the load circuit includes a secondary battery (load
circuit 11 is a secondary battery).
Claim 10, Murata and Murata2 disclose the claim invention except for wherein a
change rate of an impedance of the receiving circuit in load modulation in the wireless
communication is set to 30% or higher. It would have been obvious to one having
ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made
to provide a change rate of an impedance of the receiving circuit in load modulation in
the wireless communication set to 30% or higher, since it has been held that where the
general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or
workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim 11, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according to Claim 2, wherein the power-receiving resonance circuit configures a
symmetric resonance circuit with respect to a reference potential (see Figs. 3).
Claim 12, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according to Claim 2, wherein a frequency band of the alternating magnetic field
is an ISM band (HF band of 13.56 MHz is an ISM band).
Claim 13, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless communication
device according to Claim 3, wherein a frequency band of the alternating magnetic field
is an ISM band (HF band of 13.56 MHz is an ISM band).
Claims 14-15, Murata and Murata2 disclose the claim invention except for
wherein capacitance of the second resonance capacitor is smaller than capacitance of
the first resonance capacitor. It would have been an obvious matter of design choice before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to implement the
capacitance of the second resonance capacitor is smaller than capacitance of the first
resonance capacitor, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in
the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the
level of ordinary skill in the art.
Claims 18-19, Murata and Murata2 disclose the short-range wireless
communication device according Claim 1, wherein the load circuit includes a secondary
battery (load circuit 11 is a secondary battery).
Claim 20, Murata and Murata2 disclose the claim invention except for wherein a
change rate of an impedance of the receiving circuit in load modulation in the wireless
communication is set to 30% or higher. It would have been obvious to one having
ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made
to provide a change rate of an impedance of the receiving circuit in load modulation in
the wireless communication set to 30% or higher, since it has been held that where the
general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or
workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Claim(s) 7-8, 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
over Murata MFG, Co., LTD (WO 2017/145879 A1) in view of Murata MFG, Co., LTD
(JP 2011-134049 A) refer as Murata2 and further in view of Ito et al. (US 2017/0005399).
Claims 7, 16-17, Murata and Murata2 disclose the claim invention except for a
supporting base material configured to support the power-receiving coil and the power-receiving resonance circuit, wherein the power-receiving coil and the power-receiving
resonance circuit are on the same plane.
However, Ito disclose a supporting base material (base material sheet 5, Fig. 1A and see P[0060]…a base material sheet 5…) configured to support the power-receiving coil (coil 2 and 3) and the power-receiving resonance circuit (resonance capacitor C7, Fig. 1A and P[0062]), wherein the power-receiving coil and the power-receiving resonance circuit are on the same plane (they are in the same plane).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention was made to provide the power-receiving coil and the power-
receiving resonance circuit of Murata and Murata2 on a supporting base material and
on the same plane, as taught by Ito, in order to provide appropriately coupling a communication antenna and the power-receiving coil for power reception and can be used for short-range communication.
Claim 8, Murata Murata2, and Ito disclose the short-range wireless communication device according to Claim 7, further comprising: a magnetic sheet (magnetic sheet 4, Fig. 1A and P[0059]…magnetic sheet 4…) that overlaps with the power-receiving coil.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
/ANH Q TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844 1/20/26