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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on01/18/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-15, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Rowan Sr. et al. 5,806,948.
Regarding claim 1, Rowan discloses an undercounter wireless power system (battery cabinet), comprising: a wireless power transmitter (telecommunication equipment); a tray (tray 28] housing the wireless power transmitter [FIG 1-2] [col 5, l. 60-65]; and an adjustable rail (rails) [col 4, l. 5-10] configured to support the tray proximate an underside of a countertop (cabinet 20)supported by a base cabinet (housing 22) [FIG 1-2], the adjustable rail including first and second opposing ends respectively configured to be secured to first and second opposing support structures of the base cabinet, the adjustable rail having an adjustable length to position the first and second opposing ends thereof proximate the first and second opposing support structures [col 3, l. 5-19] col. 7, l. 30-50].
Regarding claim 2, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses the adjustable rail is configured to extend between a front side and a rear side of the base cabinet to support the tray proximate the underside of the countertop through a front-to-rear mounting to the base cabinet [col 4, l. 5-10] [FIG 2-3].
Regarding claim 3, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses the adjustable rail is configured to extend between a left side and a right side of the base cabinet to support the tray proximate the underside of the countertop through a left-to-right mounting to the base cabinet [col 4, l. 5-10] [FIG 2-3].
Regarding claim 4, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses the adjustable rail is configured to support the tray at an adjustable position between the first and second opposing support structures [col 4, l. 5-10][FIG 1-2].
Regarding claim 5, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses the adjustable rail is configured to support the tray proximate the underside of the countertop with no direct fastening of the tray or the adjustable rail to the countertop [col 4, l. 5-10] [FIG 2-3].
Regarding claim 6, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses the adjustable rail is a first adjustable rail, and the undercounter wireless power system further includes a second adjustable rail configured to support the tray proximate an opposite side of the tray from the first adjustable rail, the second adjustable rail including first and second opposing ends respectively configured to be secured to the first and second opposing support structures of the base cabinet, and the second adjustable rail having an adjustable length to position the first and second opposing ends thereof proximate the first and second opposing support structures [FIG 1-2].
Regarding claim 7, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses a mounting bracket (bracket 60) secured to the adjustable rail, wherein the adjustable rail supports the tray using the mounting bracket [FIG 1-2] [col. 5, l. 12-23].
Regarding claim 8, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 7. Rowan further discloses the tray includes a mounting lip disposed proximate a periphery thereof, and the mounting bracket includes a flange that engages the mounting lip of the tray [FIG 1-2] [col. 5, l. 12-23].
Regarding claim 9, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 8. Rowan further discloses the flange is resilient to clamp the tray against the underside of the countertop [FIG 1-2] [col. 5, l. 12-23].
Regarding claim 10, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 8. Rowan further discloses the mounting bracket includes one or more set screws (the screws that go into to the slits on bracket 60) extending through the flange of the mounting bracket to such that the flange engages the mounting lip of the tray through the one or more set screws to thereby clamp the tray against the underside of the countertop [FIG 2].
Regarding claim 11, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 8. Rowan further discloses the mounting lip includes left, right, front, and rear portions respectively configured to extend toward left, right, front, and rear sides of the base cabinet, wherein the flange of the mounting bracket is configured to engage the mounting lip of the tray at any one of the left, right, front, and rear portions thereof to support both left-to-right and front-to-rear mounting to the base cabinet [FIG2].
Regarding claim 12, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 7. Rowan further discloses the mounting bracket is removably secured to the adjustable rail and is configured to be independently secured to a support structure of a different base cabinet when separated from the adjustable rail [FIG 2].
Regarding claim 13, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 12. Rowan further discloses the adjustable rail includes first and second rail members, the first rail member is sized and configured to slide within the second rail member, at least one of the first and second rail members includes a slot extending along at least a portion of the length thereof, and the mounting bracket is removably secured to the adjustable rail using at least one nut and bolt assembly that extends through the slot to fix the length of the adjustable rail [col 6, l. 24-30] [col 8, l. 45-53] [FIG 1-2].
Regarding claim 14, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 13. Rowan further discloses the at least one nut and bolt assembly further extends through the mounting bracket to secure the mounting bracket to the adjustable rail [col 8, l. 45-53].
Regarding claim 15, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Rowan further discloses a power electronics enclosure (the casing to the battery) physically separated from the tray and configured to be secured to a wall of the base cabinet; a power supply disposed in the power electronics enclosure and configured to generate a power signal to drive the wireless power transmitter; and at least one power cable extending between the power electronics enclosure and the tray to communicate the power signal to the wireless power transmitter. [FIG 1-3].
Regarding claim 17, Rowan discloses an undercounter wireless power system, comprising: a wireless power transmitter (telecommunication equipment); a tray housing (tray 28) the wireless power transmitter, the tray including a mounting lip disposed proximate a periphery thereof [col 5, l. 60-67]; and a mounting bracket (bracket 60) configured to be secured to a support structure of a base cabinet, the mounting bracket including a flange configured to engage the mounting lip of the tray when secured to the support structure of the base cabinet and thereby support the tray proximate an underside of a countertop supported by the base cabinet [col 5, l. 12-23] [FIG 1-2].
Regarding claim 18, he adjustable rail includes first and second rail members, the first rail member is sized and configured to slide within the second rail member, at least one of the first and second rail members includes a slot extending along at least a portion of the length thereof, and the mounting bracket is removably secured to the adjustable rail using at least one nut and bolt assembly that extends through the slot to fix the length of the adjustable rail [col 6, l. 24-30] [col 8, l. 45-53] [FIG 1-2].
Regarding claim 19, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 17. Rowan further discloses the mounting lip includes left, right, front, and rear portions respectively configured to extend toward left, right, front, and rear sides of the base cabinet, wherein the flange of the mounting bracket is configured to engage the mounting lip of the tray at any one of the left, right, front, and rear portions thereof to support both left-to-right and front-to-rear mounting to the base cabinet [FIG 1-2].
Regarding claim 20, Rowan discloses . an adjustable undercounter mount for an undercounter wireless power system of a type including a wireless power transmitter (telecommunication equipment) and a tray housing (tray 28) the wireless power transmitter, the adjustable undercounter mount comprising: a mounting bracket (bracket 60) [col 5, l. 12-23]configured to support the tray proximate an underside of a countertop supported by a base cabinet; and an adjustable rail (rails ) removably secured to the mounting bracket and including first and second opposing ends respectively configured to be secured to first and second opposing support structures of the base cabinet, the adjustable rail having an adjustable length to position the first and second opposing ends thereof proximate the first and second opposing support structures; wherein the mounting bracket is configured to be independently secured to a support structure of a different base cabinet when separated from the adjustable rail [col 5, l. 5-65] [col 7, l. 30-50] [FIG 1-2].
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 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rowan Sr. et al. 5,806,948 in view of Fawaz et al. 2024/0000287.
Regarding claim 16, Rowan discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. However, Rowan fails to disclose a near field communication (NFC) antenna and a controller disposed in the tray and electrically coupled to the NFC antenna to communicate with a wirelessly powered device positioned on the countertop proximate the wireless power transmitter, the controller further electrically coupled to the power supply through at least one control cable extending between the tray and the power electronics enclosure to control the power supply to selectively supply power to the wirelessly powered device through the wireless power transmitter.
Fawaz discloses an undermount wireless power system that a near field communication (NFC) antenna and a controller disposed in the tray and electrically coupled to the NFC antenna to communicate with a wirelessly powered device positioned on the countertop proximate the wireless power transmitter, the controller further electrically coupled to the power supply through at least one control cable extending between the tray and the power electronics enclosure to control the power supply to selectively supply power to the wirelessly powered device through the wireless power transmitter [025-27] [039] [042]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as it is well known in the art to use NFC communication in the wireless power systems.
Conclusion
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/ASIFA HABIB/Examiner, Art Unit 2876
/THIEN M LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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