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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for domestic benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Macfarlane et al. USPN 2022/0181760 in view of Beigel USPN 11442134.
Consider claim 1, Macfarlane discloses a system for determining a location of a portable device relative to an object (examiner note: no weight given to the preamble since it has no link to the claim body), said system comprising: an antenna operable to at least one of transmit and receive wireless communications (see fig. 9: “patch antenna” “transmit” “receive”); and a 4 and above 6, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 100, or 150. In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can range from 6-30 (or about 6 to about 30). In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can be below about 150, 100, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, 20, 15, or 10. In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can range from 10-40 (or about 10 to about 40). In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can range from 4-10…”) and configured to substantially reduce antenna size and limit impacting spectral performance of the antenna (examiner note: intended use recitation).
However, Macfarlane does not explicitly disclose dielectric coupled to the antenna.
In the related field of endeavor, disclose dielectric coupled to the antenna (see col. 34, lines 30-32: “… patch antenna 2425 may be a combination of a number of conductive, insulating dielectric, energy storing dielectric, and antenna structures on the control chip …”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine the antenna assembly of Macfarlane and the location identification antenna of Beigel in order to arrive at the instant recitation and provide multi-spectral location determination.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the antenna includes a plurality of feeds operable independently to provide polarization diversity (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”).
3. The system of claim 2 wherein more than one of the plurality of feeds can be combined together (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”; obvious in MIMO application).
4. The system of claim 1 wherein an antenna type is variable based on a feed configuration for the antenna (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”; obvious in MIMO application).
5. The system of claim 4 wherein the antenna type corresponds to one of a linear, circular, right hand circular polarized, and left hand circular polarized (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”; obvious in MIMO application).
6. The system of claim 1 comprising a termination element coupled to a feed of the antenna to provide wider bandwidth configuration over non-terminated configurations (see [0049]: “…dielectric tile as a substrate for an impedance transformer, it could also be used as the substrate for the coupler, switch and termination…”).
7. The system of claim 6 wherein the termination element is a 50 ohm terminator (see [0049]: “…dielectric tile as a substrate for an impedance transformer, it could also be used as the substrate for the coupler, switch and termination…”; obvious to have 50 Ohm termination).
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the antenna may include a plurality of Baluns to broaden bandwidth (see well-known e.g. Takaya USPN 2003/0029830 figs. 17-19 “…illustrates a balun transformer…”).
9. The system of claim 8 wherein a Balun of the plurality is one of an unbalanced or balanced Balun ( see well-known e.g. Takaya USPN 2003/0029830 “…double balanced mixers …”).
10. The system of claim 1 comprising a controller configured to determine the location of the portable device based on a signal characteristic sensed with respect to wireless communications received by the antenna (see Beigel claim 8: “…detecting the location of the object by determining a location of the tag using a multi-stage tag locating method used by a second locating device, the multi-stage tag locating method executed by a spatial probabilistic filter resident as executable code in a method associated with the multi-stage tag locating method said spatial probabilistic filter applied at least to said first locating device and a real-time database providing accurate information on the location of the object…”).
Claims 11-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Macfarlane et al. USPN 2022/0181760 in view of Stitt WO2017/181050.
Consider claim 11, Macfarlane discloses a system for 4 and above 6, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 100, or 150. In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can range from 6-30 (or about 6 to about 30). In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can be below about 150, 100, 60, 50, 40, 30, 25, 20, 15, or 10. In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can range from 10-40 (or about 10 to about 40). In some embodiments, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate can range from 4-10…”) and configured to substantially limit impacting spectral performance of the first antenna (examiner note: intended use recitation); and a
However, Macfarlane does not explicitly disclose determining a location of a portable device relative to an object, the system comprising: a first device disposed on the object, the first device including a first antenna configured to receive first communications transmitted from the portable device, the first device configured to sense a first signal characteristic with respect to the first communications received by the first antenna of the first device and transmitted by the portable device and controller configured to determine the location of the portable device relative to the object based on the first signal characteristic sensed with respect to the first communications received by the first antenna.
In the related field of endeavor, Stitt disclose determining a location of a portable device relative to an object, the system comprising: a first device (read as monitor device) disposed on the object, the first device including a first antenna configured to receive first communications transmitted from the portable device, the first device configured to sense a first signal characteristic with respect to the first communications received by the first antenna of the first device and transmitted by the portable device and controller configured to determine the location of the portable device relative to the object based on the first signal characteristic sensed with respect to the first communications received by the first antenna (see abstract: “…monitor devices may sense characteristic information about the signal from the portable device, and communicate this characteristic information to the master device via an auxiliary communication link. The communication system may determine location of the portable device…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter to combine the antenna assembly of Macfarlane and the location identification of Stitt in order to arrive at the instant recitation and provide location finding robustness.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the first antenna includes a plurality of feeds operable independently to provide polarization diversity (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”).
13. The system of claim 12 wherein more than one of the plurality of feeds can be combined together (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”; obvious in MIMO application).
14. The system of claim 11 wherein an antenna type is variable based on a feed configuration for the first antenna (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”; obvious in MIMO application).
15. The system of claim 14 wherein the antenna type corresponds to one of a linear, circular, right hand circular polarized, and left hand circular polarized (see [0148]: “…antennas 804 support MIMO communications and/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMO communications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple data streams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communications benefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/or reduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences of the radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications in which a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particular time…”; obvious in MIMO application).
16. The system of claim 11 comprising a termination element coupled to a feed of the first antenna to provide wider bandwidth configuration over non-terminated configurations (see [0049]: “…dielectric tile as a substrate for an impedance transformer, it could also be used as the substrate for the coupler, switch and termination…”).
17. The system of claim 16 wherein the termination element is a 50 ohm terminator (see [0049]: “…dielectric tile as a substrate for an impedance transformer, it could also be used as the substrate for the coupler, switch and termination…”; obvious to have 50 Ohm termination).
18. The system of claim 11 wherein the first antenna may include a plurality of Baluns to broaden bandwidth (see well-known e.g. Takaya USPN 2003/0029830 figs. 17-19 “…illustrates a balun transformer…”).
19. The system of claim 18 wherein a Balun of the plurality is one of an unbalanced or balanced Balun ( see well-known e.g. Takaya USPN 2003/0029830 “…double balanced mixers …”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: See respective instant recitation.
Conclusion
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Fayyaz Alam
April 4, 2026
/FAYYAZ ALAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2674
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