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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 06/30/2026 has been entered. Applicant’s amendments to the Specification and Claims have overcome each and every objection and 112(b) rejection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 03/31/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 13-19, filed 06/30/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 5 and 16 under 35 U.S.C 112(b), claim(s) 1 and 10 under 35 U.S.C 102, and claims 1-2, 4, 11, 13, and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US 7719363 by Wong.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 7719363 by Wong.
Regarding claim 1, Wong teaches a circuit comprising:
a power supply terminal for receiving a power supply voltage of an amplifier (Fig. 3 Vcc);
an input terminal (341) for receiving an output voltage of the amplifier (output from 320);
an output terminal (315);
and a gain adjust circuit (330, 310) configured to decrease gain of the amplifier, responsive to a difference between the amplifier output voltage and the amplifier power supply voltage exceeding a threshold voltage, by providing a gain adjust signal at the output terminal (the switching of the diodes can adjust the gain; Col. 7 lines 15-66 and Col. 8 lines 1-18).
Regarding claim 10, Wong teaches a power system comprising:
the circuit of claim 1;
the amplifier (Fig. 3 #320); and
a power supply to provide the power supply voltage (Vcc).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
The prior art fails to teach a comparator circuit having first and second comparator inputs and a comparator output, the first comparator input coupled to the power supply terminal, and the second comparator input coupled to the input terminal;
and a clamp circuit having first and second clamp inputs and a clamp output, the first clamp input coupled to the power supply terminal, the second clamp input coupled to the comparator output, and the clamp output coupled to the output terminal.
The prior art also fails to teach a gain adjust circuit configured to adjust gain of the amplifier, responsive to the amplifier input voltage exceeding a reference voltage, by providing a gain adjust signal at the output terminal, the reference voltage being the power supply voltage divided by a gain of the amplifier.
Claims 2-9 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.
The prior art fails to teach that the gain adjustment circuit includes a comparator circuit configured to compare the amplifier output voltage and the amplifier power supply voltage, and to generate a control signal indicative of the difference exceeding the threshold voltage; and
a clamp circuit configured to adjust the gain of the amplifier, responsive to the control signal.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 6525611 by Dening et al. teaches a power amplifier protection circuit that can decrease gain.
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.
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/NAREH SHAMIRYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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