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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species I (claims 1-12, 17-18 and 21-22) is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “So” (US 20220123479).
Claim 1: So discloses an antenna comprising:
a substrate 220 (Fig. 1);
a first patch 140 on the substrate;
a feed terminal 121a-b (Fig. 2) coupled to the first patch (¶ 87);
a second patch 150 (top-left of 140 in Fig. 5) on the substrate and laterally separated from the first patch by a first gap dc1; and
a third patch 150 (top-right of 140) on the substrate and laterally separated from the first patch by a second gap (equivalent to dc1 on the right side).
So fails to expressly teach wherein the first patch is configured to indirectly feed the second patch via a first near-field electromagnetic coupling across the first gap, and the first patch is configured to indirectly feed the second third patch via a second near-field electromagnetic coupling across the second gap.
However, So teaches in ¶ 86, “The third antenna patch 150 forms an additional coupling with the second antenna patch 140, whereby the second antenna patch 140 and the third antenna patch 150 may form additional impedances, so that bandwidths of the antenna patches 130 and 140 may be increased in size without increasing a size of the second antenna patch 140.”
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use So’s antenna such that the first patch is configured to indirectly feed the second patch via a first near-field electromagnetic coupling across the first gap, and the first patch is configured to indirectly feed the second third patch via a second near-field electromagnetic coupling across the second gap, in order to form additional impedances, thereby increasing antenna bandwidth.
Claims 2-3: So teaches the antenna of claim 1, wherein the first patch has a first length db1, the second patch has a second length, and the third patch has the second length (see Fig. 5);
wherein the second length (unlabeled, but clearly seen in Fig. 5) is less than the first length db1.
Claim 8: So teaches the antenna of claim 1, wherein the first patch is laterally interposed between the second patch and the third patch (see Fig. 5).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Yun” (US 20200295454).
Claim 21: Yun discloses an electronic device comprising:
a substrate 590 (Fig. 5B);
a first metal patch 511 on the substrate;
a radio-frequency transmission line 5905 (Fig. 6A) coupled to a terminal 5111 on the first metal patch;
a second metal patch 512 (Fig. 5B reproduced below) on the substrate and laterally separated (on left) from the first metal patch by a first gap A; and
a third metal patch 512 on the substrate and laterally separated (on right) from the first metal patch by a second gap B.
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396
560
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Yun fails to expressly teach wherein the first metal patch is configured to electromagnetically excite the second metal patch to radiate via a first near-field electromagnetic coupling across the first gap, and the first metal patch is configured to electromagnetically excite the third metal patch via a second near-field electromagnetic coupling across the second gap.
However, Yun teaches in ¶ 154, “According to various embodiments, the antenna module 500 may secure a wide operating frequency band through the first conductive patches 512 disposed proximately from and capacitively coupled with the second conductive patch 511 and through the first to fourth conductive walls 5131, 5132, 5133, and 5134 disposed around the first conductive patches 512.”
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to use Yun’s electronic device such that the first metal patch is configured to electromagnetically excite the second metal patch to radiate via a first near-field electromagnetic coupling across the first gap, and the first metal patch is configured to electromagnetically excite the third metal patch via a second near-field electromagnetic coupling across the second gap, thereby securing a wide operating frequency band through capacitive coupling.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7, 9-12 and 22 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.
Claims 17-18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 17, none of the prior art shows, teaches or fairly suggests the features of “a fourth patch on the surface and separated from the third patch by a second gap, the third patch being configured to indirectly feed the fourth patch via a second near-field electromagnetic coupling across the second gap, and the third and fourth patches being configured to radiate in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band with a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization.”
Claim 18 depends therefrom.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim (US 20230387598)
Lee (US 11764483)
Yang (US 11594823)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HASAN ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)270-1719. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 9AM-7PM EST.
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/HASAN ISLAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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