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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/04/2023. The submission 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
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 1-5 & 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US 10,594,290 B2).
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Regarding claims 1 & 8, Liu et al. discloses a high-frequency amplifier or a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus that amplifies a high-frequency signal, comprising:
a balun (Fig. 1, balun 1) that transforms an unbalanced signal, which is input, into a balanced signal;
amplification circuitry (Fig. 1: un-label transistors) that amplifies the balanced signal output from the balun; and
matching circuitry (Fig. 1: matching networks or annotated MC1) that is disposed in between the balun (balun 1) and the amplification circuitry (un-label transistors) and that performs impedance matching, wherein the balun includes an auxiliary winding (a winding which connected to matching networks) that is connected to a port (annotated Port1) of the balun.
Regarding claim 2, Liu et al. discloses the high-frequency amplification apparatus according to claim 1:
wherein the balun (balun 1) represents a first-type balun (no specific being disclosed by the applicant), the matching circuitry represents a first-type matching circuitry (no specific being disclosed by the applicant, MC1), the high-frequency amplification apparatus further comprises a second-type balun (Fig. 1: balun 2) that transforms the balanced signal, which has been amplified by the amplification circuitry, into an unbalanced signal (annotated Out1, output signal), and second-type matching circuitry (annotated MC2) that is disposed in between the amplification circuitry and the second-type balun (balun 2), and that performs impedance matching, and the auxiliary winding is disposed in at least either the first-type balun or the second-type balun.
Regarding claim 3, Liu et al. discloses the high-frequency amplification apparatus according to claim 1:
wherein the balun is formed in coil form using printed wiring (see Col. 5, lines 11-15, which states first winding and second winding may be formed in, for example, a conductive layer (such as a copper layer) of a PCB substrate by using an approach such as etching), and the auxiliary winding is formed in coil form using printed wiring on inside of the balun in coil form (Col. 6, which states the balun of this embodiment serves as the input balun 1 (the second winding as a primary coil and the first winding as a secondary coil)).
Regarding claim 4, Liu et al. discloses the high-frequency amplification apparatus according to claim 1:
wherein the balun (un-label balun 1) is formed in a plurality of layers using printed wiring (Col. 6 last paragraph, which states uses a multi-layer circuit board to implement a planar balun).
Regarding claim 5, Liu et al. discloses the high-frequency amplification apparatus according to claim 4:
wherein the balun is formed in coil form in a layer (Col. 6, lines 50-1, which states, the input balun 1 (the second winding as a primary coil and the first winding as a secondary coil) in FIG. 1) connected to the amplification circuitry (transistors as shown in Fig. 1) from among the plurality of layers (Col. 8, lines 1-2, the balun formed on a multi-layer).
Regarding claim 7, Liu et al. discloses the high-frequency amplification device according to claim 1:
wherein the auxiliary winding is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape (Fig. 3, secondary winding having polygonal shape ).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. in view of Mori et al. (US 20070194853 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Liu et al. discloses the limitations as applied in claim 1 except for the matching circuitry includes a setting unit that sets impedance.
Mori et al. discloses in Fig. 14 a well-known input matching circuit which includes phase adjusting circuit (i.e. setting unit) wherein the phase adjusting circuit includes switch 85 and capacitor 86 & 87 which capable of switching or setting impedance.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have implemented the generic input matching circuitry of Liu et al with the input matching circuit as taught by Mori et al. Such a modification would have impart the advantages benefits of reduce the pass phase fluctuations with maintaining the noise characteristics or efficiency (Mori et al. see paragraph [0205].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHIEM D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3941. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANDREA J LINDGREN BALTZELL can be reached at (571)272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KHIEM D NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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