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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hsu (US 2015/0280486).
Regarding claim 1, fig. 1 of Hsu discloses a charger circuit comprising: a first transistor [Q4] coupled between a power input [at Vsys] and a power output [at Vchg]; a second transistor [Q5] coupled between the power input and a battery terminal [at Vbat]; a sensing circuit [1101, 1102] coupled to the battery terminal and having a sensor output; and a control circuit [1103] having an input and an output, the input of the control circuit coupled to the sensor output, the output of the control circuit coupled to a control terminal of the first transistor (via PWM4), the control circuit configurable to set a voltage of the control terminal responsive to a signal indicative of a current at the battery terminal.
Regarding claim 3, fig. 1 of Hsu discloses a voltage regulator circuit having a regulator input and a regulator output, wherein the regulator output is coupled to the power input, and the regulator input is coupled to the battery terminal, the second transistor being part of the voltage regulator circuit (voltage is regulated via feedback via 1101).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-21, 23, and 24 are allowed.
Claims 2 and 4-9 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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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/SIBIN CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836