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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9, 11-21, 23, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, it claims that the control circuit [presumably 326, 328, 330, 336, 338, 340] has an input coupled to the battery terminal [VBAT]. However, VBAT is not coupled to the control circuit. The nearest indication of this may be V_ACCL, which is the voltage output of 312, which is proportional to the current through 310. However, V_ACCL is not the battery terminal VBAT, and V_ACCL is not coupled to VBAT since voltage V_ACCL is the voltage indication of current through 310. It is unclear if it should be claimed that the control circuit input is coupled to a current sensor output of 312.
Regarding claims 11 and 14, they contain the same issue as described above in claim 1.
Regarding claims 2-9, 12, 13, 15-21, 23, and 24 these claims are rejected since they depend on claims above.
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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim (US 2014/0191739).
Regarding claim 10, fig. 9 of Kim discloses an apparatus comprising: a first transistor [T9] coupled between a power input [VIN] and a power output [Vout], the first transistor configurable to block a current from the power output to the power input; and a switching voltage regulator coupled between the power input and a battery terminal [Vbat], the switching voltage regulator including: a second transistor [M5] coupled between the power input and a switching terminal [node between M5 and M7], the switching terminal coupled to a battery terminal, the second transistor configurable to block a current from the battery terminal to the power input; and a third transistor [M7] coupled between the switching terminal and a ground terminal.
Conclusion
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/SIBIN CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896