DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the request for continued examination filed on 4/21/2026.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/21/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the output of the amplifier being connected to a power stage and an input of the transit circuit of claim 25, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Regarding claim 25, the limitations “a power stage coupled to the output of the amplifier, the power stage having a power output, wherein a current provided at the power output is set based on a signal at an output of the amplifier”, is considered new matter. Dependent claims 26-27 inherits the deficiencies of claim 25 and are therefore also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 (a).
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 25-27 and 36-39 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 25, it’s not clear as to how the output of the amplifier is also connected to a power stage because claim 1 states that the output of the amplifier is connected to an input of a transmit circuit. Dependent claims 26-27 inherits the deficiencies of claim 25 and are therefore also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 (b). Regarding claim 36, it’s not clear as to how the frequency detector derives an incoming clock signal from an incoming encoded clock signal, because the frequency detector never receives the incoming encoded clock signal based on the limitations “a frequency detector coupled to the synchronization terminal and configured to derive, from an incoming encoded clock signal, an incoming clock signal”. Furthermore, it’s not clear as to how the decoder is deriving a voltage signal from an incoming encoded clock signal because the decoder never receives the incoming encoded clock signal, based on the limitations “a decoder coupled to the synchronization terminal and configured to derive, from the incoming encoded clock signal, a voltage signal”. Dependent claims 37-39 inherits the deficiencies of claim 36 and are therefore also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112 (b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (US Patent 7558080). Regarding claim 1, Chen et al. discloses (see fig. 4) a circuit comprising: an amplifier (170/84) having a first input (input to 170), a second input (input to 170), and an output (output from 84), the first input coupled to a power converter feedback input (92 connection to 170), and the second input coupled to a reference input (86 input to 170); a terminal (110); a transmit circuit (116) having an input and an output, the input of the transmit circuit coupled to the output of the amplifier (connection of 116 to 84), and the output of the transmit circuit coupled to the terminal (connection of 116 to 110); and a receive circuit (118) having an input and an output, the input of the receive circuit coupled to the terminal (connection of 118 to 110).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 28-35 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Regarding claim 28, the prior art fails a circuit comprising: an encoder coupled to the clock generator and to the synchronization terminal, the encoder configured to encode the outgoing clock signal based on the first control voltage signal to provide, at the synchronization terminal, an outgoing encoded clock signal, in combination with all the limitations set forth in claim 28.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 2-11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY A GBLENDE whose telephone number is (571)270-5472. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-272-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY A GBLENDE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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