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
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.
Claims 1, 4, 7-8, 11, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by document CN 106559177A, English translation also provided by the examiner).
As to claim 1, document CN 106559177A discloses a method comprising: transmitting an initial charging frame, the initial charging frame comprising a payload for charging (see “query frame” in paragraphs [0010], [0039]; see also paragraph [0028] which discloses a RF energy provider for wireless charging a sensor); detecting a Backscatter Device (BKD) in response to transmitting the initial charging frame (see paragraphs [0004], [0010], and [0011]); determining a new payload for a new charging frame to charge the BKD (see paragraph [0040] which discloses “as well as the frame payload length”); and transmitting the new charging frame to charge to the BKD (see paragraph [0040]; see also paragraph [0043] which discloses “The sensor node calculates the charging time”).
As to claims 4, 11, document CN 106559177A discloses modulating the new payload (see at least paragraph [0004] which discloses “backscatter modulation technology”).
As to claims 7, 14, document CN 106559177A discloses detecting one or more additional BKDs (see paragraphs [0010], [0011], [0038], [0039]); and assigning segments for encoding data to the BKD and the one or more BKDs. See at least paragraphs [0002], [0028].
As to claim 8, it is rejected for similar reasons with respect to independent claim 1 as set forth above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 2, 9, 15-17, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over document CN 106559177A.
As to claims 2, 9, 16, the document CN 106559177A fails to disclose one or both of the initial charging frame and the new charging frame, comprises any one of: (i) a Legacy Short Training Field (L-STF); (ii) a Legacy Long Training Field (L-LTF); (iii) a Legacy Signal Field (L-SIG); (iv) a Charge Signal Field (C-SIG) operable to enable communication with the BKD; (v) a Frame Check Sequence (FCS); or (vi) any combination of (i)-(v). Those skilled in the art would recognize that these claimed limitations do not involve any inventive concept. They merely depend on arbitrary charging frames to be used. The specification of the instant application fails to disclose any unexpected results obtained from using such frames. In addition, the examiner takes Official Notice that such frames are known in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the document CN 106559177A as claimed, in order to yield predictable results such as improving charging rate of the sensor.
As to claim 15, it is rejected for similar reasons with respect to independent claim 1 as set forth above. Document CN 106559177A fails to disclose a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions as claimed. The examiner, however, takes Official Notice that such a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions is known in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the document CN 106559177A as claimed, in order to yield predictable results such as reducing the weight, size, and implementing cost of the transmitting device.
As to claim 17, document CN 106559177A discloses modulating the new payload (see at least paragraph [0004] which discloses “backscatter modulation technology”).
As to claim 20, document CN 106559177A discloses detecting one or more additional BKDs (see paragraphs [0010], [0011], [0038], [0039]); and assigning segments for encoding data to the BKD and the one or more BKDs. See at least paragraphs [0002], [0028].
Claims 5, 12, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over document CN 106559177A in view of Hoss (US 2023/0057092).
As to claims 5, 12, 18, document CN 106559177A fails to disclose receiving feedback from the BKD; in response to the feedback, generating an additional charging frame, comprising: when the new charging frame was not effective to charge the BKD, structuring the additional charging frame to have one or both of a longer duration and increased power compared to the new charging frame, and when the new charging frame was above a power threshold, structuring the additional charging frame to have one or both of a shorter duration and a reduced power compared to the new charging frame; and transmitting the additional charging frame. Hoss discloses receiving feedback from a BKD; in response to the feedback, generating an additional charging frame, comprising: when the new charging frame was not effective to charge the BKD, structuring the additional charging frame to have one or both of a longer duration and increased power compared to the new charging frame, and when the new charging frame was above a power threshold, structuring the additional charging frame to have one or both of a shorter duration and a reduced power compared to the new charging frame; and transmitting the additional charging frame. See paragraph [0264]. Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the above teaching of Hoss to document CN 106559177A, in order to ensure that the sensor is charged up to a certain power.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6, 10, 13, 19 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.
As to claims 3, 10, the prior art of record fail to disclose setting a field of one or both of an initial charging frame L-SIG and a new charging frame L-SIG to indicate one or both of the initial charging frame and the new charging frame can used for charging.
As to claims 6, 13, 19, the prior art of record fail to disclose coordinating with an additional transmitting device to charge the BKD, wherein the coordinating comprises: sending a charging assistance request to the additional transmitting device; receiving a charging assistance response accepting the charging assistance request from the additional transmitting device; and sending a trigger frame to the additional transmitting device to jointly transmit additional charging frames with the additional transmitting device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yang (US 2022/0263351); Melgar (US 2019/0052113); Riehl (EP 3118633 A1); Gupta (US 2023/0254886) disclose wireless charging.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN THANH VO whose telephone number is (571)272-7901. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette J Parker can be reached at (571) 270-3647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NGUYEN T VO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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