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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/17/2023, 12/31/2024, 1/18/2025, 7/2/2025, 11/04/2025 and 4/28/206 were filed. 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 § 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 7, 9 and 19 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.
With regards to claim 7, applicant recites “ a grid” in line 1 of the claim . How does this “grid” relate to the grid disclosed in line 1 of claim 6?
Claim 9 recites the limitation " the unit cell" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
With regards to claims 9 and 19, applicant recites “ a dielectric ” in line 3 of the claims . How does this “ dielectric ” relate to the dielectric disclosed in line 2?
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8 and 10-18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: With regards to claims 1-6 and 8, the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly teach the specific circuit configuration with emphasis on a controllable heater network that selectively transfers heat to different individual portions of the phase change material to change an operational rotational angle of the phase change material with respect to redirecting an electromagnetic wave impinging on the device, via a phase shift that is based on the operational rotational angle, the controllable heater network being controllable to output heat via pulsed energy to selectively change a first group of one or more of the different individual portions of the phase change material to a lower resistance state, and selectively change a second group of the one or more of the different individual portions of the phase change material to a higher resistance state higher than the lower resistance state, wherein the first group is different from the second group.
With regards to claims 10-14, the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly teach the specific method with emphasis on controlling individual elements of a heater network to selectively output heat to different areas of a phase change material of the unit cell to change a rotational angle of the unit cell to a changed rotational angle, the rotational angle of the unit cell being changeable based on lower resistance areas of the phase change material relative to higher resistance areas of the phase change material as determined by the heat that is selectively output, and wherein the rotational angle determines the phase shift.
With regards to claims 15-18 and 20, the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly teach the specific circuit configuration with emphasis on a heater network comprising individually controllable heating elements distributed over the area to transfer heat to different portions of the phase change material, wherein the individually controllable heating elements are controlled to output respective heat corresponding to energy pulses to the different portions to change an operational rotational angle of the phase change material to a changed rotational angle, wherein the operational rotational angle is changeable based on higher resistance portions corresponding to a higher resistance state of the phase change material, and lower resistance portions corresponding to a lower resistance state of the phase change material, and wherein the operational rotational angle determines a phase shift of the unit cell that redirects an electromagnetic wave impinging on the unit cell to a target location.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLY E GLENN whose telephone number is (571)272-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea 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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May 7, 2026
/K.E.G/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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