Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/520,168

POWER AMPLIFIER WITH RUGGEDNESS AND LINEARITY IMPROVEMENT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 27, 2023
Examiner
RAHMAN, HAFIZUR
Art Unit
2843
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
94%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 94% — above average
94%
Career Allow Rate
668 granted / 712 resolved
+25.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
44 currently pending
Career history
756
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
41.3%
+1.3% vs TC avg
§102
35.7%
-4.3% vs TC avg
§112
12.6%
-27.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 712 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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 § 103 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 1 - 7 , and 10 - 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 10 3 as unpatentable over Aboush ( US 2017/0201223 Al , cited by the applicant ) in view of Kuo (WO2019/226694 A1, also cited by the applicant) and further in view of Chen et. al. ( US 2020/0067351 A1 ) . Regarding claim s 1 , 14 and 18 , An amplifier circuit (transmitter power amplifier (not shown explicitly in the prior art because the invention focused on the output transformer circuit of the transmitter power amplifier with third harmonic trap inductors integrated as part of the transformer. However, examiner annotated Fig. 5 to include the power amplifier transistors, §0042) section of the transceiver integrated circuit as shown in Fig. 5) and a method of amplifying wireless signal in through an integrated circuit comprising: Fig. 5 of Aboush annotated by the examiner for ease of reference. an amplifier (400, as denoted by the examiner in the annotated Fig. 5 of Aboush) configured to amplify a signal for wireless transmission (transceiver inherently designed for wireless transmission as well as reception) , the amplifier (400) comprising a first transistor (801) and a second transistor (802) ; Please note that the differential amplifier (§0047) of Aboush is not explicitly mentioned as comprising transistors. However, it is well-known in the art of integrated power amplifiers for integrated transceivers, the power amplifiers comprise power transistors. In this example examiner referred to the differential amplifier (800) of Fig. 8D of a companion art of Kuo. Where a person of ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious (although not explicitly mentioned by Aboush) to implement pair of complementary transistors 801 and 802 as a differential pair of transistors in forming the differential amplifier 400 of Aboush like the differential amplifier 800 following the teaching of Kuo as regular exercise in the art of differential amplifiers with predicable results. In the resultant amplifier 400, Aboush further teaches a transformer (410) coupled to an output of the amplifier (400) and coupling the amplified signal to an antenna (§0038) via this transformer ; a first coil (L1) coupled to the first transistor (801) and inductively coupled to the transformer (410) ; and a second coil (L2) coupled to the second transistor (802) and inductively coupled (induced magnetic field, §0053) to the transformer (410) , wherein per claim s 4 and 17 , Aboush exemplarily shows that the first coil and the second coil (430) are located external to a winding of the transformer , 410 (see Fig. 4 for example of Aboush) . Further per claim s 2 , 15 and 19 , although Aboush doesn’t explicitly show that a winding of the transformer encircles the first coil and the second coil , in a similar field of endeavor, Chen explicitly shown in Fig. 3C, that an auxiliary coils (206-1 and 206-2 respectively) like the first (L1) and the second (L2) coils of Aboush are encircled by the primary (262) and secondary ( 264 ) windings of the output transformer of the differential amplifier (BT amplifier). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize Chen’s vertical stacking idea of forming coil s that are overlaid in part by routing a conductive material (e.g., a metal material and/or a polycrystalline silicon material) in a loop and/or up or down through plural integrated circuit layers for lateral space saving in integrated circuits, which is a common practice in forming spiral inductors in integrated circuits . Therefore, teaching the limitations of claim s 2, 15 and 19 . W herein per claim s 3 , 16 and 20 , a winding of the transformer encircles only a portion of the first coil and only a portion of the second coil . Further in the resultant combination of Aboush in view of Kuo in view of Chen per claim 5 , the transformer (410) comprises a primary winding (418a) and a secondary winding (418b) inductively coupled to the primary winding; the transformer (410) is disposed in a plurality of layers; the primary winding (418a) of the transformer is disposed in at least a first layer of the plurality of layers; and the secondary winding (418b) of the transformer is disposed in a second layer of the plurality of layers. wherein per claim 6 , the first layer is adjacent to the second layer. And per claim 7 , the first coil and the second coil are disposed in a third layer of the plurality of layers. W herein per claim 10 , it would be an optimum design choice by a person of ordinary skill in the art to have the third layer adjacent to a ground layer of the plurality of layers , whereby for third harmonic terminations could be done by appropriate placement of integrated capacitive elements in shunt configurations. Wherein per claim 11 , the first coil ( L1 ) is coupled to a collector or a drain of the first transistor (801) via a first capacitive element (C1) ; and the second coil (L2) is coupled to a collector or a drain of the second transistor (802) via a second capacitive element (C2) . wherein per claim 12 , the collector or the drain of the first transistor (801) is coupled to the collector or the drain of the second transistor (802) via a third capacitive element (C3) . Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8 and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 7 and 5 respectively but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim 7 and any intervening claims. Claim s 8 and 9 are collectively allowable (not individually) because the closest prior art of record, Chen is n ot explicit simultaneously about at least a fourth layer of the plurality of layers is disposed between the first layer and the third layer , while at least a fourth layer of the plurality of layers is disposed between the second layer and the third layer and as claimed . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Enter examiner's name" \* MERGEFORMAT HAFIZUR RAHMAN whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-0659 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F: 10-6 . 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, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached on FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 272-1769 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. /HAFIZUR RAHMAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843.
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 27, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12603614
WIDEBAND DOHERTY POWER AMPLIFIER
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
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BROADBAND DOHERTY POWER AMPLIFIER AND IMPLEMENTATION METHOD THEREOF
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12603617
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Patent 12592669
BALANCED AMPLIFIER ARRANGEMENT FOR POWER CONTROL AND IMPROVED DEEP BACK-OFF EFFICIENCY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12592673
OFF-STATE ISOLATION BIAS CIRCUIT FOR D-MODE AMPLIFIERS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
94%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+8.3%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 712 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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