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 . The instant application with Application Number 18/521,745 filed on 11/28/2023 is presented for examination. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statment
The Information Disclosure Statements dated 03/25/2024 and 06/04/2024 are acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
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 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 present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 of this title, 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 pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Halyal et al. (US 2022/0029467) (Hereinafter, Halyal) in view of Xu et al. (US 2021/0384754).
With respect to claims 1, 11 and 20, Halyal discloses a wireless charging system (see reproduced Fig. 12B, 110B; para. # 137) comprising: a plurality of power receiving coils (Fig. 12B, 34A and 34B) secured on a receiver inner curved surface of a power receiver curved portion; and a charging relay (Fig. 12B, 91A and 91B) component comprising ferromagnetic material (Para. # 0010: magnetics shielding materials (e.g., a ferrite) and defining a receiver relay curved surface, wherein the receiver relay curved surface matches a receiver outer curved surface of the power receiver curved portion (See Para.. # 0020: the eyewear includes a front face, a first arm in mechanical connection with the front face, a second arm in mechanical connection with the front face, one or more electrical components, and a first wireless receiver system; note that the eye wear with angled frame is a curved structure).
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Halyal does not expressly disclose ferromagnetic charging relay receiver curved surface matches a receiver outer curved surface.
Xu, on the other hand, discloses a ferromagnetic charging rely (Para. # 0078: Magnetic cores 252 and 254 have a high magnetic permeability and therefore lower the magnetic reluctance between the transmitting device and the receiving device; magnetic relays 252 and 254: forming relays magnetic flux between the transmitter and receiver); and receiver curved surface matches a receiver outer curved surface (Fig. 7 indicates that the magnetic receiving coils is curved and realigned to help transform charge or power signals from transmitter to receiver as also indicated in Para. # 0055: alignment structures may be formed within regions 166, 168, 170, and/or 172 to help ensure that receiving coil(s) 48 on the stylus are aligned with transmitting coils 36)).
HALYAL and Xu are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely wireless charging and magnetic relay structure for wireless power transfer.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added a ferromagnetic charging relay with curvy shape to the wireless charging of Halyal in view of Xu for the benefit of improving coupling between the control coil and charging circuit, reducing energy loss by allowing the relay to respond swiftly with precession to charge control signals.
In addition to that, It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have a receiver with curved surface that matches a receiver outer curved surface as taught by Xu, in order to fit transmitter and receiver coils structurally for efficient power transmission. Further, it has been held that the use of similar curvy structure of receivers/transmitters in induction/wireless charging as disclosed in the prior art would be merely a matter of obvious engineering choice, In re Larson, 3340 F.2d 965, 968, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965).
With respect to claim 2, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein the receiver inner curved surface is opposite to the receiver outer curved surface (Para. # 0052: cover layer may have a planar shape, a convex curved profile, a shape with planar and curved portions, a layout that includes a planar main area surrounded on one or more edges with a portion that is bent out of the plane).
With respect to claims 3 and 4, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein comprising: an outer shell component of a respiratory protective device, wherein the outer shell component comprises the power receiver curved portion (Para. # 0072: magnetic alignment structure 234 in the receiving device. When the transmitter alignment structures 214 are coupled to the receiver alignment structures 234).
With respect to claim 5, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein when the outer shell component is positioned on top of the charging relay component, the receiver relay curved surface of the charging relay component is in contact with the receiver outer curved surface (Par. # 0078: Magnetic cores 252 and 254 may therefore sometimes be referred to as magnetic relays 252 and 254; because they form a low reluctance path that relays magnetic flux between the transmitter and receiver).
With respect to claims 6 and 7, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein the plurality of power receiving coils is electronically coupled to a power charging component of the respiratory protective device (Para. # 0067-0068).
With respect to claims 8, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein the plurality of power receiving coils comprises at least one flexibly printed power receiving coil (Para. #0060, 0069: a conductive ink or conductive trace such as multilayer tracks on a printed circuit board, or other conductive elements suitable for forming coils).
With respect to claims 9, 10 and 11, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein the ferromagnetic material comprises one or more of steel material or iron material (Para. # 0078, 0083: ferromagnetic and/or ferrimagnetic materials such as iron, mild steel, mu-metal (a nickel-iron alloy), a nanocrystalline magnetic material, rare earth metals, or other magnetic materials having).
However, the combined references of Halyal and Xu do not disclose expressly disclose charging relay molding comprising clay or non-calcium silicate materials.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have a relay component molding made from clay or related material as it uses for insulating or similar crafting, as it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
With respect to claims 12-19, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses the wireless charging system further comprises a plurality of power emitting coils (Para. # 0030: light-emitting diode status indicator lights and other light-emitting components for emitting light that provides a user with status information and/or other information, haptic devices for generating vibrations and other haptic output, and/or other output devices).
With respect to claim 20, the combined references of Halyal and Xu disclose the wireless charging system as described above, Xu further discloses wherein the wherein, when the receiver relay curved surface is in contact with the receiver outer curved surface and the emitter relay surface is in contact with the emitter outer surface, the plurality of power emitting coils is aligned with the plurality of power receiving coils (Para. # 0030 and 0078: light-emitting diode status indicator lights and other light-emitting components for emitting light; and Magnetic cores 252 and 254 may therefore sometimes be referred to as magnetic relays 252 and 254, that help form a low reluctance path that relays magnetic flux between the transmitter and receiver).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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