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 Interpretation
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “a power conditioning system configured to” in claims 1 line 5, 13 line 22.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
PLEASE NOTE: Claims 1, 13 were also examined to determine compliance under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and 112(b) and it was determined that said claims meet the requirements under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and 112(b). The subject matter contained in said claims is described in the specification in such a way as to reasonable convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventors, at the time application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention (Please See Figure 5, Paragraphs 00129, 000130 of Applicants’ specification). The written description discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and clearly links the structure, material, or acts to the function (Please See Figure 5, Paragraphs 00129, 000130 of Applicants’ specification).
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.
Claims 1, 2, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Melone et al. (US 2022/0239343) in view of Wilson et al. (US 2013/0005248).
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Regarding Claim 1, Melone teaches a wireless power receiver system comprising: an antenna configured to receive wireless power signals (Figure 2, Figure 9, antenna (31), Section 0096), and transmit signals (Section 0070, receiver can send or transmit data thus said receiver can act as a transceiver); a power conditioning system configured to receive the wireless power signals and convert the wireless power signals to electrical energy for powering a load associated with the wireless power receiver system (Figures 2, 9, power conditioning system (32), power is provided to the load (Sections 0097, 0098)); and a controller comprising a driver (Section 0070, receiver can send or transmit data thus there will be a driver that generates said data signals); at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium that are executable by the controller such that the controller is configured to provide driving signals to the driver for generating the signals (Figure 9, memory (37), Section 0099, control system is the processor that controls the receiver functions thus rendering a scenario wherein said control system provides signals to the driver for generating the data signals).
Melone does not teach transmit polling signals.
Wilson, which also teaches near-field communications, teaches transmitting polling signals (Section 0038).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Melone with the above features of Wilson for the purpose of optimizing power consumption as taught by Wilson.
Regarding Claim 2, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Melone further teaches wherein transmitting the signals, by the antenna, includes transmitting the signals to a passive antenna of a passive communications system, the passive communications system including the passive antenna and a passive controller (Section 0059, transmitter can participate in inductive coupling with a receiver, which is a passive process or protocol, thus the transmitter comprises a passive antenna and passive controller (Figure 2, antenna (21), controller (26)).
Regarding Claim 12, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Melone further teaches wherein the wireless power signals and the polling signals each operate at an operating frequency in a range of about 13.553 megahertz (MHz) to about 13.567 MHz (Section 0031).
Claims 3 – 11, 13 – 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Melone et al. (US 2022/0239343) in view of Wilson et al. (US 2013/0005248) and in further view of Choi et al. (US 2019/0148966)
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Regarding Claim 13, Melone teaches a wireless power and data transfer system comprising: a wireless transmission system comprising: a transmitter antenna for transmitting wireless power signals (Figures 2, 3, Section 0066, antenna (21)); and a transmitter controller comprising: at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium that are executable by the transmitter controller such that the transmitter controller is configured to generate driving signals for driving the transmitter antenna to transmit the wireless power signals (Figure 3, Sections 0067, 0068, transmission controller (28), memory (27)); a passive communications system comprising: a passive antenna (Section 0070, receiver can send or transmit data thus said receiver can act as a transceiver, Section 0059, receiver can participate in inductive coupling with a transmitter, which is a passive process or protocol, thus the receiver comprises a passive antenna and passive controller (Figure 9, antenna (31), controller (38), memory (37)); and a passive controller comprising: at least one second non-transitory machine-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the second non-transitory machine-readable medium that are executable by the passive controller such that the passive controller is configured to modulate signals (Section 0070, receiver can send or transmit data thus said receiver can act as a transceiver, Section 0059, receiver can participate in inductive coupling with a transmitter, which is a passive process or protocol, thus the receiver comprises a passive antenna and passive controller (Figure 9, antenna (31), controller (38), memory (37), modulating the inductive field between the antennas (Section 0108)); and a wireless receiver system comprising: a receiver antenna configured to receive the wireless power signals (Figure 2, Figure 9, antenna (31), Section 0096), and transmit signals (Section 0070, receiver can send or transmit data thus said receiver can act as a transceiver); a power conditioning system configured to receive the wireless power signals and convert the wireless power signals to electrical energy for powering a load associated with the wireless power receiver system (Figures 2, 9, power conditioning system (32), power is provided to the load (Sections 0097, 0098)); and a receiver controller comprising: a driver (Section 0070, receiver can send or transmit data thus there will be a driver that generates said data signals); at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium that are executable by the receiver controller such that the receiver controller is configured to provide driving signals to the driver for generating the signals (Figure 9, memory (37), Section 0099, control system is the processor that controls the receiver functions thus rendering a scenario wherein said control system provides signals to the driver for generating the data signals).
Melone does not teach modulate polling signals to encode first data signals in-band of the polling signals, transmit polling signals
Wilson, which also teaches near-field communications, teaches transmitting polling signals (Section 0038).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Melone with the above features of Wilson for the purpose of optimizing power consumption as taught by Wilson.
Melone combination does not teach modulating signals to encode first data signals in-band of the signals
Choi, which also teaches wireless power transfer, teaches modulate signals to encode first data signals in-band of the signals (Section 0013, in order to achieve in-band communications there would need to be modulation to encode data signals in-band).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Melone combination with the above features of Choi for the purpose of combating cross connection as taught by Choi. The combination of Melone, Wilson and Choi teaches modulate polling signals to encode first data signals in-band of the polling signals.
Regarding Claim 3, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 2. Melone further teaches at least one second non-transitory machine-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the second non-transitory machine-readable medium that are executable by the passive controller such that the passive controller is configured to modulate the signals (Figure 3, Section 0068, memory (27), modulating the inductive field between the antennas (Section 0108)).
Melone combination does not teach modulate the polling signals to encode first data signals in-band of the polling signals.
Choi, which also teaches wireless power transfer, teaches modulate signals to encode first data signals in-band of the signals (Section 0013, in order to achieve in-band communications there would need to be modulation to encode data signals in-band).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Melone combination with the above features of Choi for the purpose of combating cross connection as taught by Choi. The combination of Melone, Wilson and Choi teaches modulate polling signals to encode first data signals in-band of the polling signals.
Regarding Claim 4, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 3. Melone further teaches wherein the program instructions stored on the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium further include instructions that are executable by the controller such that the controller is configured to demodulate the polling signals to decode the first data signals (Section 0070, the data signals that are transmitted would need to be demodulated and decoded in order to obtain the data).
Regarding Claim 5, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 4. Melone further teaches wherein the program instructions stored on the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium further include instructions that are executable by the controller such that the controller is configured to store the first data signals on one or more of the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium, at least one other non-transitory machine-readable medium, or combinations thereof, wherein the at least one other non-transitory machine-readable medium is operatively associated with the wireless receiver system, a host device associated with the wireless power receiver system, or combinations thereof (Section 0070, the data that is demodulated will need to be stored thus rendering a scenario wherein said data is stored in memory (27) (See Figure 3)).
Regarding Claims 6, 17, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 3, 13. Melone further teaches wherein receiving the wireless power signals, by the antenna, includes receiving the wireless power signals from a transmitter antenna of a wireless transmission system (Section 0096), and wherein the wireless transmission system comprises the transmitter antenna and a transmitter controller (Figure 2, antenna (21), controller (26)), the transmitter controller comprising: at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium (Figure 3, Sections 0067, 0068, memory (27)); and program instructions stored on the at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium that are executable by the transmitter controller such that the transmitter controller is configured to generate driving signals for driving the transmitter antenna to transmit the wireless power signals, and modulate the driving signals (Figure 3, Sections 0067, 0068, driver (48)).
Melone combination does not teach modulate the driving signals to encode second data signals in-band of the wireless power signals.
Choi, which also teaches wireless power transfer, teaches modulate signals to encode data signals in-band of the signals (Section 0013, in order to achieve in-band communications there would need to be modulation to encode data signals in-band).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Melone combination with the above features of Choi for the purpose of combating cross connection as taught by Choi. The combination of Melone, Wilson and Choi teaches modulate the driving signals to encode second data signals in-band of the wireless power signals.
Regarding Claims 7, 18, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 6, 17. Melone further teaches wherein the program instructions stored on the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium further include instructions that are executable by the transmitter/receiver controller such that the transmitter/receiver controller is configured to demodulate the wireless power signals to decode the second data signals (Section 0059, transmitter can participate in inductive coupling with a receiver, and thus receive power signals, the wireless power signals can be decoded and demodulated due to the fact that modulation on one end (Section 0108) leads to demodulation on the other or receiving end).
Regarding Claims 8, 19, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 7, 18. Melone further teaches wherein the program instructions stored on the at least one first non-transitory machine-readable medium further include instructions that are executable by the transmitter/receiver controller such that the transmitter/receiver controller is configured to modulate the wireless power signals (power signals can be modulated (Section 0108)).
Melone combination does not modulate the wireless power signals to encode third data signals in-band of the wireless power signals.
Choi, which also teaches wireless power transfer, teaches modulate signals to encode data signals in-band of the signals (Section 0013, in order to achieve in-band communications there would need to be modulation to encode data signals in-band).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Melone combination with the above features of Choi for the purpose of combating cross connection as taught by Choi. The combination of Melone, Wilson and Choi teaches modulate the wireless power signals to encode third data signals in-band of the wireless power signals.
Regarding Claim 9, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 8. Melone further teaches wherein the first data signals are first asynchronous serial data signals and the second data signals are second asynchronous serial data signals (Section 0013, UARTs produce asynchronous serial data signals), and each of the first and second asynchronous serial data signals are compliant with a wireless power and data transfer protocol (Melone teaches a wireless power system (Section 0066) and data transfer (Section 0070), therefore the asynchronous serial data signals are compliant with wireless power and data transfer).
Regarding Claim 10, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 9. Melone further teaches wherein the first asynchronous serial data signals are first universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) compliant data signals, and wherein the second asynchronous serial data signals are second UART compliant data signals (Section 0013).
Regarding Claim 11, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 10. Melone further teaches wherein the wireless power and data transfer protocol is a Near Field Communication (NFC) transfer protocol (Section 0014).
Regarding Claim 14, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 13. Melone further teaches a rectifier for converting the polling signal into usable electrical energy for powering the passive controller (Figure 9, Sections 0097, 0098).
Regarding Claim 15, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 13. Melone further teaches wherein the program instructions stored on the at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium further include instructions that are executable by the receiver controller such that the controller is configured to demodulate the signals to decode the first data signals (Section 0059, transmitter can participate in inductive coupling with a receiver, and thus receive power signals, the wireless power signals can be decoded and demodulated due to the fact that modulation on one end (Section 0108) leads to demodulation on the other or receiving end)
Melone combination does not teach demodulate the polling signals to decode the first data signals in-band of the polling signals.
Choi, which also teaches wireless power transfer, teaches demodulate signals to encode data signals in-band of the signals (Section 0013, in order to achieve in-band communications there would need to be modulation to encode data signals in-band, modulation on one end leads to demodulation on the other or receiving end).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Melone combination with the above features of Choi for the purpose of combating cross connection as taught by Choi. The combination of Melone, Wilson and Choi teaches demodulate the polling signals to decode the first data signals in-band of the polling signals.
Regarding Claim 16, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 15. Melone further teaches wherein the program instructions stored on the at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium further include instructions that are executable by the receiver controller such that the receiver controller is configured to store the first data signals on one or more of the at least one third non-transitory machine-readable medium, at least one other non-transitory machine-readable medium, or combinations thereof, wherein the at least one other non-transitory machine-readable medium is operatively associated with the wireless receiver system, a host device associated with the wireless power receiver system, or combinations thereof (Section 0070, the data that is demodulated will need to be stored thus rendering a scenario wherein said data is stored in memory (27) (See Figure 3)).
Regarding Claim 20, Melone combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 19. Melone further teaches wherein the wireless power signals and the polling signals each operate at an operating frequency selected from one or more of a first operating frequency, a second operating frequency, a third operating frequency, or combinations thereof, wherein the first operating frequency is in a range of about 13.553 megahertz (MHz) to about 13.567 MHz, wherein the second operating frequency is about 6.78 MHz, and wherein the third operating frequency is in a range of about 88 kilohertz (kHz) to about 1 MHz (Section 0031).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND S DEAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7877. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 6:00-2:30, EST.
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
December 23, 2025