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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/04/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Examiner appreciates the time and effort of the Applicant on the compact prosecution of this case. However, the amendments while they clarify the disposition of the first dielectric body, fail to put the claims in condition for allowance.
Applicant argues that the prior art fails to disclose that the “first dielectric body” is “disposed on a feeding side” of the dielectric substrate in claim 1 and that “first dielectric body” covers “a side surface…adjacent to the feed point in each of the plurality of subarrays.” The Examiner disagrees. Furuhi discloses the first dielectric body, 170, disposed on a feeding side, SP1, of the radiating element, 121, of the dielectric substrate, 160. In addition, the first dielectric body, 170, internally covers a side surface defined by the side surface along the board of the first dielectric, 170, adjacent to the feed point in each of the plurality of the subarrays as shown in Figs. 19 and 27. In case of further amendments to distinct the invention over the prior art, Applicant is advised to look into the features of Fig. 2, where the first dielectric body, 135, externally covers the side surfaces, 161, 162, of the dielectric substrate along the power feeding points, SP1 and SP2.
If further efforts are made to clarify and fully define the invention, Applicant is advised to consider referencing specific paragraphs, column and line numbers, and/or figures from the cited prior art. While the citations provided are representative and mapped to individual claim limitations, other portions of the references may also be relevant. Incorporating such disclosures may assist the Applicant in preparing a more complete response to this Office Action.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries 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 1-4 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furuhi et al. (US 20210184344; hereafter referred to as Furuhi) in view of Kato et al. (US 20130127560; hereafter referred to as Kato).
Regarding claim 1:
Furuhi discloses (in Fig. 19) an antenna module (100), comprising: a dielectric substrate (160) having a rectangular shape (See Fig.) including a first side (along the 162) and a second side (along the 163) adjacent to each other (See Figs.); a first radiating element (121) disposed in the dielectric substrate (160); a first power feeding line (140) extending in a normal direction of the dielectric substrate (160) and transferring a radio frequency signal supplied from a power feed circuit (110) to the first radiating element (121); and a first dielectric body (170) disposed on a side surface (defined by the side of 160 along the circumference of 170; See Fig.) of the dielectric substrate (160), wherein the first power feeding line (140) is coupled to the first radiating element (121) at a position offset from a center (at SP1) of the first radiating element (121) in a first direction toward the first side (along the 162), the first dielectric body (170) is disposed so as to cover the side surface (defined by the side of 160 along the circumference of 170; See Fig.) including on a feeding side (along 121 adjacent SP1), which is the first side (along the 162) of the dielectric substrate (160).
Furuhi is silent on that a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate.
Kato discloses (in Fig. 4) a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body (15) is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate (12).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate as taught by the antenna system of Kato into the antenna device of Furuhi for the benefit of suppressing formation of a stray capacitance within the high-frequency signal transmission line (Para. 0060, Lines 13-14) to improve signal integrity and circuit performance and reliability.
Regarding claim 2:
Furuhi discloses a second dielectric body (171) disposed on an upper surface of the dielectric substrate (160) so as to cover the first radiating element (121) when viewed in plan in the normal direction (z-axis) of the dielectric substrate (160).
Furuhi is silent on that a dielectric constant of the second dielectric body is higher than the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate.
Kato discloses (in Fig. 4) a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body (15) is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate (12).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate as taught by the antenna system of Kato into the antenna device of Furuhi for the benefit of suppressing formation of a stray capacitance within the high-frequency signal transmission line (Para. 0060, Lines 13-14) to improve signal integrity and circuit performance and reliability.
Regarding claim 3:
Furuhi discloses a dimension of the second dielectric body (171) in the normal direction is smaller than a dimension of the first dielectric body (170) in the first direction (See Fig.).
Regarding claim 4:
Furuhi discloses a distance between the first radiating element (121) and the first dielectric body (170).
Furuhi as modified by Kato are silent on that the distance when viewed in plan in the normal direction of the dielectric substrate, is shorter than ¼ of a dimension of the first radiating element in the first direction.
However, the spacing between the first radiating element and the first dielectric body is a result
effective variable to decrease stray capacitance occurring between the radiating element and the dielectric body, therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to construct the gap or the space to shorter than ¼ of a dimension of the first radiating element in the first direction since where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 11:
Furuhi discloses (in Figs. 1, 19 and 27) an antenna module (100/300) comprising: a support substrate (disposed alone with 120); a plurality of subarrays (121) disposed on the support substrate (160 disposed alone with 120); and a dielectric body (170) covering the plurality of subarrays (121), wherein, each of the plurality of subarrays (121) is provided with a dielectric substrate (160) having a rectangular shape having a first side to a fourth side (along the 161-164), and a first radiating element to a fourth radiating element (100-1A – 100-4A) that are disposed in or on the dielectric substrate (160), the second side (along the 163) and the fourth side (along the 161) extend in a first direction (along y-axis), the first side (along the 162) and the third side (along the 164) extend in a second direction (along x-axis) orthogonal to the first direction (along y-axis), the first radiating element (100-4A) and the second radiating element (100-2A) are disposed adjacent to each other in the first direction (along y-axis) along the second side (along the 163), the first radiating element (100-4A) and the third radiating element (100-3A) are disposed adjacent to each other in the second direction (along x-axis) along the first side (along the 162), the second radiating element (100-2A) and the fourth radiating element (100-1A) are disposed adjacent to each other in the first direction (along y-axis) along the fourth side (along the 161), the third radiating element (100-3A) and the fourth radiating element (100-1A) are disposed adjacent to each other in the second direction along (along x-axis) the third side (along the 164), in each of the first radiating element (100-4A) to the fourth radiating element (100-1A), a radio frequency signal is supplied to a position offset from a center of the radiating element (100-1A-100-4A) in a direction of a side in proximity in the dielectric substrate (160), the dielectric body (170) includes a first dielectric body (defined by 170) disposed so as to cover a side surface (defined by the side of 160 along the circumference of 170; See Fig.) including the first side (along the 162) to the fourth side (along the 161) adjacent to the feed point (SP1 as shown in Fig. 19) in each of the plurality of subarrays (See Fig. 27), and a second dielectric body (171) disposed so as to cover the first radiating element to the fourth radiating element (100-1A – 100-4A) in each of the plurality of subarrays (See Fig. 27), when viewed in plan in a normal direction of the dielectric substrate (160).
Furuhi is silent on that a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate.
Kato discloses (in Fig. 4) a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body (15) is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate (12).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a dielectric constant of the first dielectric body is higher than a dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate as taught by the antenna system of Kato into the antenna device of Furuhi for the benefit of suppressing formation of a stray capacitance within the high-frequency signal transmission line (Para. 0060, Lines 13-14) to improve signal integrity and circuit performance and reliability.
Regarding claim 12:
Furuhi discloses a power feed circuit (110) that supplies a radio frequency signal to each radiating element (121).
Regarding claim 13:
Furuhi discloses (in Fig. 1) a communication device (10) equipped with the antenna module (100).
Regarding claim 14:
Furuhi discloses a distance between the first radiating element (121) and the first dielectric body (170).
Furuhi as modified by Kato are silent on that the distance when viewed in plan in the normal direction of the dielectric substrate, is shorter than ¼ of a dimension of the first radiating element in the first direction.
However, the spacing between the first radiating element and the first dielectric body is a result effective variable to decrease stray capacitance occurring between the radiating element and the dielectric body, therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to construct the gap or the space to shorter than ¼ of a dimension of the first radiating element in the first direction since where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claims 5-10 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Furuhi et al. (US 20210184344; hereafter referred to as Furuhi) in view of Kato et al (US 20130127560; hereafter referred to as Kato) as applied to claims 1-4 and 11-14, and further in view of Ali et al. (US Pat. 5448252; hereafter referred to as Ali).
Regarding claims 5 and 15:
Furuhi discloses a ground electrode (GND) disposed opposite to the first radiating element (121) in the dielectric substrate (160).
Furuhi as modified by Kato are silent on that the dielectric substrate includes a first substrate in or on which the first radiating element is disposed, and a second substrate in which the ground electrode is disposed, and the first dielectric body is disposed so as to cover at least a side surface of the first substrate.
Ali discloses (in Figs. 3 and 9) the dielectric substrate (14) includes a first substrate (14A) in or on which the first radiating element (16) is disposed, and a second substrate (14B) in which the ground electrode (12) is disposed, and the first dielectric body (18) is disposed so as to cover at least a side surface of the first substrate (14).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the dielectric substrate includes a first substrate in or on which the first radiating element is disposed, and a second substrate in which the ground electrode is disposed, and the first dielectric body is disposed so as to cover at least a side surface of the first substrate as taught by Ali into the modified device of Furuhi for the benefit of increasing the antenna bandwidth and the amount of radiated energy (See Abstract; Col. 2, Lines 3-5).
Regarding claim 6 and 16:
Furuhi discloses (in Fig. 29) a second power feeding line (142) extending in the normal direction of the dielectric substrate (160) and transferring a radio frequency signal supplied from the power feed circuit (110) to the first radiating element (121), wherein the second power feeding line (142) is coupled to the first radiating element (121) at a position offset from the center of the first radiating element (121) in a second direction (along x-axis) toward the second side (See Fig.), and the first dielectric body (170) is disposed so as to further cover a side surface including the second side of the dielectric substrate (160).
Regarding claim 7 and 17:
Furuhi discloses (in Figs. 19, 27) a second radiating element (100-2A) disposed adjacent to the first radiating element (100-4A) in a third direction opposite (along the x-axis) to the first direction (along the x-axis) in or on the dielectric substrate (160), wherein the dielectric substrate further (160) includes a third side opposite to the first side (See Figs.), in the second radiating element (100-2A), a radio frequency signal is supplied to a position offset from a center (at SP1) of the second radiating element (100-2A) in the third direction (along the x-axis), and to a position offset from the center of the second radiating element (100-2A) in the second direction (along the y-axis), and the first dielectric body (170) is
disposed so as to further cover a side surface including the third side of the dielectric substrate (160).
Regarding claim 8:
Furuhi discloses the dielectric substrate further includes a fourth side (161) opposite to the second side (163), the antenna module (100) further comprises: a third radiating element (100-3A) disposed adjacent to the first radiating element (100-4A) in a fourth direction (along the y-axis) opposite to the second direction (along the y-axis) in or on the dielectric substrate (160); and a fourth radiating element (100-1A) disposed adjacent to the second radiating element (100-2A) in the fourth direction (along the y-axis) in or on the dielectric substrate (160), in the third radiating element (100-3A), a radio frequency signal is supplied to a position offset from a center of the third radiating element (100-3A) in the first direction (along the x-axis), and to a position offset from the center of the third radiating element (100-3A) in the fourth direction (along the y-axis), in the fourth radiating element (100-1A), a radio frequency signal is supplied to a position offset from a center of the fourth radiating element (100-1A) in the third direction (along the x-axis), and to a position offset from the center of the fourth radiating element (100-1A) in the fourth direction, and the first dielectric body (170) is disposed so as to further cover a side surface including the fourth side of the dielectric substrate (160).
Regarding claim 18:
Furuhi discloses in the third radiating element (100-3A), a radio frequency signal is supplied to a position offset from a center of the third radiating element (100-3A) in the first direction (along the x-axis), and to a position offset from the center of the third radiating element (100-3A) in the fourth direction (along the y-axis), in the fourth radiating element (100-1A), a radio frequency signal is supplied to a position offset from a center of the fourth radiating element (100-1A) in the third direction (along the x-axis), and to a position offset from the center of the fourth radiating element (100-1A) in the fourth direction, and the first dielectric body (170) is disposed so as to further cover a side surface including the fourth side of the dielectric substrate (160).
Regarding claims 9, 19 and 20:
Furuhi discloses further comprising: the power feed circuit (110).
Regarding claim 10:
Furuhi discloses (in Fig. 1) a communication device (10), comprising: the antenna module (100).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAMIDELE A. IMMANUEL whose telephone number is (571)272-9988. The examiner can normally be reached General IFP Schedule: Mon.-Fri. 8AM - 7PM (Hoteling).
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, Dimary Lopez can be reached at 5712707893. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAMIDELE A IMMANUEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845