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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the wire or metallic foil or flexible film with printed metallic pattern, wherein the metallic foil or flexible films are placed underneath the satellite antennas or underneath the V2X antenna, as recited in claims 12, 13, and 14, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 5 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 5, “the lateral zone” lacks proper antecedent basis.
Claim 16, which depend from claim 14, 11, and 1, recites “the cellular antennas”. However, claim 1 recites “at least one cellular antenna elements”. Therefore, “the cellular antennas” lacks proper antecedent basis. For the purpose of rejection, it would be assumed to be “the at least one cellular antenna” of claim 1. This also applied to “the broadcast antenna elements, while claim 14 recites “the broadcast antenna element”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Smith et al. (U.S. 2021/0387684A1).
Regarding claim 1, Smith et al. disclose a spoiler assembly (101, see figs. 1, 4, and 7b) for a vehicle (100, figs. 1-2 and refer to para 0032), said assembly comprising (for this rejection, examiner is using the antenna layout of fig. 4 but making reference to fig. 7b for the spoiler housing; para 0046: “Fig. 4 shows the inside of the spoiler 101”):
a. a spoiler housing (housing of 101) having left and right extremities (as shown in fig. 7b) and having a lower part (501) and a cover part (502), the lower part (501) having an inner surface facing an inner surface of the cover part (as shown in figs. 1 and 7b, the inner surface of the cover part 502 is over the inner surface of the lower part 501);
b. a plurality of antenna elements (para 0046: 402, 403; para 0048 and 0056: 405-1, 405-2, 405-3, 405-4); wherein the plurality of antenna elements (402, 403, 405-1, 405-2, 405-3, 405-4) are arranged on a surface (interior surface of 101) of the spoiler housing (housing of 101), and the antenna elements (402, 403, 405-1, 405-2, 405-3, 405-4) working at different range of frequencies (para 0046: “inner antennas 405-2 and 405-3…receive high frequencies”; para 0049: “outer antennas 405-1 and 405-4…receive lower frequencies”; also refer to para 0007 and 0046);
c. wherein the spoiler housing (housing of 101) has at least a central area (as shown in annotated fig. 4 below) and at least one lateral area (as shown in annotated fig. 4 below) on both sides of the central area and in the extremities of the spoiler housing (as shown in annotated fig. 4 below),
wherein in the central area (as shown in annotated fig. 4 below), at least one satellite antenna element (402, 403) is provided (para 0046: antennas 402 and 403 are patch antenna and para 0038 states that satellite antennas are patch antennas; also 403 is an SDARS antenna (satellite digital audio radio service antenna while 402 is a GNSS (global navigation satellite system antenna) and in at least one lateral area at left and the right extremities of the spoiler housing (as shown in annotated fig. 4 below), at least one cellular antenna elements (405-1, 405-4; para 0054: antennas 405-1 and 405-4 are vertically oriented antennas and para 0039 stated that vertically oriented antennas are cellular base) and/or telematic antenna elements are provided (examiner notes that the interpretation of the position of the antennas in the at least one lateral area at the left and right extremities is consistent with fig. 2 of the claimed invention since the antennas 31b are not located at the extreme end of the housing).
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Regarding claim 2, Smith et al. disclose wherein a further area (C, see annotated fig. 4 above) placed between the central area and the lateral area is provided (as shown in fig. 4 above) with V2X antenna elements (404; see annotated fig. 4 above and refer to para 0046).
Regarding claim 4, Smith et al. disclose wherein in the central area, at least one satellite antenna working at a frequency comprised between 1 and 40 GHz, is provided (GNSS and SDARS antennas work at a frequency between 1 and 40GHz).
Regarding claim 5, Smith et al. disclose a spoiler (101, see figs. 1, 4, and 7b) assembly according to claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 1 above), wherein the antenna elements (405-1, 405-4) provided in the lateral Zone is configured as a Multiple Input Multiple Output array (refer to para 0009, 0039, and claim 7).
Regarding claim 6, Smith et al. disclose wherein the at least one antenna element provided in the central area is a satellite antenna (para 0046: antennas 402 and 403 are patch antenna and para 0038 states that satellite antennas are patch antennas) chosen amongst satellite radio and satellite communication (refer to para 0038 and 0046).
Regarding claim 7, Smith et al. disclose wherein the antenna elements provided in the lateral area are one of 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, 5G antennas (refer to para 0039: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G; para 0048 “LTE antennas 405-1…405-4”).
Regarding claim 8, Smith et al. disclose wherein more than one LTE antenna elements are provided (para 0048 “LTE antennas 405-1…405-4”).
Regarding claim 9, Smith et al. disclose wherein the antenna elements are laterally spaced apart within the spoiler housing (as shown in fig. 4; refer to para 0009: “A plurality of the antennas may be laterally spaced within the spoiler housing”; also refer to para 0048).
Regarding claim 10, Smith et al. disclose wherein a second V2X antenna element is provided (para 0051: “V2X 416”), the first V2X element (404) and the second V2X element (404) having the same or different orientation or a same or different shape (see fig. 4, the shapes are different). Examiner also notes that it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only (
Regarding claim 11, Smith et al. disclose wherein at least one radio broadcast antenna is provided (SDARS antenna 403), providing service for an analog signal or a digital signal (antenna 403 is a SDARS antenna receives radio signals and is a digital audio service antenna; para 0045: “digital signal”; also refer to para 0006, 0033, 0037, 0042, and 0052).
Regarding claim 15, Smith et al. disclose a vehicle (100, figs. 1-2 and refer to para 0032) comprising a spoiler (101, para 0032) according to claim 1 (see the rejection of fig. 1 above).
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith et al. (U.S. 2021/0387684A1), in view of Kim et al. (U.S. 2020/0185818A1).
Regarding claim 3, Smith et al. further teach an LTE antenna (405-2) located between the cellular antennas (405-1) and the V2X antenna (404. See fig. 4).
However, Smith et al. fail to teach a WiFi antenna.
Kim et al. teach a vehicle mounted antenna device (refer to abstract), wherein the device comprises an LTE antennas (para 0160), SDARS antennas (refer to para 0167), and a WiFi antenna (refer to para 0167).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the spoiler of Smith et al. to include a WiFi antenna, as taught by Kim et al., for the purpose of providing high-speed mobile hotspot.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have positioned the WiFi antenna between the cellular antennas and the V2X antenna since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention in a manner which does not alter its operation involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Claims 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith et al. (U.S. 2021/0387684A1), in view of Hellgren et al. (U.S. 6,853,341B1).
Regarding claim 14, Smith et al. teaches all the features of this claim as applied to claim 11 above; however, Smith et al. fail to teach that the broadcast antenna element (i.e., antenna 403) is made of wire or metallic foil or a flexible film with printed metallic pattern, where the metallic foils or flexible films are placed next to the cellular antenna at the lateral Zone. In other words, Smith is silent to detail structure of antenna 403.
Hellgren et al. generally teach an antenna device (1, fig. 1) mounted to a ground plane or metallic sheet (20; refer to col. 4, lines 4-13) and comprises a conductive radiating structure (10), wherein the conductive radiating structure is a flexible film (refer to claim 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the broadcast antenna of Smith et al. to have made the antenna with a flexible film with printed metallic pattern, as taught by Hellgren et al. so that it has high conformability to curved surfaces and low-profile structure to be able to fit in tight spaces.
Regarding claim 16, Smith et al., as modified by Hellgren et al., teach all the features of this claim as applied to claim 14 above; Smith et al. further disclose wherein the cellular antennas (405-1, 405-4) are not overlapping the broadcast antenna elements (402, 403, as shown in fig. 4) to reduce mutual-influence between the services (since they do not overlap as shown in fig. 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 12, the prior art fail to teach that the metallic foils or flexible films are placed underneath the satellite antennas in the center area, acting as a ground plane for the satellite antennas.
Regarding claim 13, the prior art fail to teach that the metallic foils or flexible films are placed underneath the V2X antenna, acting as a ground plane for the V2X antennas.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YANICK A AKARAGWE whose telephone number is (469)295-9298. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Coy can be reached at (571) 272-5405. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YANICK A AKARAGWE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3672