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 .
Specification
The application has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible typographical and grammatical errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which he/she may become aware in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “the high-voltage analog modules”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Vanitegem et al (US 8,416,113).
Regarding claim 1, Vanitegem et al teach in figure (6) A micro-application processor architecture comprising: a low-voltage digital module (616), communicatively coupled to a digital signal bus and configured to implement digital functions; a low-voltage analog module (642), communicatively coupled to the low-voltage digital module (616) and the digital signal bus, and configured to implement low-voltage analog functions; and one or more high-voltage analog modules (602), communicably connected to one or more of the low-voltage digital module, the digital signal bus, and the low-voltage analog module, and configured to implement high-voltage analog functions.
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 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vanitegem et al (US 8,416,113).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Vanitegem et al teach the essential features of the claimed invention, as set forth above, except for the low-voltage digital module, the low-voltage analog module and the high-voltage analog module being assembled using the same processes or different processes. However, this limitation is obvious because it is obvious to assemble the modules using the same processes or different processes as long as they achieve a same target goal.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH J LAUTURE whose telephone number is (571)272-1805. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 AM-6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dameon Levi can be reached at 5712722105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH J LAUTURE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845