DETAILED ACTION
1. This is the first action on the merits relating to U.S. Application Serial No. 19/045,640 filed on February 5, 2025. Currently claims 1-14 remain in the examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
3. Applicant’s disclosure of related information and claiming benefit of priority as described in paragraph [0001] is acknowledged.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
5. Drawings originally filed on February 28, 2024 are approved in terms of format.
However, in figures 9, and 10, it is unclear what processes the figures are trying to show. Replacement drawings describing the steps in figures 9 and 10 are required.
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
6. Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 14, line 3: please replace “claim 1” with the actual text of claim 1, which would place the claim 14, an independent claim in a better form.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Claims 1, 9, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2023/0208193 A1 to FORRESTER et al. (hereinafter “FORRESTER”).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, FORRESTER discloses an electronic device 102 (see figure 1D) (see paragraphs 0041 and thereafter) comprising rechargeable battery 123; one or more printed circuit board (see paragraphs 0054, 0055, and 0063); a receiver and charging circuitry 122 and a charging coil 121 to charge the battery (see figure 1D and paragraph 0046); and the charging circuity 122 functions as a power management circuit; and as shown in figure 2G, many components are disposed on various circuit boards including the antenna 260 and sound processing unit 106 (see figure 2G and paragraph 0063 and thereafter).
Regarding claim 9, the electronic device is a hearing instrument (see paragraph 0040).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Claims 2, 3, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0208193 A1 to FORRESTER et al.
Regarding claim 2, the teachings of FORRESTER have been discussed above. As shown in figure 2G (also see paragraph 0062), the charging case 250 is comprise of several layers – outer layer, inner layer and other unnamed layers comprising electronic components which are all circuit boards. Although FORRESTER does not explicitly disclose folded circuit boards, a plurality of layers of circuit board essentially serves the same as folded circuit boards.
Regarding claims 3 and 10, FORRESTER further discloses that the coils 108 and 114 are wire antenna coils each comprising multiple turns of electrically insulated single-strand or multi-strand platinum or gold wire. It is the Examiner’s position that it is obvious to one ordinary skill in the art to design the wire to three or four turns as it may be the most ideal embodiment in a particular situation.
Allowable Subject Matter
14. Claims 11-13 are allowed.
15. Claims 4-8 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.
16. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims are directed at an electronic device, comprising:
a rechargeable battery;
a receiver circuit for wirelessly receiving energy from a charger and transforming received energy into a charging current for charging said rechargeable battery; and
a load modulator configured to modulate the charging current in order to transfer a communication from the electronic device to the charger by load modulation and wherein said load modulator is operable, in an adjustment routine, to adjust an amplitude of the load modulation to a minimum amplitude for which stable communication between the electronic device and the charger is established.
Such an electronic device with a load modulator operating in an adjustment routine to adjust an amplitude of the load modulation to a minimum amplitude for which stable communication between the electronic device and the charger is established is neither disclosed nor suggested by the cited references. The limitations in other objected claims are also allowable.
Conclusion
The pertinent prior arts made of record but not relied are listed in the attached form PTO-892. These are considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Applicant is respectfully suggested to carefully review these references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ahshik Kim whose telephone number is (571)272-2393. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday. Examiner’s fax phone number is (571)273-2393.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached on (571)272-3689. The fax phone number for this Group is (571)273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [ahshik.kim@uspto.gov].
PTO employees do not engage in Internet communications where there exists a possibility that sensitive information could be identified or exchanged unless the record includes a properly signed express waiver of the confidentiality requirements of 35 U.S.C. 122. This is more clearly set forth in the Interim Internet Usage Policy published in the Official Gazette of the Patent and Trademark on February 25, 1997 at 1195 OG 89.
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/AHSHIK KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
September 23, 2026
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