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 Objections
Claims 9 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities: the acronym MEMS should be defined within the claim when first introduced. Then the acronym can be used alone thereafter.
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 detection circuit and seismic element 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 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.
Claims 9 - 16 are 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 9 recites the limitation "the oscillatable element" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear whether the applicant is referring to the oscillatable seismic element as the oscillatable element.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the oscillatable element" in lines 6 - 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear whether the applicant is referring to the oscillatable seismic element as the oscillatable element.
Claims 10 - 14 are rejected by virtue of their dependency on claim 9.
Claim 16 is rejected by virtue of the dependency on claim 15.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 - 16 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: As to claims 9 – 14, the prior art fails to show a compensation circuit coupled to the detection circuit and configured to detect the quadrature signal component and to apply a digital signal to the digital-to-analog converter to compensate for the quadrature signal component, wherein the digital-to-analog converter converts the digital signal to an analog compensation signal to compensate for the quadrature signal component, and a further compensation circuit coupled to the detection circuit and configured to receive the digital signal from the compensation circuit and to apply a further digital signal to the further digital-to-analog converter to carry out a phase position correction of aphase position of the analog signal by the further digital-to-analog converter, thereby causing at least the phase position of the analog compensation signal to be inverted. These features taken together with the other limitations of the claim renders the claims allowable over prior art.
As to claims 15 - 16, the prior art fails to show in a compensation step: detecting, by the compensation circuit, the quadrature signal component and applying, by the compensation circuit, a digital signal to the digital-to- analog converter to compensate for the quadrature signal component, wherein the digital-to-analog converter converts the digital signal to an analog signal to compensate for the quadrature signal component, and receiving, by the further compensation circuit, the digital signal from the compensation circuit and applying, by the further compensation circuit, a further digital signal to the further digital-to-analog converter to carry out a phase position correction of a phase position of the analog signal by the further digital-to-analog converter, thereby causing at least the phase position of the analog compensation signal to be inverted. These features taken together with the other limitations of the claim renders the claims allowable over prior art.
Prior Art of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant s disclosure.
Mukhopadhyay et al. (12,326,336) is cited for its disclosure of a readout circuit for a MEMS sensor unit.
GRANATA (2023/0102160) is cited for its disclosure of a control circuit of a MEMS gyroscope.
Arndt et al. (10,782,131) is cited for its disclosure of a quadrature analog digital converter feedback compensation for capacitive based MEMS gyroscope.
Donadel et al. (2013/0031950) is cited for its disclosure of a microelectromechanical gyroscope with self-calibration function.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REENA AURORA whose telephone number is (571)272-2263. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:00AM-5:00PM.
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, Lee Rodak can be reached at 5712705628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/REENA AURORA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
Prosecution Insights