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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s amendment submitted on July 21, 2026. In virtue of this amendment:
Claims 6 and 18 are cancelled;
Claims 21-22 are newly added; and thus,
Claims 1-5, 7-17 and 19-22 are now pending in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 4/28/2026 and 8/6/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-5, 7-17 and 19-22 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 18/194,718 (reference application).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the above indicated claims of the instant application are either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the above identified claims of the above copending application, including:
As claim 1: A device, comprising: a phase change material; and an energy transfer controller that controls a heater network and that selectively transfers heat to different individual portions of the phase change material to change an operational length of the phase change material with respect to redirecting an electromagnetic wave via a phase shift that is based on the operational length, the heater network controlled to output heat via energy pulses to selectively change a first group of one or more of the different individual portions of the phase change material to a lower resistance state, and selectively change a second group of the one or more of the different individual portions of the phase change material to a higher resistance state, wherein the first group is different from the second group, wherein the first group comprises at least two portions in discontiguous areas of the phase change material, and wherein the second group comprises subgroups that separate the discontiguous areas (see claims 1 and 6 of the copending application above).
As claim 2: The device of claim 1, wherein the first group is within a first contiguous area of the phase change material bounded by a first subgroup of the second group in a second area of the phase change material, and bounded by a second subgroup of the second group in a third area of the phase change material that is discontiguous from the second area (see claim 2 of the copending application above).
As claim 3: The device of claim 2, wherein the first group is substantially centered between the first subgroup and the second subgroup (see claim 3 of the copending application above).
As claim 4: The device of claim 1, wherein the second group is within a first contiguous area of the phase change material bounded by a first subgroup of the first group in a second area of the phase change material, and bounded by a second subgroup of the first group in a third area of the phase change material that is discontiguous from the second area (see claim 4 of the copending application above).
As claim 5: The device of claim 4, wherein the second group is substantially centered between the first subgroup and the second subgroup (see claim 5 of the copending application above).
As claim 7: The device of claim 1, wherein the phase change material and the energy transfer controller are part of a unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (see claim 7 of the copending application above).
As claim 8: The device of claim 1, wherein the device is coupled to a controller that controls individual heating elements of the heater network to selectively output heat via an energy pulse to a selected heating element of the individual heating elements at a location corresponding to one area of the phase change material (see claim 8 of the copending application above).
As claim 9: The device of claim 1, wherein the phase change material comprises at least one of: germanium telluride or antimony telluride (see claim 9 of the copending application above).
As claim 10: A method, comprising, changing, by a system comprising at least one processor, a phase shift of a unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface to redirect an electromagnetic wave impinging on the unit cell to a target location, the changing comprising: controlling individual elements of a heater network to selectively output heat to different areas of a phase change material of the unit cell to change an operational length of the phase change material, the operational length based on a higher resistance area of the phase change material relative to a lower resistance area of the phase change material, and wherein the operational length determines the phase shift, wherein the phase shift is a first phase shift, and wherein the target location is a first target location: obtaining, by the system, information representative of a second target location, and, in response to the obtaining of the information; and redirecting, by the system, the electromagnetic wave to the second target location, comprising controlling the elements of the heater network to increase the low resistance area to enlarge a length of a conductive patch within the phase change material or decrease the low resistance area to reduce the length of the conductive patch within the phase change material, the length of the conductive patch corresponding to a second phase shift (see claims 10-11 of the copending application above).
As claim 11: The method of claim 10, wherein the phase shift is a first phase shift, wherein the target location is a first target location, and further comprising obtaining, by the system, information representative of a second target location, and, in response to the obtaining of the information, redirecting, by the system, the electromagnetic wave to the second location, comprising controlling the elements of the heater network to increase the low resistance area to enlarge the length of a conductive patch within the phase change material, the length of the conductive patch corresponding to a second phase shift (see claim 11 of the copending application above).
As claim 12: The method of claim 10, wherein the phase shift is a first phase shift, wherein the target location is a first target location, and further comprising obtaining, by the system, information representative of a second target location, and, in response to the obtaining of the information, redirecting, by the system, the electromagnetic wave to the second location, comprising controlling the elements of the heater network to decrease the low resistance area to reduce the length of a conductive patch within the phase change material, the length of the conductive patch corresponding to a second phase shift (see claim 12 of the copending application above).
As claim 13: The method of claim 10, wherein the controlling of the individual elements of the heater network to selectively output the heat comprises pulsing a selected element with a voltage or current pulse to set a portion of the higher resistance area to a lower resistance portion, the lower resistance portion corresponding to a location of the selected element (see claim 13 of the copending application above).
As claim 14: A unit cell, comprising: a phase change material distributed over an area that corresponds to a surface of the unit cell; and a heater network comprising individually controllable heating elements distributed over the area to transfer heat to different portions of the phase change material, wherein the individually controllable heating elements are controlled to output heat corresponding to energy pulses to the different portions to change an operational length of the phase change material that is based on a higher resistance length corresponding to a higher resistance state of the phase change material, and a lower resistance length corresponding to a lower resistance state of the phase change material, wherein the operational length determines a phase shift of the unit cell that redirects an electromagnetic wave impinging on the unit cell to a target location, wherein the unit cell comprises a thermal insulator layer and a dielectric layer, and wherein the thermal insulator layer is positioned between the heater network and the dielectric layer of the unit cell (see claims 14 and 18 of the copending application above).
As claim 15: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the unit cell is a first unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface comprising the first unit cell and a second unit cell, and wherein the individually controllable heating elements of the first unit cell are controlled to change the operational length of the phase change material to create constructive interference with the electromagnetic wave as redirected from the second unit cell (see claim 15 of the copending application above).
As claim 16: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the unit cell is a first unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface comprising the first unit cell and a second unit cell, and wherein the individually controllable heating elements of the first unit cell are controlled to change the operational length of the phase change material to create destructive interference with the electromagnetic wave as redirected from the second unit cell (see claim 16 of the copending application above).
As claim 17: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the unit cell comprises a thermally conductive layer between the phase change material and the heater network (see claim 17 of the copending application above).
As claim 19: The unit cell of claim 18, wherein the phase change material in the lower resistance state and the dielectric layer form a capacitor having a capacitance value determined by the operational length of the phase change material in the lower resistance state (see claim 19 of the copending application above).
As claims 20-22: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the electromagnetic wave is between about twenty-five gigahertz and about seventy-five gigahertz, inclusive (see claim 20 of the copending application above).
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Claims 1 and 7-19 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 4, 7-8, 10-12 and 15-20 of copending Application No. 18/512,304 (reference application).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the above indicated claims of the instant application are either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the above identified claims of the above copending application, including:
As claim 1: A device, comprising: a phase change material; and an energy transfer controller that controls a heater network and that selectively transfers heat to different individual portions of the phase change material to change an operational length of the phase change material with respect to redirecting an electromagnetic wave via a phase shift that is based on the operational length, the heater network controlled to output heat via energy pulses to selectively change a first group of one or more of the different individual portions of the phase change material to a lower resistance state, and selectively change a second group of the one or more of the different individual portions of the phase change material to a higher resistance state, wherein the first group is different from the second group, wherein the first group comprises at least two portions in discontiguous areas of the phase change material, and wherein the second group comprises subgroups that separate the discontiguous areas (see claim 1 of the copending application above).
As claim 7: The device of claim 1, wherein the phase change material and the energy transfer controller are part of a unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (see claim 4 of the copending application above).
As claim 8: The device of claim 1, wherein the device is coupled to a controller that controls individual heating elements of the heater network to selectively output heat via an energy pulse to a selected heating element of the individual heating elements at a location corresponding to one area of the phase change material (see claim 7 of the copending application above).
As claim 9: The device of claim 1, wherein the phase change material comprises at least one of: germanium telluride or antimony telluride (see claim 8 of the copending application above).
As claim 10: A method, comprising, changing, by a system comprising at least one processor, a phase shift of a unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface to redirect an electromagnetic wave impinging on the unit cell to a target location, the changing comprising: controlling individual elements of a heater network to selectively output heat to different areas of a phase change material of the unit cell to change an operational length of the phase change material, the operational length based on a higher resistance area of the phase change material relative to a lower resistance area of the phase change material, and wherein the operational length determines the phase shift, wherein the phase shift is a first phase shift, and wherein the target location is a first target location: obtaining, by the system, information representative of a second target location, and, in response to the obtaining of the information; and redirecting, by the system, the electromagnetic wave to the second target location, comprising controlling the elements of the heater network to increase the low resistance area to enlarge a length of a conductive patch within the phase change material or decrease the low resistance area to reduce the length of the conductive patch within the phase change material, the length of the conductive patch corresponding to a second phase shift (see claims 10-11 of the copending application above).
As claim 11: The method of claim 10, wherein the phase shift is a first phase shift, wherein the target location is a first target location, and further comprising obtaining, by the system, information representative of a second target location, and, in response to the obtaining of the information, redirecting, by the system, the electromagnetic wave to the second location, comprising controlling the elements of the heater network to increase the low resistance area to enlarge the length of a conductive patch within the phase change material, the length of the conductive patch corresponding to a second phase shift (see claim 11 of the copending application above).
As claim 12: The method of claim 10, wherein the phase shift is a first phase shift, wherein the target location is a first target location, and further comprising obtaining, by the system, information representative of a second target location, and, in response to the obtaining of the information, redirecting, by the system, the electromagnetic wave to the second location, comprising controlling the elements of the heater network to decrease the low resistance area to reduce the length of a conductive patch within the phase change material, the length of the conductive patch corresponding to a second phase shift (see claim 11 of the copending application above).
As claim 13: The method of claim 10, wherein the controlling of the individual elements of the heater network to selectively output the heat comprises pulsing a selected element with a voltage or current pulse to set a portion of the higher resistance area to a lower resistance portion, the lower resistance portion corresponding to a location of the selected element (see claim 12 of the copending application above).
As claim 14: A unit cell, comprising: a phase change material distributed over an area that corresponds to a surface of the unit cell; and a heater network comprising individually controllable heating elements distributed over the area to transfer heat to different portions of the phase change material, wherein the individually controllable heating elements are controlled to output heat corresponding to energy pulses to the different portions to change an operational length of the phase change material that is based on a higher resistance length corresponding to a higher resistance state of the phase change material, and a lower resistance length corresponding to a lower resistance state of the phase change material, wherein the operational length determines a phase shift of the unit cell that redirects an electromagnetic wave impinging on the unit cell to a target location, wherein the unit cell comprises a thermal insulator layer and a dielectric layer, and wherein the thermal insulator layer is positioned between the heater network and the dielectric layer of the unit cell (see claims 15 and 19 of the copending application above).
As claim 15: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the unit cell is a first unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface comprising the first unit cell and a second unit cell, and wherein the individually controllable heating elements of the first unit cell are controlled to change the operational length of the phase change material to create constructive interference with the electromagnetic wave as redirected from the second unit cell (see claim 16 of the copending application above).
As claim 16: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the unit cell is a first unit cell of a reconfigurable intelligent surface comprising the first unit cell and a second unit cell, and wherein the individually controllable heating elements of the first unit cell are controlled to change the operational length of the phase change material to create destructive interference with the electromagnetic wave as redirected from the second unit cell (see claim 17 of the copending application above).
As claim 17: The unit cell of claim 14, wherein the unit cell comprises a thermally conductive layer between the phase change material and the heater network (see claim 18 of the copending application above).
As claim 19: The unit cell of claim 18, wherein the phase change material in the lower resistance state and the dielectric layer form a capacitor having a capacitance value determined by the operational length of the phase change material in the lower resistance state (see claim 20 of the copending application above).
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Claims 1-5, 7-17 and 19-22 would be allowable if corrected to overcome the double patenting rejection set forth above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior art Pala et al. – US 9,923,267
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.
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/TUNG X LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845 August 25, 2026
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