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
Claim 7 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 6. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
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)(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.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoshio (US Patent No. 8,115,461).
a) regarding claim 15:
Yoshio discloses a voltage supply (116 in Figures 1 and 2) for an electronic device to be worn on the body of a user, the voltage supply comprising:
a charge pump (140A in Figure 7) for converting a battery voltage (VDD) by a conversion factor to an intermediate voltage (VCPO), said charge pump being configured for changing over between at least two stages of the conversion factor (column 15, line 64-column 16, line 3);
a voltage regulator (135 in Figure 3) for reducing the intermediate voltage (VCPO) to an output voltage (VREG1) of a predefined setpoint value; and
a controller (143 in Figure 7) for reversibly changing over said charge pump (140A) between the at least two stages of the conversion factor, said controller (143) being configured to actuate said charge pump (140A) in accordance with a manipulated variable (IO_SENSE) of said voltage regulator (column 17, line 63-column 18, line 16);
said charge pump (140A) is configured to be changed over between a first stage with a lower value of the conversion factor and a second stage with a higher value of the conversion factor (column 17, line 63-column 18, line 11);
said controller (143) is configured to maintain the second stage of the conversion factor at least for a predefined delay time (column 16, lines 38-51 and column 17, line 63-column 18, line 11).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/20/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicants argue that, “In summary, none of the references, whether taken alone or in any combination, either show or suggest the features of claims 1 and 15. Claims 1 and 15 are, therefore, patentable over the art and since all of the dependent claims are ultimately dependent on claims 1 and 15, they are patentable as well.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The limitations of claim 15 were previously presented and rejected in dependent claim 7. Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8-14 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record fails to disclose or make obvious a voltage supply, wherein said controller is configured to set the second stage of the conversion factor if the manipulated variable of said voltage regulator exceeds a first, higher reference value, and to set the first stage of the conversion factor if the manipulated variable of the voltage regulator falls below a second, lower reference value, along with all the other limitations as required by claim 1.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Patrick O'Neill whose telephone number is (571)270-1677. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday 9AM-5PM EST.
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/PATRICK O NEILL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2842