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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species I (Fig. 1) in the reply filed on 12/8/25 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the different species are closely related and would not present a burden to examine. This is not found persuasive because the different elements between the respective species include numerous non-obvious variants which present a burden in both search and examination including respective teaching references would likely be needed for several of the individual species but not the rest and also require different search queries. Additionally, Applicant has not indicated that the species are obvious variants of each other.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Applicant indicated that claims 1-2 read on the elected species. Accordingly, Claims 3-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 12/8/25.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being clearly anticipated by Park et al. (US 2023/0261353).
Park (e.g. Figs. 1-5) teaches dielectric waveguide including:
Regarding Claim 1, resonator (e.g. the dielectric waveguide section containing post resonator 122), comprising: a dielectric resonant cavity comprising a dielectric body (e.g. dielectric 100) and a metal plating layer (e.g. 110, see [0052] the device is coated with metal plating on the outer surface) wrapping an outer surface of the dielectric body; a blind hole (e.g. post 122, see [0055], the post hole can be filled with air and is only partially into the dielectric body thickness thus it is a blind hole) recessed inwards from the outer surface of the dielectric body; and a metal interface included in a surface of the blind hole and connected to the metal plating layer (e.g. see [0085], the resonator post blind holes (e.g. 122) have a metal plating on them and the metal plating on the bottom of the hole can be considered a metal interface in the same manner as the present invention since it is the same structurally as the present invention), wherein the metal interface intersects a direction of an intrinsic electric field of the dielectric resonant cavity (e.g. the Park device has the same waveguide shape, elements, and arrangement as the elected Fig. 1 of the present invention thus the Park device would necessarily function the same to have the metal interface (i.e. the bottom metal plating of the post/hole 122 intersects a direction of an intrinsic electric field of the cavity as is consistent with the general definition provided by applicant of the intrinsic electric field being a direction between a pair of opposite surfaces connected to the dielectric body, e.g. see [0038] of the present application’s disclosure) .
Regarding Claim 2, further comprising: wherein an axial direction of the blind hole corresponds with the direction of the intrinsic electric field of the dielectric resonant cavity (e.g. see claim 1 above, Park teaches same structure as the elected invention including the position of the post/hole 122 being in the center of the waveguide resonator section and the post/hole is in the direction of the thinnest portion of the waveguide (i.e. between the top and bottom walls of the waveguide) in the same manner as the present invention and thus necessarily functions the same as the present invention such that the post/hole axial direction corresponds with the direction of the intrinsic electric field of the dielectric resonant cavity section containing the post/hole 122).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN E JONES whose telephone number is (571)272-1762. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM to 5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached at 571-272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Stephen E. Jones/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843