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 without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-9) in the reply filed on 12/29/2025 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/06/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. IN202411032460, filed on 04/24/2024.
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 “multiple branches above the ground plane to achieve wideband frequencies.” as shown in claim 1, “impedance matching network” shown in claim 2, “a second plastic substrate that controls an antenna radiation performance variation for mass manufacturing of the antenna” shown in claim 4. 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 § 103
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 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.
Claims 1, 3-6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honda et al [US 6,992,627 B1] in view of Yang et al [US 2010/0225551 A1]
In regards to claim 1. Honda discloses an antenna assembly (Fig. 4, 10), comprising:
a ground plane (Fig. 5, 20 & Column 5, lines 15-45) on a printed circuit board (Fig. 4, 20);
a dielectric substrate (Fig. 4, 56) that supports an antenna (Fig. 4, 54);
a metal radiating element (Fig. 4, 54) mounted to the dielectric substrate (Fig. 4, 56); and
a radiating element (Fig. 4, 54) mounted above the ground plane and including multiple branches (Fig. 5, see branches) above the ground plane (Fig. 5, 20 & Column 5, lines 15-45) to achieve wideband frequencies (Column 2, in lines 61-67).
[AltContent: textbox (multiple branches)][AltContent: arrow]
PNG
media_image1.png
641
456
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Honda does not specify a plastic substrate
Yang discloses a plastic substrate (Paragraph [0016] “The multi-band antenna 100 is made of metallic material and disposed on a dielectric substrate 8 such as a printed circuit board or a plastic plate. Furthermore, the multi-band antenna 100 can make of a metallic foil and stamping into a cubing shape”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to modify Honda with a plastic substrate for purpose of reducing cost and simple fabrication and the ground portion and the tuning conductor cause a capacitance effect to shift the second high frequency band to be close to the first high frequency band. It can cover various wireless communication frequency bands as disclosed by Yang (Abstract).
In regards to claim 3. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 further comprising a ground leg (Fig. 5, 144) supporting a second branch (Fig. 5, see branches) of the radiating element (Fig. 5, 54) above the ground plane (Fig. 5, 20 & Column 5, lines 15-45) and electrically coupling the second branch (Fig. 5, see branches) to the ground plane (Fig. 5, 20 & Column 5, lines 15-45).
In regards to claim 4. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 further comprising a second plastic (Yang Paragraph [0016]) substrate (Fig. 4, 40) that controls an antenna radiation performance variation (Fig. 4, 14) for mass manufacturing of the antenna (Column 3, in lines 1-15).
In regards to claim 5. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 wherein the antenna comprises an antenna metal structure (Yang: Paragraph [0016]).
In regards to claim 6. Honda in view of Egorov discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 wherein the antenna (Fig. 5, 54) comprises a quarter wavelength antenna structure/pattern bent (Fig. 142) to fit in a limited area (Fig. 5, 56) and in proximity to a plurality of metal components (Yang: Paragraph [0016]) and slotted to achieve wideband band frequencies (Yang: Abstract).
In regards to claim 9. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 wherein the antenna (Fig. 1, 14) is partially potted (Fig. 1, 22).
Claims 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honda et al [US 6,992,627 B1] in view of Yang et al [US 2010/0225551 A1] and further in view of He et al [US 2011/0309985 A1]
In regards to claim 2. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 further comprising a feeding leg (Fig. 5, 150) supporting a first branch (Fig. 5, see branches) of the radiating element (Fig. 5, 54) above the ground plane (Fig. 5, 20 & Column 5, lines 15-45) and electrically coupling the first branch (Fig. 5, see branches) to an RF feeding port (Fig. 5, 148) and
Honda in view of Yang does not specify impedance matching network.
He discloses impedance matching network (11. The PCB-printed antenna of claim 10, further comprising: an impedance matching circuit electrically connected to the feed port.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to modify Honda with impedance matching network for purpose of improved wideband performance as disclosed by He (paragraph [0041])
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honda et al [US 6,992,627 B1] in view of Yang et al [US 2010/0225551 A1] and further in view of Ramachandran et al [US 8648752 B2]
In regards to claim 7. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 wherein the antenna is configured with two-point (Fig. 5, 150 and 148)
Honda in view of Yang does not specify soldering and a press fit.
Ramachandran discloses soldering and a press fit (Column 14, in lines 65-67 to Column 15, in lines 1-3)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to modify Honda with soldering and a press fit for purpose of securing the electrical connection as disclosed by Ramachandran (Column 14, in lines 65-67 to Column 15, in lines 1-3).
In regards to claim 8. Honda in view of Yang discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1 wherein the antenna is directly to an RF feeding port.
Honda in view of Yang does not specify Solderable
Ramachandran discloses Solderable (Column 14, in lines 65-67 to Column 15, in lines 1-3)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention was made to modify Honda with soldering and a press fit for purpose of securing the electrical connection as disclosed by Ramachandran (Column 14, in lines 65-67 to Column 15, in lines 1-3).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEI (VICTOR) CHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5177. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am to 6:00pm.
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, Regis Betsch can be reached at 571-270-7101. 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.
WEI (VICTOR) CHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2844
/WEI (VICTOR) Y CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844