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
Claims 2, 7-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 2/2/2026.
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Applicant argues that because of the existence of generic claim one and a common special technical feature therefore shared by dependent claims directed to the various species, said restriction is improper. This is not persuasive since the present restriction is based on United States restriction practice as the present application is a not a 371 application therefore “special technical feature” is not the standard or relevant to the properness of the preset restriction. As such, the presence of a generic independent claim does not negate the need and properness of a proper species requirement.
Applicant is reminded that any and all presently WITHDRAWN claims will be rejoined upon allowance of an independent claim on which the depend.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sun et al US 2025/0087994.
Sun teaches:
1. A surge suppression protection circuit, comprising:
an input voltage detector circuit (208, FIGURES 2 and 3) coupled with an input voltage (Vin via 314, see FIG3) and configured to detect the input voltage to output a first input detected voltage;
a reference voltage generator circuit (206, FIGs 2 and 3) configured to output a first reference voltage;
an operational amplifier (204, FIGs 2 and 3), wherein a first input terminal of the operational amplifier is connected to the input voltage detector circuit and receives the first reference voltage from the input voltage detector circuit, a second input terminal of the operational amplifier is connected to the reference voltage generator circuit and receives the first reference voltage from the reference voltage generator circuit, and the operational amplifier multiplies a difference between the first reference voltage and the first reference voltage by a first gain to output an operational amplified signal (see FIGURE 3); and
a first switch component (202), wherein a first terminal of the first switch component is coupled with the input voltage, a second terminal of the first switch component is grounded, a control terminal of the first switch component is connected to an output terminal of the operational amplifier, and the first switch component operates according to the operational amplified signal from the output terminal of the operational amplifier (see FIG3).
3. The surge suppression protection circuit according to claim 1, wherein the first switch component includes a transistor (see FIG2 and 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL CAVALLARI whose telephone number is (571)272-8541. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0900-18:30.
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, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571)272-7492. 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.
/DANIEL CAVALLARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836