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 .
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 “each antenna array is coupled to at least one three-stage phase shifter” in claim 1 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Specifically, the drawings only show a one-to-one ratio of phase shifters coupled to antenna arrays. However, the claims encompass embodiments of the invention where multiple phase shifters are coupled to a single antenna array, which is not shown in the drawings, nor is it immediately obvious how such an embodiment would be configured and whether it would be operable. 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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: In accordance with 37 CFR 1.75(i), where a claim sets forth a plurality of elements or steps, each element or step of the claim should be separated by a line indentation. See MPEP §608.01(m). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “an electronically controlled three-stage phase shifter” in line 1, then recites “multiple three-stage phase shifters” in line 2, then recites “at least one three-stage phase shifter” in lines 4-5 which is indefinite, because it is unclear whether these are all intended to be the same phase shifter or the same set of phase shifters, or whether these recitations represent separate and discrete groups of phase shifters that are independent of one another. Dependent claims 2-11 fail to cure the deficiency.
Claim 1 recites “each three-stage phase shifter consists primarily of a first phase shifting section” which is indefinite because the meaning and scope of “consists primarily is unclear. While common transitional phrases such as “comprises” and “consists of “have well defined meanings, “consists primarily of” is not commonly used and the metes and bounds of the phrase are unclear. Claim 10 is likewise rejected, and dependent claims 2-9 and 11 fail to cure the deficiency.
Claim 3 recites “the microprocessor executes a program to retrieve the appropriate control message from the lookup table, and sends the appropriate electronic message corresponding to the control message to the control signal generation circuit” which is indefinite, because it appears to be written as a method step rather than as a structural limitation, casting doubt on the extent to which the recitation should be granted patentable weight, if at all. Dependent claim 4 fails to cure the deficiency.
Claim 4 recites “the operator” and “the radiation field pattern” which are both indefinite for lack of proper antecedent basis.
Claim 9 recites “wherein each of the RF signal input terminals is coupled to each of the first phase shifting sections” which is indefinite, because it appears to require an embodiment where every input terminal is coupled to every first phase shifting section, which is not taught by Applicant, as opposed to each input terminal being coupled to a single one of the first phase shifting sections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Specifically, claim 10 purports to depend from claim 1, but does not require all of the particularities of claim 1, causing it to be an improper dependent claim. In general, subcombination claims cannot properly depend from combination claims due to the failure of the subcombination to include all of the limitations of the combination.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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 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)(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.
(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 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tabatabai et al. (US 10,187,029 B1), hereinafter Tabatabai.
Regarding claim 1, Tabatabi discloses an antenna device with an electronically controlled three-stage phase shifter (phase array antenna system 10; fig. 1B), comprising:
multiple three-stage phase shifters (phase shifter 300, as shown in fig. 1B; see also fig. 3C showing a phase shifter 300 with three or more stages),
an array antenna (antenna array 120; fig. 1B),
an electronic control unit (controller 200; fig. 1B), and
a power distribution network (modem 210; fig. 1B);
wherein the array antenna (120) is primarily composed of multiple antenna arrays arranged in a pattern (antennas 122, as shown in fig. 1B), each antenna array (122) is coupled to at least one three-stage phase shifter (as shown in fig. 1B), and each three-stage phase shifter consists primarily of a first phase shifting section, a second phase shifting section, and a third phase shifting section connected sequentially in series (as shown in fig. 3C);
each three-stage phase shifter is coupled to a radio frequency (RF) signal input terminal (input port 312; fig. 3C) and an RF signal output terminal (output port 314; fig. 3C), wherein each RF signal input terminal is coupled to the power distribution network (as shown in fig. 1B), and the three-stage phase shifters are parallel to each other and are each coupled to the array antenna through the respective RF signal output terminals (as shown in fig. 1B), allowing the power distribution network (210) to feed an input RF signal to each three-stage phase shifter through the respective RF signal input terminals (col. 4, lines 18-23, regarding the controller 200 includes a modem 210 in communication with a plurality of the phased shifters 300; the modem 210 receives data 104 from the data source 102 and converts the data 104 into a form suitable to be transmitted to the antenna array 120; fig. 1B), and each three-stage phase shifter to feed an output RF signal to the array antenna through the respective RF signal output terminals (see again col. 4, lines 18-23; fig. 1B); and
the three-stage phase shifters are parallel to each other and are each coupled to the electronic control unit (col. 4, lines 15-16, regarding the phased array antenna 100 includes a controller 200 in communication with an antenna array 120), allowing the electronic control unit to control the input control signals to each three-stage phase shifter (as shown in fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 5, Tabatabi discloses the invention in claim 1, and further discloses wherein the control signal is selected from any one of electronic signals such as DC voltage, current, magnetic field, low-frequency signal, high-frequency signal, signal phase, electromagnetic signal, and pulse (col. 7, lines 4-7, regarding as the signal 106 or electromagnetic wave enters the input port 312, a charge builds up on the first coupled line 310 a in relation to the voltage of the signal 106 or electromagnetic wave).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 6-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADY W FRAZIER whose telephone number is (469)295-9263. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm CT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Kelleher can be reached at 571-272-7753. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADY W FRAZIER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648