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 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(s) 1-3 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Mohamadi (US-20160218425-A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Mohamadi discloses an antenna array, comprising:
a first radiation unit (see Fig. 1 for reconfigurable antenna); and
a second radiation unit coupled to the first radiation unit (building block 110);
the first radiation unit comprises a first switch circuit, the first switch circuit is connected to a feed network, when the first switch circuit is in an on state a current direction of the first radiation unit is a first direction, or when the first switch circuit is in an off state the current direction of the first radiation unit is a second direction (see Fig. 14 for a four blocks configuration)(the antenna plate can be reconfigured and its radiating plate reformed to a specific pattern as an element of a larger array of antennas in wafer scale form, Abstract), ; and
the second radiation unit comprises a second switch circuit, when the second switch circuit is in an on state a resonance frequency of the second radiation unit is a first frequency and a beam direction of the second radiation unit is a third direction, or when the second switch circuit is in an off state the resonance frequency of the second radiation unit is a second frequency and the beam direction of the second radiation unit is a fourth direction (array antenna with specific pattern is through the use of on/off and phase shifting).
Regarding claims 2-3 and 17-18, Mohamadi discloses wherein the second switch circuit is connected to a floor and the floor is a ground point (see switch 1201 is connected to ground through impedance Z, use of impedance also take advantage of resonance frequency).
Regarding claim 15, Mohamadi discloses wherein the second radiation unit comprises a plurality of second radiation units (see Fig.1-3 and Fig. 14 shows a plurality of radiation unit in each reconfigurable unit).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-14 and 19-20 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 HARRY K LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-1338. The examiner can normally be reached on every M-F 10 AM to 6:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please leave a voice message with application serial number and nature of call, a response within 24 hours can be expected during regular business days. Also, the Examiner’s supervisor Vladimir Magloire can be reached at (571)270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-2338.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HARRY K LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645 Tel: (571) 270-1338
Fax: (571) 270-2338
Email: harry.liu@uspto.gov