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 .
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.
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.
(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 1-8 and 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1), 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO2020/052923 A1.
As for claim 1, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses a device (see Fig. 2) for a vehicle access control system, intended to be housed on board a motor vehicle for carrying out an approach detection of a user as well as recognition of said user, and comprising:
a so-called main electrode (2), intended to form a capacitor with a user for carrying out a capacitive-type approach detection; and
a transmitting and receiving antenna (3) which is formed by a coil comprising a plurality of turns
(conductive loop of several turns, see page 4, line 20) which all have a similar shape and is configured to transmit and receive a radiofrequency signal in order to identify a user;
wherein the main electrode (2) is surrounded by one turn of the coil (3), referred to as the guard turn, the guard turn (3) comprising:
a first portion (see the top half portion of antenna 3) which delimits a region inside of which the main electrode (top half portion of the electrode 2) is located,
a second portion (see the bottom half portion of antenna 3) which is offset relative to the main electrode (top half of electrode 2), and
at least one notch (see the notch near the center between the two halves) which extends along an edge of the main electrode (2) and connects the first portion and the second portion together, each notch comprising two sections which are parallel to one another and are connected together by a portion of the turn (3) located at the bottom of the notch, the other turns of the coil each have a shape substantially similar to that of the guard turn (3), each with two portions separated in pairs by at least one notch (see Fig. 2).
As for claim 2, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the notch extends along an edge of the main electrode (2), with sections of the notch (top and bottom sections) which extend parallel to the edge of the main electrode (see Fig. 2).
As for claims 3 and 13, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the guard turn comprises two notches (one at the center tap 4 and one on the right side of electrode 2) which have their respective sections aligned in pairs, and which have their respective notch bottoms facing one another (see Fig. 2).
As for claim 4, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device (in Fig. 2) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the two notches are symmetrical to one another, relative to a plane of symmetry passing between the two notch bottoms (see Fig. 2).
As for claims 5 and 14, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claims 3 and 4, wherein the guard turn (3) follows the shape of the main electrode (2) along the entire circumference of said main electrode, except in a zone of said circumference located opposite the region between the two notch bottoms (see Fig. 2).
As for claims 6, 15 and 16, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claims 3-5, wherein a distance between the two notch bottoms is less than or equal to 20% of the smallest width of the main electrode (i.e., the distance is 0, or less than 20% of the smallest width of the main electrode; see Fig. 2).
As for claim 7, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main electrode (2) has the shape of a square or solid rectangle (see the rectangle shape in Fig. 2).
As for claim 8, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claim 1, wherein
the transmitting and receiving antenna (3) and the main electrode (2) extend together on the same printed circuit;
the printed circuit is able to extend in a plane called the printed circuit plane; and
the turns of the transmitting and receiving antenna (3) extend one above the other
along an axis orthogonal to the plane of the printed circuit, with the guard turn (3) and the main electrode (2) lying together in the same plane (see Fig. 2).
As for claims 12, 17 and 18, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses a system comprising:
a device as claimed in claims 1, 2 and 3 as discussed above;
a control circuit (6), electrically connected to both ends of the coil (3) of said device in order to control the transmission and reception of the radiofrequency signal; and
a capacitance-measuring circuit (1), electrically connected to the first electrode (2) and to the guard turn (3) of said device, the connection to the guard turn being made at a connection point (4) located halfway along the coil (3), considering the unwound length of said coil.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2020/052923 A1.
As for claim 9, WO2020/052923 A1 discloses the device as claimed in claim 1 as discussed above.
WO2020/052923 A1 does not specifically disclose a second electrode, intended to form a capacitor with a user for implementing capacitive-type distance detection, and located inside a surface delimited by the second portion of the guard turn.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify WO2020/052923 A1, to include an additional second electrode located inside the second portion of the guard turn, for the purpose of providing any additional proximity/distance detection at a different location that maybe desirable by a particular application on hands.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10 and 11 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bennett (U. S. Pub. 2018/0367138) discloses a non-contact proximity sensor with a guard ring.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY HE whose telephone number is (571)272-2230. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am--5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at (571) 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AMY HE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858