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 § 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2-8 and 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, the limitation “wherein the digital radiation assembly comprises MxM digital radiation units arranged in an array, each of the digital radiation units comprises NxN indium tin oxide (ITO) radiation patches arranged in an array” renders the claimed indefinite because “MxM” and “NxN” are undefined by claim. For examination purpose, it is interpreted M has a value of 4 and N has a value of 3 as described in par. 0036 of specification.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, the limitation “wherein a value of N is a minimum integer value that satisfies a condition ʎ0 < 2 x N x
ρ
renders the claim indefinite because the parameter “N” is not defined by claim. The parameter “
ρ
"
is not defined by claim and specification. The specification does not provide examples that inform those of ordinary skill in the art of the boundaries or values of a radiation period to obtain the value of N. For examination purpose, claims 3 and 13 are treated as best understood in this office action.
Claims 4-8 and 14-18 are rejected for being dependent on claims 3 and 13.
Clarifications are required.
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.
Claims 1, 10-11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jiang (CN 110071371).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Jiang discloses in Figures 1a-1c, a communication device comprising an array antenna, the antenna array comprising:
an upper dielectric plate (6, Fig. 1c), a middle dielectric plate (5, Fig. 1c) and a lower dielectric plate (7, Fig. 1c) disposed from top to bottom,
wherein the middle dielectric plate comprises a metasurface structure (4, Figs. 1a-1c) formed by a liquid crystal material (5).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, as applied to claim 1, Jiang discloses in par. 0033,
wherein the upper dielectric plate (3) is a glass dielectric substrate.
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.
Claims 2-9 and 12-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (CN 110071371, IDS dated 04/11/24) in view of Wang (CN 106932947).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, as applied to claims 1 and 11, Jiang discloses in Figures 1a- 1c,
wherein the metasurface structure comprises: a liquid crystal material layer (5), a digital radiation (9, Fig. 1b) assembly printed on the liquid crystal material layer, and a direct current bias wire (2, Fig. 1b); and
wherein the digital radiation assembly comprises MxM digital radiation units arranged in an array (4x4 radiation units 4, see Fig. 1a), each (4) of the digital radiation units comprises NxN radiation patches (9) arranged in a same row are connected by the direct current bias wire (2).
Jiang does not disclose the radiation patches being made of indium tin oxide (ITO). However, such difference is not patentable merit. Radiating patches being made of ITO is well known in the art of antenna. One of such examples is the teaching of Wang in Figure 6 and par. 0045, the radiation patches (15a) being made of ITO.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the radiating patches of Jiang with the radiating patches being made of ITO as taught by Wang, and it has been held that to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Regarding claims 3 and 13, as applied to claims 2 and 12, Jiang discloses in Figures 1a-1c, wherein a value of N is a minimum integer value that satisfies a condition ʎ0 < 2 x N x
ρ
,
wherein ʎ0 represent a free space wavelength, and
ρ
represent a radiation period of the ITO radiation patch.
Regarding claims 4 and 14, as applied to claims 3 and 13, Jiang discloses in Figures 1a-1c, wherein the value of N is negatively correlated with a size of a maximum beam pointing angle and a number of beam pointing angles scanned by the metasurface structure, respectively.
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Jiang discloses every feature of claimed invention as expressly recited in claims 2 and 12, except for each of the ITO radiation patches having a circular shape. However, such difference is not patentable merit. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to change the shape of the radiation patches to achieve desired radiation characteristics, since such modification would have involved a mere change in the shape and generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claims 6-8 and 16-18, as applied to claims 2 and 12, Jiang discloses in Figures 1a-1c and par. 0038, wherein within an operation frequency band of the array antenna, the digital radiation units are constructed to have either of two different states between which a reflection phase difference is 1800 depending on the liquid crystal material changing with a voltage; wherein the two different states of the digital radiation units correspond to different representing values; wherein the digital radiation units are controlled row by row (see Figs. 1a-1b).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, as applied to claims 1 and 11, Jiang (Figure 1c and par. 0033) and Wang disclose,
wherein the lower dielectric plate (7) comprises a grounding plate (3, see par. 0033) made of an ITO material (see Wang, par. 0056) and a glass dielectric plate (7) from top to bottom.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIEU HIEN T DUONG whose telephone number is (571)272-8980. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am-4:00pm.
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/DIEU HIEN T DUONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845