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 § 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(s) 1-2, 5-13, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seban (US 20180373970)
Seban discloses
1. A printed circuit for integration in a smart card, said printed circuit comprising:
A printed circuit substrate of dielectric material having a first side and a second side (Fig. 3-4);
An antenna 5 having a wiring pattern extending between a first terminal (15A) and a second terminal (16A) and being located on said first side (12B) of said printed circuit substrate, said antenna having a resonance frequency (Fig. 3b);
One or more contact pads (C1-C7) located on said second side (as external face 12A) of said printed circuit substrate and forming an external contact pattern (Fig. 3A); and
At least a first surface mount (SMD) capacitor (par. 64, 93) connected to said first terminal and said second terminal of said antenna so as to adjust said resonance frequency of said antenna, in order to match a predefined resonance frequency (par. 71, 82, 93, 99-101)
wherein said first surface mount capacitor and said first terminal and said second terminal of said antenna are formed on the same side of said printed circuit substrate (Figs. 4-5, par. 64, 93: SMD capacitor on support body 3 and connected to antenna), and
Seban is silent to wherein said first terminal of said antenna is connected to a first etched pad of said first capacitor by means of wire bonding
Janvrin discloses a SMD capacitor 14 in the form of a passive device made up of multiple layers of dielectric ceramics or integrated chip (Fig. 3-4, par. 12, 39). It is mounted on substrate 3 and connected to etched connection pad 11 (Fig. 3-5, par. 39, 43).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Janvrin for reducing manufacturing cost by applying known etching technology.
wherein said antenna has a path length and said printed circuit further comprises at least one antenna path portion having an additional path length, said at least one antenna path portion being configured to be selectively connected to said antenna, so as to increase said path length by a length corresponding to said additional path length and so as to adjust said resonance frequency of said antenna, in order to match a predefined resonance frequency (Seban, Fig. 3-4, see terminals 16 A-C, connection 38, par. 98-100: the antenna path portion from an antenna end to the chip termina LB, where a wire 38 is to be placed, is used to lengthen the antenna by the length of the path portion, and this antenna path portion is used to adjust said resonance frequency of said antenna as described in par. 98-100 therefore meeting the limitations as claimed).
2.1, wherein said printed circuit further comprises a second SMD capacitor connected to said first terminal and said second terminal of said antenna, in order to fine tune said resonance frequency of said antenna (although not expressly stated, this feature is considered an obvious extension of the prior art teachings as it is well known for a frequency fine tuning circuit to include multiple capacitors; furthermore, it has been held that duplation of parts, i.e. capacitors, is an obvious expedient; MPEP 2144.04)
5.1, wherein said antenna wiring pattern is made of a total number of turns equal to or less than four (Seban, Fig. 4, par. 94, 102).
6.1, wherein said antenna is an etched antenna (Janvrin, par. 39).
7.1, wherein said antenna wiring pattern has a single wire section having a width comprised within the range between 500 μm and 1000 μm (although not expressly stated, this feature is considered an obvious extension of the prior art teachings as it is well known for a coil antenna to include this feature; furthermore, it has been held that changing in size and rearrangement of parts is an obvious expedient; MPEP 2144.04)
8.1, wherein said antenna has a size of 26.8 mm×12.95 mm (although not expressly stated, this feature is considered an obvious extension of the prior art teachings as it is well known for an antenna to have this feature; furthermore, it has been held that changing size of parts, i.e. antenna, is an obvious expedient; MPEP 2144.04)
Re claim 9, see discussion regarding claims above.
10.9, wherein said first SMD capacitor and said IC chip are encapsulated by means of an encapsulant material (Janvrin, par. 43: coating material 6 protecting these two devices 4, 14).
11.10, wherein said printed circuit further comprises a second SMD capacitor connected to said first terminal and said second terminal of said antenna, in order to fine tune said resonance frequency of said antenna, and wherein said second SMD capacitor is not encapsulated by said encapsulant material (Janvrin, Fig. 2, par. 43: capacitor and chip 4 are encapsulated; Fig. 3-5: SMD capacitor 14 is not encapsulated, suggesting encapsulation is known and optional)
12.9, wherein said printed circuit substrate comprises one or more non-plated holes for allowing a wire bond connection between said one or more contact pads and said IC chip (Seban, Fig. 3-4; Janvrin, Figs. 3-6).
13.9, wherein said IC chip is connected to said antenna and/or to said antenna path portion by means of a wire bonding (Janvrin, Figs. 1-5).
Re claim 15, see discussion regarding claims above.
Claim(s) 3, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seban (US 20180373970)/Janvrin (US 20180351233) in view of Lossau (US 20100052859 )
Re claim 3.1, 19.3, Seban is silent to wherein said antenna has lower than 0.5 μH
Lossau discloses [0020] Here, the ring antenna preferably comprises a coil having only one turn. The inductance of the coil is advantageously less than 1 pH, preferably less than 0.2 pH, and the circumference of the coil is expediently less than 20 cm, preferably less than 4 cm. The capacity of the capacitor is advantageously selected from the range 0.1 pF to 20 pF, preferably from the range 0.5 pF to 5 pF.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Lossau for cost reduction.
Claim(s) 14, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seban (US 20180373970)/Janvrin (US 20180351233) in view of Finkenzeller (US 20160146886)
Re claim 14.9, Janvrin is silent to wherein said IC chip has a low activation field strength equal to or lower than 2 A/m
Hause discloses a measuring apparatus (1000) is devised such that the circuit (20) to be checked, which comprises an antenna (22) and an electronic component (24) coupled with the antenna (22), can be arranged in the measuring apparatus (1000) such that the antenna (22) of the circuit (20) and the calibrating antenna (310) are arranged coaxially with the transmitting antenna (210) and on respectively different sides of the transmitting antenna (210) and respectively at the same distance (d) from the transmitting antenna (210). The exciting coil (130) and the measuring antenna (140) are arranged orthogonally to each other. The transmitting device (200) is devised to generate an alternating magnetic field of different field strengths (H), preferably at least in the range of 0 to at least 12 A/m, particularly preferably in the range of 0.15 or 1.5 to 7.5 A/m. (par. 117)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the prior art teachings of Finkenzeller to ensure appropriate power level for the contactless communication.
Re claims 20.14, see discussion regarding claims above.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seban (US 20180373970)/Janvrin (US 20180351233) in view of Cepress (US 20170109622)
Re claim 16.15, Janvrin is silent to wherein the card body is made of a non-plastic material such as wood, metal or ceramic.
Cepress discloses card body is made of a non-plastic material such as wood, metal or ceramic (abstract, par. 21)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Cepress to reduce environment impact caused by plastics
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that
Based on the above description, the Seban configuration is based on a principle that is entirely different from the claimed invention. Namely, the antenna 5 comprises a single coil, which continuously extends between the start terminal 15A and the end terminal 16A, and which comprises intermediate terminals 16B and 16C, placed along the length of the antenna 5. By connecting the chip 6 to one of the end terminals 16A, 16B, or 16C via the connection 38, the effective length of the antenna 5 can be adjusted (i.e., extended or shortened). Hence, in the configuration of Seban, the connection between the chip 6 and the antenna 5 is changed to tune the resonance frequency of the circuit.
It is respectfully submitted that per Seban, the antenna path portion from an antenna end to the chip termina LB, where a wire 38 is to be placed, is used to lengthen the antenna by the length of the path portion, and this antenna path portion is used to adjust said resonance frequency of said antenna as described in par. 98-100 therefore meeting the limitations as claimed. As to Applicant’s argument that the connection is changed to tune the resonant frequency, the claim language does not preclude the path being adjusted to get the resonant frequency. Applicant is reminded that although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
For these reasons, the previous rejection(s) is/are respectfully maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876