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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
This office acknowledges receipt of the following item(s) from the applicant:
Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 13 June 2024, 30 September 2025 and 19 March 2026. The references have been considered.
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) 1-4, 10 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (Li, CN212848783 machine translation).
Referring to Claim 1, Li teaches a first antenna structure extending along a first direction and having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side along a second direction, wherein the first direction intersects with the second direction (Fig. 3 #130; [0042]); a plurality of second antenna structures disposed on the first side of the first antenna structure and arranged at intervals along the first direction, wherein each of the plurality of second antenna structures is connected to the first antenna structure and extends in a direction opposite to the second direction with an extension length of k1x(λ/2), wherein λ is an operating wavelength of the antenna (Fig. 3 #111 and 113; [0042-0044]); and a plurality of third antenna structures disposed on the second side of the first antenna structure and arranged at intervals along the first direction, wherein each of the plurality of third antenna structures is connected to the first antenna structure and extends along the second direction with an extension length of k2x(λ/2) (Fig. 3 #122; [0043-0044]); wherein the plurality of second antenna structures and the plurality of third antenna structures are arranged alternatingly along the first direction (See Fig. 3), one of k1 and k2 is a positive integer greater than 1, and the other of k1 and k2 is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; [0044-0045].
Referring to Claim 2, Li teaches wherein any two of the plurality of second antenna structures have a same feeding phase; Fig. 3 #111 and 113; [0043-0044].
Referring to Claim 3, Li teaches wherein any two of the plurality of third antenna structures have a same feeding phase; Fig. 3 #122; [0043-0044].
Referring to Claim 4, Li teaches wherein a respective second antenna structure of the plurality of second antenna structures is spaced apart from a third antenna structure adjacent to the respective second antenna structure in the plurality of third antenna structures by an interval of λ/2 in the first direction; See Fig. 3 and [0042-0044].
Referring to Claim 10, Li teaches wherein a width in the first direction of at least one antenna structure in the plurality of second antenna structures and the plurality of third antenna structures remains unchanged along the second direction; See Fig. 3.
Referring to Claim 12, Li teaches wherein the first antenna structure, the plurality of second antenna structures, and the plurality of third antenna structures are patch structures, or the first antenna structure, the second antenna structure, and the third antenna structure are slot structures; See Fig. 3 and associated text.
Referring to Claim 13, Li teaches an antenna device comprising a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna, wherein one or both of the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna is the antenna according to claim 1; a signal transceiving device coupled to the antenna device, wherein the signal transceiving device is configured to transmit detection signals via the transmitting antenna, to receive echo signals via the receiving antenna, and to mix the detection signals with the echo signals to output baseband digital signals; wherein the echo signals are formed by reflecting the detection signals by an object; [0040-0052] and [0068].
Referring to Claim 14, Li teaches the radar sensing system according to claim 13; and a signal processing device coupled to the signal transceiving device in the radar sensing system, wherein the signal processing device is configured to process the baseband digital signals to obtain measurement information of the object; [0040-0052] and [0067-0068].
Referring to Claim 15, Li teaches an automotive driving assistance device; wherein the antenna device in the radar sensing system is assembled on board at a casing position; [0040-0052] and [0067-0068].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WHITNEY T MOORE whose telephone number is (571)270-3338. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 7am-4pm.
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/WHITNEY MOORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646
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