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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Embodiment A2 and B2 directed to claims 1-6, 8-9, 10-12 and 19-20 in the reply filed on 11/10/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 7, 13-17, 21, and 22 are WITHDRAWN.
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 1-6, 8-9, 10-12 and 19-20 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 claim 1-4, 10, 18, 19 and 21
The claim is improperly narrative and fails to recite structure to achieve the desired claimed narrative operation of the system regarding the desired power received at the coils without any corresponding and associated structure. More particularly, the following claim language is improperly narrative and requires association with the desired structure to achieve the claimed operation of specific power allocation. Furthermore, the claim risks 112, 12st paragraph rejections as the scope improperly attempts to claim all means of achieving the claimed power allocation (amounts being more and less at specific coils, such as via controllers, on the power transmitter side, at the power receiver sides, via coil placement and design, etc.).
The following claim(s) limitations are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform to current U.S. practice, because the language of the claim does not provide the necessary clarity and precision required thereby making the scope of the invention sought to be patented undeterminable from the language of the claim with any reasonable degree of certainty. The claim generally recites what the apparatus does, without requisite structure to perform said claimed operation.
Particularly, the following limitations are unclear:
1. An intermediate receiver of wireless power transfer for coupling to a mobile electronic device, the intermediate receiver comprising: an intermediate receiver coil configured in proximity to a primary receiver coil of the mobile electronic device, the primary receiver coil being configured to receive a primary amount of wireless power from a primary transmitter coil of a wireless power transmitter (said “configuration” known and taken as the power transfer between a primary and secondary coil); wherein the intermediate receiver coil is configured to receive an amount of wireless power from the primary transmitter coil that is less than the primary amount of wireless power received by the primary receiver coil (noting no structure or components of said “configuration” recited or known).
2. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, wherein the amount of wireless power received by the intermediate receiver coil is less than a threshold amount for triggering Foreign Object Detection (FOD) between the wireless power transmitter and the mobile electronic device. (Besides lack of structure regarding control of power and amount of power, no structure and no function associated with said FOD threshold making the entire claim unintelligible and not germane to patentability of an apparatus claim)
3. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, wherein the amount of wireless power received by the intermediate receiver coil is less than about 5% of the wireless power transmitted from the primary transmitter coil.
4. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, wherein the amount of wireless power received by the intermediate receiver coil is less than about 750mW.
10. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, further comprising: a flexible substrate comprising an adhesive and configured to be coupled to the mobile electronic device via the adhesive, wherein the intermediate receiver coil is integrated into the flexible substrate.
18. An intermediate receiver of wireless power transfer for coupling to a mobile electronic device, the intermediate receiver comprising: an intermediate receiver coil configured in proximity to a primary receiver coil of the mobile electronic device, the primary receiver coil being configured to receive a primary amount of wireless power from a primary transmitter coil of a wireless power transmitter; and one or more electronic accessory devices electrically coupled to the intermediate receiver coil and configured to receive an electric power from the intermediate receiver coil; wherein the intermediate receiver coil is configured to receive an amount of wireless power from the primary transmitter coil that is less than the primary amount of wireless power received by the primary receiver coil, and convert the received wireless power into the electric power to be received by one or more of the electronic accessory devices.
19. The intermediate receiver of Claim 18, wherein the amount of wireless power received by the intermediate receiver coil is less than a threshold amount for triggering Foreign Object Detection (FOD) between the wireless power transmitter and the mobile electronic device.
21. An intermediate receiver of wireless power transfer for coupling to a mobile electronic device, the intermediate receiver comprising: an intermediate receiver coil configured in proximity to a primary receiver coil of the mobile electronic device, the primary receiver coil being configured to receive a primary amount of wireless power from a primary transmitter coil of a wireless power transmitter; and a base that receives the intermediate receiver coil; wherein the intermediate receiver coil is configured to receive an amount of wireless power from the primary transmitter coil that is less than the primary amount of wireless power received by the primary receiver coil, wherein the base is configured to be integrated into an accessory device for (noting the claim fails to set forth any structure to facilitate “integration” further confused by lack of definition of the claimed “accessory”) coupling to the mobile electronic device.
The narrative language of the claims further fails to provide a clear-cut indication of the scope of the subject matter embraced by the claim as required by MPEP 2173.05(g), and is thus indefinite. The above functional language purports to define the invention by reciting a function or result achieved by the invention (in the present case, the desired amount of power transferred and received to the respective coils without reciting the structure, components and respective design to achieve the claimed power allocation control), thereby making the boundaries of the claim scope ambiguous and unclear. The Examiner acknowledges that an apparatus may be claimed via positively recited structure and/or through use of functional language however said function must be tied to identifiable structure/component in order for said otherwise narrative language to functionally limit said structure (see MPEP 2114), else the claim simply becomes a narrative recitation of the desired function/result achieved of the device, as with the present case. As such, it is noted per MPEP 2114 that an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function noting that apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does (see MPEP 2114).
Claim 1, will be examined as best understood.
Regarding Claim(s) 3, 4
The claim term “about” is a relative term rendering the claim indefinite.
Because of the great deal of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper interpretation of the limitations of the claim(s) 2-4, 19 it is not proper to reject the present claim(s) on the basis of prior art. (See MPEP 2173.06 and In re Steele, 305 F.2d 859, 134 USPQ 292 (CCPA 1962).
Regarding Claim 10
It is unclear what physical limitations are intended by the limitation “a flexible substrate comprising an adhesive…” since said flexible substrate is not disclosed. It appears that the “flexible substrate” is said adhesive. Therefore the claim will be examined as best understood as “an adhesive configured to be coupled to the mobile electronic device…”.
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, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 18and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimokawa et al. US 2017/0063166.
Shimokawa teaches:
1. An intermediate receiver of wireless power transfer for coupling to a mobile electronic device, the intermediate receiver comprising:
an intermediate receiver coil (coil of smartphone 2C1, FIG1B) configured in proximity to a primary receiver coil of the mobile electronic device (ie tablet or laptop 2A1, 2B1), the primary receiver coil being configured to receive a primary amount of wireless power from a primary transmitter coil (ie 50W) of a wireless power transmitter (1A1); wherein the intermediate receiver coil is configured to receive a second amount of wireless power from the primary transmitter coil (ie 2.5W).
5. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, wherein the intermediate receiver coil (2C1) is configured between the primary transmitter coil (1A1) and the primary receiver coil (2B1, see FIG1B).
6. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, wherein the intermediate receiver coil is configured outside a perimeter of the primary receiver coil (See FIG1A1 said “perimeter” read on by the housing of 2B1).
8. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, wherein the intermediate receiver is integrated into one or more accessory devices (smartphone) for coupling to the mobile electronic device (read laptop aor vice versa) (noting Bluetooth/wifi communication coupling between smartphones and laptops and intended use language “for”).
11. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, further comprising: one or more electronic accessory devices electrically coupled to the intermediate receiver coil, wherein one or more of the electronic accessory devices are configured to receive an electric power from the intermediate receiver coil (ie any of the known powered components of the smartphone 2C1, ie said screen or battery, see FIG1B and battery 25, FIG3).
12. The intermediate receiver of Claim 11, wherein the electronic accessory devices comprise one or more of a light-emitting diode (LED) element, a fan, a battery (25, FIG3), a battery charger, a display, a device tracker, or a speaker (smartphone display, see FIG1B).
18. An intermediate receiver of wireless power transfer for coupling to a mobile electronic device, the intermediate receiver comprising:
an intermediate receiver coil (coil of 2C1, FIG1B) configured in proximity to a primary receiver coil of the mobile electronic device (coil of 2B1), the primary receiver coil being configured to receive a primary amount of wireless power from a primary transmitter coil (1A1) of a wireless power transmitter (ie 50W); and
one or more electronic accessory devices electrically coupled to the intermediate receiver coil (ie display of smartphone FIG1B and/or battery of said smartphone ie 25, FIG3) and configured to receive an electric power from the intermediate receiver coil (coil of said smartphone 2C1);
wherein the intermediate receiver coil is configured to receive an amount of wireless power from the primary transmitter coil and convert (read on rectifier unit 22, FIG3) the received wireless power into the electric power to be received by one or more of the electronic accessory devices (ie battery, FIG3).
20. The intermediate receiver of Claim 18, wherein the electronic accessory devices comprise one or more of a light-emitting diode (LED) element, a fan, a battery (25, FIG3), a battery charger (22, FIG3), a display (display of smartphone, FIG1B), a device tracker, or a speaker.
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) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimokawa et al. US 2017/0063166 in view of Min WO2019/103448.
Shimokawa teaches wherein the accessory device is a smartphone but fails to teach:
9. The intermediate receiver of Claim 8, wherein the accessory devices (smartphone) comprise one or more of a grip, a case, a wallet, or a stand.
10. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, further comprising: a flexible substrate comprising an adhesive and configured to be coupled to the mobile electronic device via the adhesive, wherein the intermediate receiver coil is integrated into the flexible substrate.
Min teaches:
9. The intermediate receiver of Claim 8, wherein the accessory devices (smartphone) comprise one or more of a grip, a case, a wallet, or a stand (see 110, FIG9).
10. The intermediate receiver of Claim 1, further comprising: an adhesive and configured to be coupled to the mobile electronic device (smartphone) via the adhesive, wherein the intermediate receiver coil is integrated into the flexible substrate, see Specification, Description section, relevant portion provided below:
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting coil 101 may be embedded in the adhesive plate 120, more specifically, the first plate 125 of the adhesive plate 120.
The transmission coil 101 built in the first plate 125 of the adhesive plate 120 is connected to the first ground terminal 131 of the first grounding unit 130 and is connected to the terminal accessory 100 and the wireless charging module The AC power supplied from the wireless charging module 200 through the first ground terminal 131 is transmitted to the transmission coil 101 when the first and second grounding parts 130 and 230 are coupled to each other using the first and second grounding parts 130 and 230, May occur.
It would have been obvious to include said grip stand with adhesive integrated coil as taught by Min into the system of Shimokawa with the motivation of providing a desirable ring grip/stand for improved user experience.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL CAVALLARI whose telephone number is (571)272-8541. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 10:00-18:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571)272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL CAVALLARI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836