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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. TW112132870, filed on 08/30/2023.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 07/17/2026 is acknowledged.
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 1 and 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suh et al. (US 20260066524; hereinafter Suh) in view of Lee et al. (US20200388924; hereinafter Lee), further in view of Wang et al. (US20230006365; hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 1, Suh discloses “An antenna structure, comprising: an upper patch antenna (PA1-12); a lower patch antenna (CP1-12) comprising a first feeding point (attachment point of SL4) and a second feeding point (attachment point of SL2), wherein the upper patch antenna and the lower patch antenna have circular shapes (fig. 7); a grounding layer (gnd1-3), wherein the lower patch antenna is disposed between the upper patch antenna and the grounding layer (fig. 9A); a transmission line layer (1400 and SL1), wherein the grounding layer is disposed between the lower patch antenna and the transmission line layer (fig. 9A); a first feeding line (SL2-4) passing through the grounding layer and coupled between the transmission line layer and the first feeding point of the lower patch antenna (fig. 9A); and a second feeding line passing through the grounding layer and coupled between the transmission line layer and the second feeding point of the lower patch antenna (fig. 7 shows a repeating structure for CP1-12 and its related transmission lines, therefore there would be a second transmission line with the same structure as SL2-4); each of the first feeding line and the second feeding line comprises: a first portion (SL4) disposed between the lower patch antenna and the grounding layer and perpendicular to the grounding layer; a second portion (SL2) disposed between the grounding layer and the transmission line layer and perpendicular to the grounding layer; and a third portion (SL3) disposed within and parallel to the grounding layer, wherein the third portion is coupled between the first portion and the second portion”.
Suh does not disclose “wherein a surface of the upper patch antenna is smaller than a surface of the lower patch antenna” or “wherein the first feeding line and the second feeding line are orthogonal to each other”.
However, Lee teaches “wherein a surface of the upper patch antenna (11_1a) is smaller than a surface of the lower patch antenna (11_2a, see fig. 2A)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Lee and make Suh’s antenna structure wherein a surface of the upper patch antenna is smaller than a surface of the lower patch antenna, in order to design the antenna in accordance with the required operating characteristics of the structure.
The modified Suh does not disclose “wherein the first feeding line and the second feeding line are orthogonal to each other”.
However, Wang teaches “wherein the first feeding line (224) and the second feeding line (224) are orthogonal to each other (fig. 5)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Wang and make Suh’s antenna structure wherein the first feeding line and the second feeding line are orthogonal to each other, in order to get preferred polarizations for the fed signal.
Regarding claim 3, Suh discloses “The antenna structure of claim 1, wherein the grounding layer has an upper surface close to the lower patch antenna and a lower surface away from the lower patch antenna; the grounding layer comprises a first upper opening (opening for SL4) and a second upper opening (repeating transmission line structure) disposed on the upper surface and a first lower opening (opening for SL2) and a second lower opening (repeating transmission line structure) disposed on the lower surface; the first portion of the first feeding line is coupled to the third portion of the first feeding line through the first upper opening (fig. 9A), the first portion of the second feeding line is coupled to the third portion of the second feeding line through the second upper opening (repeating transmission line structure), the second portion of the first feeding line is coupled to the third portion of the first feeding line through the first lower opening (fig. 9A), the second portion of the second feeding line is coupled to the third portion of the second feeding line through the second lower opening (repeating transmission line structure); wherein vertical projections of the first upper opening and the first lower opening on the grounding layer do not overlap each other (fig. 9A), and vertical projections of the second upper opening and the second lower opening on the grounding layer do not overlap each other (repeating transmission line structure)”.
Regarding claim 4, Suh discloses “The antenna structure of claim 1, wherein the first feeding line and the second feeding line respectively receive a first feeding signal (from 1400/SL1) and a second feeding signal (repeating transmission line structure)”.
The modified Suh does not disclose “wherein the first feeding line and the second feeding line are orthogonal to each other”.
However, Wang teaches “wherein an extending direction of the third portion of the first feeding line is orthogonal to an extending direction of the third portion of the second feeding line (224 in fig. 5)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Wang and make Suh’s antenna structure wherein an extending direction of the third portion of the first feeding line is orthogonal to an extending direction of the third portion of the second feeding line, in order to get preferred polarizations for the fed signal.
Regarding claim 5, Suh discloses “The antenna structure of claim 3, wherein the grounding layer further comprises a first slot (SR1-3) and a second slot (repeating ground structure) penetrating the grounding layer, wherein the first slot is adjacent to the first upper opening located between the first slot and the first lower opening (fig. 9A), and the second slot is adjacent to the second upper opening located between the second slot and the second lower opening (repeating ground structure)”.
Regarding claim 6, Suh discloses “The antenna structure of claim 5, wherein each of the first slot and the second slot has a rectangular shape or an elliptical shape (fig. 9A shows a slot extending through the ground layer which would result in a rectangular slot), and a long side of the first slot is orthogonal to the third portion of the first feeding line (slot extends into the page while SL3 is across the page, thus orthogonal), and a long side of the second slot is orthogonal to the third portion of the second feeding line (repeating ground structure)”.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suh in view of Lee and Wang, further in view of Shibata et al. (US20220393356; hereinafter Shibata).
Regarding claim 2, Suh discloses “The antenna structure of claim 1, further comprising: an air layer disposed between the first substrate and the lower patch antenna (CP1-12 is surrounded by air); a second substrate disposed between the lower patch antenna and the grounding layer; and a third substrate disposed between the grounding layer and the transmission line layer (1010 is multilayered substrate, thus discloses at least a second and third substrate)”.
Suh does not disclose “a first substrate disposed between the upper patch antenna and the lower patch antenna” or “wherein each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate includes a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) material”.
However, Shibata teaches “a first substrate (D1) disposed between the upper patch antenna (21) and the lower patch antenna (20, fig. 10)” and “wherein each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate includes a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) material (LCP material for substrates taught in ¶[0037]; As the material of the first and second dielectric layers D1 and D2, a resin material, a ceramic material such as LTCC, a liquid crystal polymer, etc. can be used)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Lee and make Suh’s antenna structure a first substrate disposed between the upper patch antenna and the lower patch antenna and wherein each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate includes a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) material, in order to support the antenna structure while creating the desired interference for each layer.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUSTIN MICHAEL BACK whose telephone number is (703)756-4521. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM ET.
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/AUSTIN M BACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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