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 .
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 3 be found allowable, claim 11 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim 10 includes all of the limitations of claims 1 and 3 (without claim 2). Claim 11, by repeating the limitations of claim 2, makes it identical to claim 3.
Claim 8 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 19. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim 18 repeats the limitations of claims 1, 3 and 8 (without claim 2). But claim 19 then recites the limitations of claim 2. Claim 8 recites the exact same limitations (it depends from and includes the limitations of claims 1-3).
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 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hsu (US 2020/0105740).
With respect to claim 1, Hsu discloses an apparatus (fig 3; par 17) comprising: an ESD protection circuitry including:
a first diode (lower diode of 121) having a cathode coupled to a first signal input (I/O #1) and an anode coupled to a signal ground input (GND);
a second diode (lower diodes of (312) having a cathode coupled to a second signal input (I/O #2) and an anode coupled to the signal ground input (GND); and
a third diode (124) having a cathode coupled to the signal ground input (GND) and an anode coupled to a substrate ground (SOI_SUB).
The scope of the claim is limited to the ESD protection circuitry, which encompasses three diodes. The named inputs are not distinctly claimed and are not part of the ESD protection circuitry. Hsu discloses the three-diode Y configuration of diodes between two signal inputs, a ground and a SOI substrate. The SOI substrate layer (see fig 1) is interpreted as a substrate ground.
With respect to claim 2, Hsu discloses a substrate (See fig 1, items 103-104, the substrate ground at least part of, or coupled to, the 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 3-6, 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsu in view of Singh (US 2023/0031363).
With respect to claim 2, Hsu discloses the apparatus of claim 2 and discloses that the signal inputs are connected to functional circuitry (102) disposed on the substrate but does not expressly disclose an AFE. Singh discloses an apparatus (fig 2) with first and second signal inputs (Vinp, VinM) comprising an analog front-end (106), the analog front-end including:
a first analog front-end circuitry (top half of 106) coupled to the first signal input (Vinp) and the signal ground input (obvious that circuitry has a connection to ground); and
a second analog front-end circuitry (bottom half of 106) coupled to the second signal input (Vinm) and the signal ground input (obvious ground).
In the combination, the Singh AFE is connected to the Hsu substrate. Hsu and Singh are analogous to the claimed invention because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely data circuits. At the time of the earliest priority date of the application, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to combine the signal inputs taught by Hsu (with their ESD) with those taught by Singh (with their AFE). The motivation for doing so would have been to utilize the benefits of both circuits (EDS protection, analog data conditioning).
With respect to claim 4, Hsu discloses an IC (fig 1, item 100, fig 3, item 300; see first sentence of par 12 and 17) including the substrate and ESD protection circuitry. In the combination, the Singh AFE would be included in the Hsu substrate as well.
With respect to claim 5, Hsu discloses the IC includes a power supply input (Vdd) and a ground input (GND), the ground input having a connection in the IC to the substrate ground (through 124).
With respect to claim 6, Hsu discloses the third diode (124) between ground and substrate ground, but does not expressly disclose a fourth diode. At the time of the earliest priority date of the application, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to duplicate diode 124 to provide an exact copy in parallel (cathode to ground, anode to substrate ground SOI_SUB). The mere duplication of parts is an obvious modification. MPEP §2144.04(VI)(B).
With respect to claims 10-13, Hsu and Singh combine to disclose the recited limitations, and the references are analogous, as discussed above in the art rejections of claims 1-3 and 5-6. Claim 10 corresponds to claims 1 and 3. Claims 11-13 correspond to claims 2 and 5-6, respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 14-17 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.
Regarding claims 7 and 14, the prior art does not teach or suggest the apparatus of claims 6 and 13 further comprises a switch coupled between the ground input and the substrate ground, the switch to switchably break the connection at least partially responsive to a disconnection of a ground of the power source.
Regarding claims 8 and 15, the prior art does not teach or suggest the apparatus further comprises a support structure and inductive position sensor coils on, or in, the support structure, with the sensor coils being connected to the inputs as claimed. Claim 9 depends from claim 8 and claims 16-17 depend from claim 15.
Claims 18-25 are allowed.
Claim 18 is allowable for the same reason as claim 8. Claims 19-25 depend from claim 18.
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/ADI AMRANY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836