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 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.
Claim 7 is 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.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the first terminal of the charging circuitry" in line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Proper antecedent basis for “the first terminal of the charging circuitry” is provided in claim 2. Therefore, claim 7 should be amended to be dependent upon at least claim 2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nishimura (USPN 12,028,073).
With respect to claim 1, Nishimura discloses, in Figs. 1 and 2B, an apparatus (Fig. 1 further details of 106 disclosed in Fig. 2B) comprising:
a gate driver circuit (200B of Fig. 2B lest Cfb) having a driver output (IADJDRV), a driver input (gate of 203B/VDRV), and a slew sense input (gate of 204B/VFB), the gate driver circuit configurable to:
responsive to a state of the driver input, provide a first current at the driver output (IDRV supplied by 203B responsive to the state of VDRV) and responsive to a state of the slew sense input, provide a second current at the driver output (IADJ provided by 208B responsive to VFB/the gate voltage of 204B).
With respect to claim 6, the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a transistor (LS) having a first terminal (drain) and a control terminal (gate), the control terminal of the transistor coupled to the driver output (gate connected to IADJDRV); and
a capacitor (Cfb) coupled between the first terminal of the transistor (Cfb terminal connected to the drain of LS) and the slew sense input (terminal of Cfb connected to RFB/gate of 204B).
With respect to claim 7, as far as can be understood, the apparatus of claim 6, further comprising current multiplication circuitry (206B with 208B, note the above transistors construct a current mirror and are sized to provide a desired amplification/current value at the output, ess Col. 8 lines 17-21. The ratio of the size of the transistors of a current mirror creates an multiplication ratio between the input transistor size and the output transistor size. Thus, the multiplication of the input to output current is set according to the sizing of the transistors) coupled between the slew sense input (VFB via 204B) and the first terminal of the charging circuitry (there is no antecedent basis for the recitation of “the first terminal of the charging circuitry”, thus the recitation cannot be understood. Nevertheless, “the charging circuitry” is interpreted as 204B as it sets the current value at its drain according to VFB and thus the charging/level of the current to the current mirror. The first terminal is interpreted as the drain of 204B. Thus, as far as can be understood, 206B and 208B are connected as claimed).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 8 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.
Claims 9-20 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 6 and 7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Cited Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Al-Shyoukh et al. (USPN 10,241,535), in Col. 5 line 58 to Col. 6 line 13, and Raghavan et al. (USPN 10,033,333, in Col. 4 lines 34-64, further evidence that current mirrors provide a multiplication factor according to the sizing of the transistors.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Thomas J. Hiltunen whose telephone number is (571)272-5525. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM-5:30PM EST M-F.
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/THOMAS J. HILTUNEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849