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
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of group I in the reply filed on 8/14/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that that (1) the restriction requirement mailed June 16, 2026 did not identify which of Inventions I and II is treated as the "combination" and which as the "subcombination," and placed the designation of Invention II in the bracket of Form Paragraph 8.15 reserved for the separate utility of the subcombination; and (2) the requirement did not specify a limitation of the subcombination that is absent from the combination (Examiner Note 2 to Form Paragraph 8.15) and did not suggest a utility of the subcombination other than in the combination (MPEP § 806.05(c)). Applicant requests that the requirement be withdrawn or, in the alternative, that the noted deficiencies be addressed. This is not found persuasive because . Invention II (claims 12-27) is the combination. Independent claim 12 is drawn to an antenna apparatus comprising (a) a unit RF filter body stacked on and electrically connected to a main board and having on its front surface an integrally extended reflector panel that performs a ground function, (b) a radiation element module stacked on the reflector panel and comprising an antenna element board in which four vertically spaced array antenna elements are disposed, and (c) "a full analog phase shifter ... comprising multiple variable switch panels that change a length of a transmission line by an operation of rotating in a separation space formed between the four array antenna elements and the antenna element board." Claims 13-27 add the phase shift driving motor, the horizontal and vertical mounting bars, the hinge couplings and guide slots, the screw rod and up-and-down moving block, the horizontal bracket part and bearing wheels, and the fixing bridge bars of the antenna housing. Invention I (claims 1-11) is the subcombination. Independent claim 1 is drawn to the full analog phase shifter itself: a variable switch panel comprising a first conduction pattern terminal and a second conduction pattern terminal, and an antenna element board on which a transmission line contacted by those terminals has been pattern-printed, such that the phases of the array antenna elements form a linear distribution on a same reference phase surface by the phase shift at the contact point. Claim 28, which recites an antenna apparatus "comprising the full analog phase shifter of claim 1," requires all of the limitations of claim 1 and therefore was properly grouped with the subcombination (MPEP § 806.05(c).
Furthermore, combination as claimed does not require the particulars of the subcombination as claimed, subcombination has utility by itself or in other combinations, and is a serious burden.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 1-11 and 28 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.
Claim 1 recites "a phase shift at the contact point of the first conduction pattern terminal and the second conduction pattern terminal, and the transmission line." There is insufficient antecedent basis for "the contact point." The claim earlier recites that two terminals "come into contact" with the transmission line, which implies at least two contact locations, so it is unclear whether "the contact point" is a single point common to both terminals, the respective contact location of each terminal, or some other location. In addition, the phrase "and the transmission line" is not grammatically connected to the remainder of the clause, so it is unclear whether the linear distribution is formed by a phase shift occurring at the transmission line, by the transmission line itself, or by a phase shift at the point(s) of contact between the terminals and the transmission line.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lawlor EP 2 259 379 B1 in view of Stoyanov USPN 7864111.
Consider claim 1, Lawlor discloses a full analog (mechanically adjusted) phase shifter (variable phase shifter 100; phased array 400/500 formed by a plurality of such phase shifters; [0018], [0024], [0026]; Figs. 1-5(a)) comprising:
a variable switch panel (secondary printed circuit board 104, a substantially circular board rotatably mounted on the primary PCB by central pivot pin 126 so that rotating it switches the length of the conductive path; [0018], [0022]-[0023]; Figs. 1 and 3) comprising a first conduction pattern terminal (first arcuate co-centric double track 116, comprising outer arcuate track 105, inner arcuate track 107 and radially extending link track 109, printed on the underside of the secondary PCB; [0020]) and a second conduction pattern terminal (second arcuate co-centric double track 118 of the same construction; [0020]; Fig. 3); and
an antenna element board (primary PCB 102; primary PCB substrate 402 on which the phased array 400 is formed; [0019], [0022], [0024]) in which multiple array antenna elements are disposed (the nine component signals of the array are sent to nine corresponding radiators, "simple dipoles or patch arrays," [0024]; in the higher-frequency example the radiating elements are printed on the PCB — Lawlor contrasts its sub-1 GHz differential embodiment, in which "it would be uneconomical to print[] the radiating elements on a PCB as may be done in the afore-mentioned example," so that coaxial cables are used instead, [0064] — and the phase shifters are connected to the radiators "by conductive tracks forming a radio frequency (RF) substrate on the primary printed circuit board (102)," claim 9) and on which a lug caps 129, 131 "ensure that a sufficient amount of pressure is maintained between the primary PCB 102 and the secondary PCB 104," so that "[a] consistent and constant conductive coupling between the tracks 106, 108, 116, 118 on the primary PCB 102 and the secondary PCB 104 may be thus achieved" and the overlapping tracks "form a pair of continuous conductive paths"; [0018], [0021], [0023]; no dielectric spacer between the pressed tracks is disclosed) has been pattern-printed ([0019]-[0020]),
wherein phases for the multiple array antenna elements form a linear distribution on a same reference phase surface by a phase shift at the contact point of the first conduction pattern terminal and the second conduction pattern terminal, and the
However, Lawlor does not explicitly disclose "transmission line" for its printed tracks, and its Fig. 4(a) does not illustrate the radiating elements on substrate 402, although Lawlor teaches printing them on the PCB ([0064]) and connecting them to the phase shifters by conductive tracks on the primary PCB (claim 9). Lawlor also does not expressly state that the two conduction pattern terminals of one panel act on transmission-line arcs of different radii so that the two terminals together set the phases of the elements in a linear distribution; in Figs. 1-3 the two double tracks 116, 118 serve the two polarizations, and the scaling among elements is obtained with separate panels of different diameters ([0025]).
In the related field of endeavor, Stoyanov discloses a mechanically adjusted phase shifter for tilting the beam of a base-station array antenna ([0001], [0015]) in which the transmission lines of the phase shifter are "formed of conductive strips on a surface of a dielectric board 401" — i.e., pattern-printed transmission lines on a board, with the power divider, hybrids and intermediate lines formed as a unitary conductor pattern on the same board ([0038], [0048], [0050]; Figs. 4a, 9) — and in which a first conduction pattern terminal (first slide 331, a plate-like metal piece) and a second conduction pattern terminal (second slide 332) are carried by a single movable member (arm 361, rotatable about axis 362 at the shared curvature midpoint of the arched lines; [0033], [0035]; Fig. 3a; the conductive part of a slide "can e.g. be just an extension of a conductive arm," [0050]), the movable member being urged by "a suitable spring force F so that the first slide is pressed against the conductors of the first transmission line and the second slide against the conductors of the second transmission line" ([0038]). The first slide rides on the outer arched transmission line 321 that feeds the outer radiator pair 371, 372, and the second slide rides on the inner arched line 323 that feeds the inner radiator pair 373, 374; because the inner line is closer to the axis it is shorter, so that a given rotation of the arm changes the phase of the inner pair by less than that of the outer pair, which "is just how the matter has to be" ([0032], [0036]). The phase shift is produced at the point where each slide sits on its line (the movable reflection point), and rotating the arm advances the phase of one radiator of each pair by exactly the amount by which it lags the other, from a middle position at which all radiators are in the same phase ([0015], [0035]). Stoyanov states that the aim is "to arrange the phase of the radiator signals to be varied linearly as a function of the location of the radiators, whereupon the radiation lobe turns from the normal of the radiator row, remaining in its shape" ([0032]), and that this arrangement is space-saving, simple, reliable and low in cost, all radiator pairs being adjusted simultaneously by one control ([0015]-[0016]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed subject matter (a) to print the radiating elements of Lawlor's higher-frequency array on the primary PCB substrate 402 that carries the phase-shifter tracks and to feed them through conductive tracks on that substrate, as Lawlor itself teaches ([0064]; claim 9), thereby dispensing with the soldered phase cables of Lawlor's claim 8; and (b) to lay out the printed transmission line contacted by the two conduction pattern terminals 116, 118 of one Lawlor panel as two concentric arcs of different radii feeding the outer and inner element pairs of the array, as taught by Stoyanov, so that the contact points of the two terminals of a single panel set the element phases in a linear, mirror-symmetric distribution about the common reference phase. The motivation is supplied by Stoyanov: proportioning the two arcs to the positions of the radiator pairs makes "the phase of the radiator signals… var[y] linearly as a function of the location of the radiators" so that the lobe turns "remaining in its shape," with a structure that is space-saving, simple, reliable and low in cost and that adjusts all pairs with one control (¶¶ [0015]-[0016], [0032], [0036]). The combination is the use of a known technique (two proportioned arcs under the two terminals of one rotating member) to improve a similar device in the same way, with predictable results (MPEP § 2143(I)(C)-(D)).
Consider claim 2 as applied to respective claim, Lawlor as modified discloses lengths of one side-transmission line and other side-transmission line of the antenna element board having a predetermined ratio (Stoyanov: the outer arched line feeding the outer pair and the inner arched line feeding the inner pair are proportioned to the radiator positions, [0032], [0036]; Lawlor: the mean radii, hence the lengths, of the arcuate tracks of the several shifters are set in the ratio 28:21:14:7, [0031]-[0058], and the two paths of the differential shifter are designed so that one is extended by substantially the same distance that the other is shortened, ¶ [0062], claim 5).
Consider claim 28 as applied to respective claim, Lawlor as modified discloses an antenna apparatus comprising the full analog phase shifter of claim 1 (a variable tilt antenna comprising the phased array; claims 6-9; [0024], [0064]), as does Stoyanov (array antenna with radiators 371-374 in a row; [0001], [0032]; Fig. 3b).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 are allowable over prior art, however, other rejections remain outstanding. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: See respective recitations.
Conclusion
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Examiner should be directed to Fayyaz Alam whose telephone number is (571) 270-1102. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9:30am to 7:00pm.
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Fayyaz Alam
September 18, 2026
/FAYYAZ ALAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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