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
A series of singular dependent claims is permissible in which a dependent claim refers to a preceding claim which, in turn, refers to another preceding claim.
A claim which depends from a dependent claim should not be separated by any claim which does not also depend from said dependent claim. It should be kept in mind that a dependent claim may refer to any preceding independent claim. In general, applicant's sequence will not be changed. See MPEP § 608.01(n).
Claims 10-16 are out of order (they depend from claim 2, but are separated from claim 2 by claims 3-9, which depend from claim 1).
Claims 17-20 are out of order (they depend from claim 3, but are separated from claim 3 by claims 4-16).
Claims 9 and 16 are objected to because the language of the claims is incorrect. Claim 9 should recite “An electronic device comprising an electronic circuit according to claim 1 and a transistor switch.”. The same would apply to claim 16. The transistor switch is not included within the scope of claim 1, so there is no basis for “a transistor switch according to claim 1”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 4-5, 7-8, 11-12, 14-15 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claims 4-5 and 7: Independent claim 1 explicitly omits claiming the transistor switch as part of the electronic circuit. The claim 1 transistor switch is only mentioned as an intended use of the clamp voltage. Further, the language of claim 9 clearly indicates that it is only that claim that includes the transistor switch (not claim 1).
Therefore, claims 4-5, which describe the transistor switch, are not further limiting to claim 1.
Claim 8: this claim is descriptive of what the claim 1 electronic circuit is “part of”. The eFuse circuit has no defining structure – it is made entirely of the claim 1 electronic circuit. The only defining functionality of the eFuse circuit is its configuration to be switched on/off and that the overvoltage comparator is always active. But these features are already recited in claim 1. Claim 1 already recites that the voltage regulator and further comparator are switched off switch the off signal – the absence of the overvoltage comparator from this wherein clause indicates that it is not to be turned of and remain active.
Claim 7 is not further limiting because it does not recite any narrowing structure or functionality and only names the claim 1 electronic circuit as an eFuse circuit. Assigning a new name to the same structure and functionality does not further limit the independent claim.
Claims 11-12 and 14: the transistor switch is explicitly omitted from this claim tree. Claims 11-12 and 14 depend from claims 1-2, which do not recite the transistor switch as a distinct claimed limitation (see above). The transistor switch is only explicitly claimed in claims 9 and 16.
Claim 16: like claim 8, renaming the claim 2 circuit is not further limiting.
Claims 17-18: the transistor switch is explicitly omitted from this claim tree. Claims 11-12 and 14 depend from claims 1 and 3, which do not recite the transistor switch as a distinct claimed limitation (see above). The transistor switch is only explicitly claimed in claims 9 and 16.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
The Applicants’ representative was contacted on multiple occasions to try to resolve these issues without the need for a Non-Final Office Action (the independent claims are allowable). The voice mail messages (2/4/26, 2/10/26) were not returned.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 6, 9-10, 13, 16 and 19-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art does not teach or suggest an electronic device comprising, inter alia: a further comparator configured to detect an input voltage of the transistor switch and output an off signal when the input voltage is below a threshold; wherein the switch is further configured to be switched off by the off switch; and wherein the voltage regulator and the further comparator are switched off when the switch is switched off. The prior art teaches an overvoltage comparator to switch on a transistor switch, but does not expressly disclose a further comparator to turn the transistor switch off when the overvoltage is over and the input voltage is below a threshold.
Claims 2-3, 6, 9-10, 13, 16 and 19-20 are allowable as they depend from, or include all the limitations of [see claims 9, 16], claim 1. The remaining dependent claims are not allowable, as they are subject to at least one rejection (see above).
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/ADI AMRANY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836