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 .
1. This office action, in response to the request for continued examination (RCE) and the amendment received 5/11/2026, is a non-final office action.
Response to Arguments and Amendments
2. Independent claims 1, 6 and 8 are amended to recite additional features of the claims. Applicant states applicant disagrees with the examiner and notes where none of the references cited disclose or suggest the claimed limitations on pages 9-13 of the remarks. The examiner disagrees that the claims are not taught for the reasons stated below and in the rejections of the claims.
Applicant states the claimed amendments now positively recites that the protection unit comprises a comparator to calculate average power with the predefined power threshold and a reducer configured to reduce the instantaneous power by applying a gain of less than 1 to the digital signal when the average power reaches a predefined threshold as stated on page 10 of the remarks. Ge discloses these features. Regarding the previous rejection of claim 10, the combination discloses wherein said reducing the instantaneous power is carried out by applying a gain of less than 1 to the digital signal that is received at an input of the physical interface (Ge: paragraph 0053: In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1.). Ge further discloses, in paragraph 0053, a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.
Ge discloses the reduction of the digital signal occurs prior to the transmission of the digital signal to the DAC since figure 1 shows digital to analog conversion module 104 and baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.
Ge discloses, in paragraph 0001, the present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies and in particular to a power amplifier protection method and apparatus implemented by an FPGA. Paragraph 0081 discloses the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.
Applicant submits one would not have been motivated to redesign Ge so as to perform digital attenuation of the incoming digital signal within the FPGA processor prior to DAC conversion as stated on pages 12-13 of the remarks. However, no redesign is necessary since figure 1 shows baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103 prior to digital to analog conversion module 104.
New claim 11 is rejected as stated below. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0053, a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. When the mean power is not greater than the threshold, no power adjustment is described as taking place. Therefore, the mean control power submodule operates as a switch for either selecting the adjustment to take place according to the comparison or bypassing the adjustment when no power adjustment takes place.
New claim 12 is rejected as stated below. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0053, in this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1. This will occur for the time period between each occurrence of the upper limit value exceeding the upper limit value.
New claim 14 is rejected as stated below. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0053, a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms. This is the moving time window since the window will move each 10 Msec in the example of Ge.
New claim 15 is rejected as stated below. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0081, the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.
New claim 16 is rejected as stated below. Ge does not explicitly disclose protection of the RF power amplifier is performed by monitoring current drawn by the RF power amplifier. Therefore, Ge meets the recited negative limitation.
New claim 17 is rejected as stated below. Ge discloses the circuit of figure 1. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0053, a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Ge does not disclose determining the average power and feeding back a signal to adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Carmel discloses the transmitter of figure 2 that utilizes a feedback signal to make the proper adjustments to the variable attenuator.
A new drawing objection is stated below.
The rejections of the claims are stated below and address the features of the amended claims.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
3. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/11/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
4. The drawings are objected to because the unlabeled rectangular boxes shown in figures 1-3 of the drawings should be provided with descriptive text labels. Though the boxes are numbered, the boxes do not have descriptive text labels. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
5. Claims 1-4, 6, 8-12 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ge et al (WO 2019/080566) in view of Carmel et al (US 2007/0259628). A machine translation of the WO 2019/080566 reference is provided. The citations below correspond to that machine translation.
Regarding claims 1 and 6, Ge discloses a device (Figure 1) comprising a radio (Paragraph 0049: the DAC 104 is configured to convert a digital signal processed by the DAC front power amplifier protection module 103 into an analog signal and send the analog signal to the power amplifier 106 through a radio frequency circuit. Since radio frequency signals are sent by the transmitter of figure 1, figure 1 is a device comprising a radio.) comprising:
- at least one processor running a software to produce a digital signal representing a data stream to be transmitted (Figure 1: baseband receiving module 101. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration. Since the transmitter is implemented in a software configuration, a processor will run that software.),
- a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts said digital signal into an analog signal (Figure 1: digital to analog conversion module 104. Paragraph 0045.),
- a physical interface between said at least one processor and said DAC (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.), and
- a radio-frequency power amplifier that amplifies a power of said analog signal (Figure 1: power amplifier 106.);
wherein said software-defined radio further comprises, arranged in said physical interface, a protection unit that protects said radio-frequency power amplifier (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.) dependent on
- an average power, over a predefined reference period, of the digital signal that is received by said physical interface (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms.),
- predefined power threshold not to be exceeded during said predefined reference period (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.),
wherein the protection unit is implemented within said physical interface and wherein the physical interface comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (Ge: paragraph 0001: the present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies and in particular to a power amplifier protection method and apparatus implemented by an FPGA. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.);
wherein the protection unit does not require addition of any further components, beyond components forming the radio (The components recited in the device of Ge form the radio. Since these are components of the radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the radio.);
wherein the production unit comprises
a comparator configured to compare said average power with said predefined power threshold (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold in the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.);
a reducer configured to reduce an instantaneous power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface by applying a gain of less than 1 to said digital signal when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold (Ge: paragraph 0053: In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1.),
wherein the protection unit is configured to reduce an instantaneous power of the digital signal prior to transmission of the digital signal to the DAC and prior to conversion of the digital signal into the analog signal by the DAC (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Figure 1 shows the digital to analog conversion module 104.).
Ge does not disclose the radio disclosed above is a software-defined radio.
Carmel discloses software defined radios in paragraphs 0004-0006 and shown in figure 1. Paragraph 0005 discloses the highly flexible software defined nature of these radios. Paragraph 0006 discloses the transmitter output power can be limited to protect the final RF power amplifier under worst case scenarios. Paragraph 0004 discloses these highly flexible radios are capable of operating over a very wide range of frequencies for communicating voice and data using any one of a variety of modulation schemes. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the software radio of Carmel into the device of Ge. These are components forming the software defined radio of the combination. Since these are components of the software-defined radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the software-defined radio of claims 1 and 6.
Regarding claim 2, the combination discloses wherein the protection unit comprises - a calculator that calculates the average power, over the predefined reference period, of the digital signal received by the physical interface, - a comparator comparing said average power that is calculated with the predefined power threshold, and - a modification stage that modifies an instantaneous power of the digital signal supplied to the DAC, when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.).
Regarding claim 3, the combination discloses wherein the modification stage is configured to stop supply of the digital signal to the DAC (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Therefore, the transmitter will stop the supply of this digital signal to the DAC and will supply the adjusted baseband signal to the downstream elements of the transmitter once the adjustment has been applied.).
Regarding claim 4, the combination discloses wherein the modification stage comprises a reducer, or a splitter, configured to reduce power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface (Ge: paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule. In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain.).
Regarding claim 8, Ge discloses a method for protecting a radio (Paragraph 0049: the DAC 104 is configured to convert a digital signal processed by the DAC front power amplifier protection module 103 into an analog signal and send the analog signal to the power amplifier 106 through a radio frequency circuit. Since RF signals are sent by the transmitter of figure 1, figure 1 is a device comprising a radio.), said radio comprising
- at least one processor running a software to produce a digital signal representing a data stream to be transmitted (Figure 1: baseband receiving module 101. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration. Since the transmitter is implemented in a software configuration, a processor will run that software.),
- a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts said digital signal into an analog signal (Figure 1: digital to analog conversion module 104. Paragraph 0045.),
- a physical interface between said at least one processor and said DAC (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.), and
- a radio-frequency power amplifier that amplifies a power of said analog signal (Figure 1: power amplifier 106.);
said method comprising: an execution, within said physical interface (110), of a protection function of said radio-frequency power amplifier (108) , said execution comprising:
- calculating an average power, over a predefined reference period, of the digital signal received by said physical interface, - comparing said average power with a predefined power threshold not to be exceeded during said predefined reference period, and - when said average power reaches the predefined power limit threshold, reducing an instantaneous power of the digital signal supplied to the DAC (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.);
wherein the protection unit is implemented within said physical interface and wherein the physical interface comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (Ge: paragraph 0001: the present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies and in particular to a power amplifier protection method and apparatus implemented by an FPGA. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.);
wherein the protection unit does not require addition of any further components, beyond components forming the radio (The components recited in the device of Ge form the radio. Since these are components of the radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the radio.);
wherein the production unit comprises
a comparator configured to compare said average power with said predefined power threshold (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.);
a reducer configured to reduce an instantaneous power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface by applying a gain of less than 1 to said digital signal when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold (Ge: paragraph 0053: In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1.),
wherein the protection unit is configured to reduce an instantaneous power of the digital signal prior to transmission of the digital signal to the DAC and prior to conversion of the digital signal into the analog signal by the DAC (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Figure 1 shows the digital to analog conversion module 104.).
Ge does not disclose the radio disclosed above is a software-defined radio.
Carmel discloses software defined radios in paragraphs 0004-0006 and shown in figure 1. Paragraph 0005 discloses the highly flexible software defined nature of these radios. Paragraph 0006 discloses the transmitter output power can be limited to protect the final RF power amplifier under worst case scenarios. Paragraph 0004 discloses these highly flexible radios are capable of operating over a very wide range of frequencies for communicating voice and data using any one of a variety of modulation schemes. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the software radio of Carmel into the device of Ge. Since these are components of the software-defined radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the software-defined radio of claim 8.
Regarding claim 9, the combination discloses wherein said reducing the instantaneous power is carried out for a predetermined period of time, known as the as a delay time (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms. if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power at this level will be conducted until the next time the mean power control submodule measures calculates the average power (10 ms).).
Regarding claim 10, the combination discloses wherein said reducing the instantaneous power is carried out by applying a gain of less than 1 to the digital signal that is received at an input of the physical interface (Ge: paragraph 0053: In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1.).
Regarding claim 11, the combination discloses wherein the protection unit further comprises a switch movable between a first position in which the digital signal bypasses the reducer and a second position in which the digital signal is routed through the reducer when said average power reaches a predefined power threshold (Ge: paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. When the mean power is not greater than the threshold, no power adjustment is described as taking place. Therefore, the mean control power submodule operates as a switch for either selecting the adjustment to take place according to the comparison or bypassing the adjustment when no power adjustment takes place.).
Regarding claim 12, the combination discloses wherein the reducer applies said gain of less than 1 for a predetermined time (Ge: paragraph 0053: in this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1. This will occur for the time period between each occurrence of the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value.).
Regarding claim 14, the combination discloses wherein the protection unit calculates the average power over a moving time window corresponding to the predefined period (Ge: paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms. This is the moving time window since the window will move each 10 Msec in the example of Ge.).
Regarding claim 15, the combination discloses wherein the protection unit comprises a software configuration or configurable hardware configuration applied to the physical interface comprising sad FPGA or said ASIC (Ge: paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.).
Regarding claim 16, the combination discloses wherein protection unit of the radio frequency power amplifier is performed without monitoring current drawn by the RF PA (Ge does not explicitly disclose protection of the RF power amplifier is performed by monitoring current drawn by the RF power amplifier. Therefore, the recited negative limitation is met by the combination.).
Regarding claim 17, Ge discloses, in paragraph 0053, a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Ge does not disclose determining the average power and feeding back a signal to adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Carmel discloses the transmitter shown in figure 2. Camel shows a signal has been processed by elements of the transmitter and, after that processing, provides a feedback signal to provide to a reducer in the variable attenuator 208. By feeding back the signal, a desired power output can be achieved. Paragraph 0032 discloses the feedback signal will provide control for the scaling of the RF power output. Increasing the amount of attenuation applied to an RF signal by the variable attenuator will decrease the input drive signal to the PA 210, thereby decreasing the power output from the transmitter 116. Carmel shows the alternative of using a feedback signal to provide adjustments in a transmitter. By using the signal to be transmitted to conduct those adjustments rather than signals prior to the transmission, accurate and needed adjustments can be achieved, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Carmel into the radio of the combination of Ge and Carmel.
6. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ge et al (WO 2019/080566) in view of Carmel et al (US 2007/0259628) further in view of Bergman et al (US 2021/0065529). A machine translation of the WO 2019/080566 reference is provided. The citations below correspond to that machine translation.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Ge and Carmel discloses the device stated above. The combination does not disclose wherein the electronic device is a Wifi transmitter, a Bluetooth® transmitter, a terrestrial digital radio transmitter, or a digital mobile radio transmitter (DMR for "Digital Mobile Radio").
Bergman discloses the communication device shown in figure 2. Paragraph 0058 discloses the communication enabled device 204 comprises a software defined radio (SDR). SDRs are well known in the art and the SDR can be programmatically assigned any communication protocol that is chosen by the user (e.g., RFID, WiFi, Lifi, Bluetooth, etc.). When the Wifi or Bluetooth communication protocol is selected, the transmitter will become the selected WiFi or Bluetooth protocol transmitter in the SDR. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the transmitting using the selected protocol in the SDR as taught by Bergman into the device of the combination of Ge and Carmel. Using well known and commonly used protocols will reduce the complexity and cost of a communication system as well as utilize the advantages of the WiFi and Bluetooth protocols.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claim 13 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the cited references disclose the limitations of claim 13.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Abe (US 8,027,406) discloses the transmitter shown in figure 1 comprising the instantaneous power calculating unit 35, the threshold value generating unit 36 and the peak suppression ratio calculating unit 238. Column 5, lines 14-67 describe the components of figure 1. Formula 3 shows the power threshold being divided by the maximum instantaneous power to suppress the peak level in a voltage region. This equation is not the same as the equation recited in claim 13.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN M. BURD whose telephone number is (571)272-3008. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN M BURD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 8/24/2026
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