DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/1/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho (US Publication Number 2010/0153591) in view of Sella et al. (US Publication Number 2014/0013018, hereinafter “Sella”) further in view of Minami (US Patent Number 8,332,565).
6. As per claim 1, Cho teaches an electronic device (device 100, which can be interpreted to be in an enclosure such as a mobile phone 100, figures 3 and 5), comprising: a wireless communication module (wireless USB interface 140a/b, figures 3 and 5, paragraph 21 states these are wUSB), wherein the wireless communication module is configured to: establish a wireless connection channel with an external wireless communication device (notebook computer 160a/b, figures 3/5 which utilizes the wireless connection channel, wherein the wireless channel is the channel seen between 140 and 160 figure 3), the wireless connection channel being configured to transmit signals for a signal line of the electronic device and a signal line of the external wireless communication device (s40 figure 4 in light of figures 3 and 5, transmits signals via the wireless interface to an external wireless device, paragraphs 36 – 43); establish a USB transmission channel upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel (USB transmission channel 125 seen between controller and 140a, figure 3 established when user initiates the WUSB connection to transmit data allowing for steps seen in figure 4); and transmit USB data via the USB transmission channel (when the wireless USB data connection is established between 100 and 160, figures 3 and 5, the data over the wireless USB interface which is considered to be USB data is transmitted to 100 via the data connection, paragraphs 36 – 45).
Cho does not appear to explicitly disclose the wireless communication module being provided within the housing, and the housing being provided with no USB data transmission interface, establishing a USB channel between the electronic device and the external wireless communication device upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel; wherein the electronic device further comprises a control module electrically connected to the wireless communication module, and configured to configure the wireless communication module and to control establishment of the USB transmission channel.
However, Sella discloses the wireless communication module being provided within the housing, and the housing being provided with no USB data transmission interface (paragraphs 18 – 20 the wireless USB device 102 may include a microcontroller 110, memory 112, interface layer 114, and wireless transceiver 116, with no USB connector port or wired data interface, figure 1).
Cho and Sella are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless USB handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Cho and Sella before him or her, to modify the structure of Cho to include the closed mechanism of Sella because it would allow for additional physical configurations.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance user interfacing connectivity (paragraph 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sella with Cho to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
Although Cho/Sella utilizes a well-known standard of wireless USB the combination does not explicitly disclose establishing a USB channel between the electronic device and the external wireless communication device upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel; wherein the electronic device further comprises a control module electrically connected to the wireless communication module, and configured to configure the wireless communication module and to control establishment of the USB transmission channel.
However, Minami discloses establishing a USB channel between the electronic device and the external wireless communication device upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel (figure 2, phy/cnl 68, figure 3, steps 110 to 130, in the connection layer a connection is established via a wireless channel carrying USB signal lines D+/D-, figure 1); wherein the electronic device further comprises a control module (figure 1, USB dongle includes a main controller 21, a USB controller 26, and wireless 28) electrically connected to the wireless communication module (connected via bus 29, figure 1 ), and configured to configure the wireless communication module (steps s100 to s170, figure 2, control 21 polls for a response from 70 and exchanges protocol information to determine supported protocol, S140-S150, figure 1) and to control establishment of the USB transmission channel (figure 3, steps S180-S200, and S240, handling of successful connection).
Cho/Sella and Minami are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless USB handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Cho/Sella and Minami before him or her, to modify the structure of Cho/Sella to include the step-by-step configuration of Minami because it would allow for completeness in the connection.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance wireless user connectivity (column 1, lines 30 – 48). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Minami with Cho/Sella to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
7. As per claims 11, Cho teaches a wireless communication device (device 100, which can be interpreted to be in an enclosure such as a mobile phone 100, figures 3 and 5), comprising: a wireless communication module (wireless USB interface 140a, figures 3 and 5); and a USB communication interface (USB interface 140b, figure 3) and electrically connected to the wireless communication module (electrically connected via 125, figure 3), the USB communication interface being configured to be electrically connected to a third device (PC 160b, figure 3), the third device being a personal computer (PC) device or an On-The-Go (OTG) device (160b is a PC, figure 3, paragraphs 35 – 37), wherein the wireless communication module is configured to: establish a wireless connection channel with an electronic device (notebook computer 160a/b, figures 3/5 which utilizes the wireless connection channel), the wireless connection channel being configured to transmit and receive signals for a signal line of the wireless communication device and a signal line of the electronic device (s40 figure 4 in light of figures 3 and 5, transmits signals via the wireless interface to an external wireless device, paragraphs 36 – 43); establish a USB transmission channel upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel (user initiates the WUSB connection to transmit data allowing for steps seen in figure 4); and transmit USB data for the third device or the electronic device via the USB transmission channel (figure 3, two options first to the PC via USB wired connection or to the notebook via wireless USB when the wireless USB data connection is established between 100 and 160, figures 3 and 5, the data over the wireless USB interface which is considered to be USB data is transmitted to 100 via the data connection, paragraphs 36 – 45).
Cho does not appear to explicitly disclose a housing and a USB communication interface provided on the housing; establishing a USB channel between the electronic device and the external wireless communication device upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel; wherein the wireless communication device further comprises a control module electrically connected to the wireless communication module, and configured to configure the wireless communication module and to control establishment of the USB transmission channel.
However, Sella discloses a housing and a USB communication interface provided on the housing (paragraphs 18 – 20 the wireless USB device 102 may include a microcontroller 110, memory 112, interface layer 114, and wireless transceiver 116, with no USB connector port or wired data interface, figure 1).
Cho and Sella are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless USB handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Cho and Sella before him or her, to modify the structure of Cho to include the closed mechanism of Sella because it would allow for additional physical configurations.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance user interfacing connectivity (paragraph 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Sella with Cho to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
Although Cho/Sella utilizes a well-known standard of wireless USB the combination does not explicitly disclose establishing a USB channel between the electronic device and the external wireless communication device upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel; wherein the wireless communication device further comprises a control module electrically connected to the wireless communication module, and configured to configure the wireless communication module and to control establishment of the USB transmission channel.
However, Minami discloses establishing a USB channel between the electronic device and the external wireless communication device upon successful establishment of the wireless connection channel (figure 2, phy/cnl 68, figure 3, steps 110 to 130, in the connection layer a connection is established via a wireless channel carrying USB signal lines D+/D-, figure 1); wherein the wireless communication device further comprises a control module (figure 1, USB dongle includes a main controller 21, a USB controller 26, and wireless 28) electrically connected to the wireless communication module (connected via bus 29, figure 1 ), and configured to configure the wireless communication module (steps s100 to s170, figure 2, control 21 polls for a response from 70 and exchanges protocol information to determine supported protocol, S140-S150, figure 1), and configured to configure the wireless communication module and to control establishment of the USB transmission channel (figure 3, steps S180-S200, and S240, handling of successful connection).
Cho/Sella and Minami are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless USB handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Cho/Sella and Minami before him or her, to modify the structure of Cho/Sella to include the step-by-step configuration of Minami because it would allow for completeness in the connection.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance wireless user connectivity (column 1, lines 30 – 48). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Minami with Cho/Sella to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
8. Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Sella in view of Minami further in view of Kam et al. (US Publication Number 2012/0212384, “Kam”).
9. As per claims 2 and 12, Cho/Sella/Minami does not appear to explicitly disclose the internal function of the wireless communication module.
However, Cho/Kam discloses a device, wherein the wireless communication module comprises a wireless data transmission unit, a first differential signal line, and a second differential signal line (Kam: first and second differential signal lines, paragraph 44), the wireless data transmission unit being electrically connected to the first differential signal line and the second differential signal line (Kam: figure 6, lines 306 to 308 for connectivity), wherein the wireless data transmission unit is configured to transmit a detection signal for detecting a peer transmission unit at a distance (Kam: wireless USB signal distance, paragraph 5) from the wireless data transmission unit less than or equal to a preset distance threshold (Kam: threshold is the limit of wireless USB function, paragraph 5); and the wireless data transmission unit is further configured to establish the wireless connection channel with the peer transmission unit in response to receiving a response signal returned by the peer transmission unit (received signals and response signals of peer transmission unit seen in figure 4 of Cho), the wireless connection channel being configured to transmit and receive signals for the first differential signal line of the wireless communication module and a first differential signal line of the peer transmission unit (the transmission portion is seen by Cho figures 3 – 5, with the teachings that the signals are on differential lines seen in figure 6 and paragraph 44 of Kam), and to transmit and receive signals for the second differential signal line of the wireless communication module and a second differential signal line of the peer transmission unit (Cho: when the wireless USB data connection is established between 100 and 160, figures 3 and 5, the data over the wireless USB interface which is considered to be USB data is transmitted to 100 via the data connection, paragraphs 36 – 45 in light of differential teachings of Kam, paragraph 44).
Cho/Sella/Minami and Kam are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of wireless USB handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Cho/Sella/Minami and Kam before him or her, to modify the internal signaling of Cho/Sella/Minami to include the signaling configuration of Kam because it elaborates on the wireless USB mechanism used in the standard.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance wireless USB functionality (paragraph 8). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kam with Cho/Sella/Minami to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
10. Claims 3 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Sella in view of Minami further in view of Kam further in view of Lee et al. (US Patent Number 7,824,227, hereinafter “Lee”).
11. As per claims 3 and 13, Cho/Sella/Minami/Kam does not appear to explicitly disclose wherein the wireless data transmission unit comprises a wireless data transmission chip, wherein the wireless data transmission chip has a first data pin electrically connected to the first differential signal line of the wireless communication module, and a second data pin electrically connected to the second differential signal line of the wireless communication module.
However, Lee discloses a device, wherein the wireless data transmission unit comprises a wireless data transmission chip, wherein the wireless data transmission chip has a first data pin electrically connected to the first differential signal line of the wireless communication module, and a second data pin electrically connected to the second differential signal line of the wireless communication module (figure 7 shows a USB to wireless USB device with IC 72 connected to wired USB D+/D- and the IC transforming the data for the wireless interface 76).
Cho/Sella/Minami/Kam and Lee are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of USB handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Cho/Sella/Minami/Kam and Lee before him or her, to modify the internal signaling of Cho/Sella/Minami/Kam to include the physical configuration of Lee because it elaborates on the USB mechanism used in the standard.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance USB functionality (column 1, lines 11 - 33). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Lee with Cho/Sella/Minami/Kam to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
12. Claims 4, 6 – 10, 14, and 16 – 20 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.
Response to Arguments
13. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 – 4, 6 – 14, and 16 – 20 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.
Conclusion
14. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hay has teachings of a wireless USB channel and USB channel along with devices that do not have physical data transmission interfaces and utilize wUSB.
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AH
/HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184
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