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 .
Preliminary Amendment
The amendment filed 7/26/2024 pursuant to 37 CFR 1.115 and 37 CFR 1.125 was entered.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/26/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor, or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 1, lines 5-6, recites “adjacent dielectric resonators being coupled by coupling windows provided between their opposite surfaces.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation “adjacent dielectric resonators.” There is also insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation “opposite surfaces.” The antecedent for the pronoun “their” is also unclear (resonators or windows).
For examination purposes, this limitation will be understood to mean “the first single-mode dielectric resonator, the second single-mode dielectric resonator, and the triple-mode dielectric resonator being coupled by coupling windows provided thereinbetween.”
Claims 2-18 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as dependent on the rejected claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-7, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0006106 A1, published Jan. 7, 2016 (“Cooper”), cited by the applicant.
Cooper discloses in Figs. 1-17 and the corresponding description:
Claim 1 (as best understood):
A dielectric filter (1) (Figs. 1a-b, 17; filter 100, ¶¶62-79, 171-180) comprising:
a first single-mode dielectric resonator (110) (Fig. 17, single-mode resonator 1530), a second single-mode dielectric resonator (120) (Fig. 17, single-mode resonator 1540), and a triple-mode dielectric resonator (130) (Fig. 17, triple-mode resonator 110) arranged side by side in sequence in a first direction (Y) (¶¶73, 171-180; as shown in Fig. 1b, annotated, Cooper defines the first direction by X-axis, the second direction by Y-axis, and the third direction by Z-axis),
adjacent dielectric resonators being coupled by coupling windows (Figs. 1a-b, input and output apertures 120 including slots 121 and 122; Fig. 17, input and output apertures 1510, 1520, 1570, 1580) provided between their opposite surfaces,
characterized in that, the coupling windows between the first single-mode dielectric resonator (110) and the second single-mode dielectric resonator (120) comprise a first main coupling window (111) (Fig. 1b, slot 122) and a first cross coupling window (112) (Fig. 1b, slot 121),
a length of the first main coupling window (111) (Fig. 1b, slot 122, L1) measured along a second direction (X) is greater than half of a length measured along the second direction (L), of a filter cross section where the first main coupling window is located, and a width of the first main coupling window (111) (Fig. 1b, slot 122, W1) measured along a third direction (Z) is less than half of a width measured along the third direction (W), of the filter cross section where the first main coupling window is located, the first direction, the second direction and the third direction being three dimensional extension directions of the dielectric filter (¶73),
a length of the first cross coupling window (112) (L2) measured along the second direction is less than the length of the first main coupling window (111) (L1) measured along the second direction (Fig. 1b).
Claim 2
the length of the first cross coupling window (112) (L2) measured along the second direction is less than half of the length of the first main coupling window measured along the second direction (L1).
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Claim 3
the length of the first main coupling window (111) (L1) measured along the second direction (X) is substantially equal to the length measured along the second direction, of the filter cross section where the first main coupling window is located (Fig. 1b, L1 is substantially equal to L).
Claim 4
the first main coupling window (111) (slot 122) is located at an edge area of the filter cross section where the first main coupling window is located (slot 122 is located substantially closer to the edge than to the center of the cross section).
Claim 5
a blind hole or through hole (Fig. 5, ¶101, central circular aperture 520) for adjusting coupling is provided in an area where the first main coupling window (111) is located (¶107, aperture 520 is used to adjust coupling).
Claim 6
at least part of a hole wall surface of the blind hole or through hole is metallized (Figs. 5, 17).
Claim 7
the coupling windows between the first single-mode dielectric resonator (110) and the second single- mode dielectric resonator (120) include a plurality of the first cross coupling windows (Figs. 10a-e, ¶¶122-129, illustrating a range of alternative aperture shapes, including a plurality of the first cross coupling windows 312a and 312b).
Claim 18
the dielectric filter is an integral device (Abstract, ¶70).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-17 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim(s) and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0131063 A1, published May 10, 2018 (“Zhu”) teaches using EM simulation tools, such as eigenmode simulations in Ansys HFSS, to determine parameters of inter-cavity coupling having three separate coupling components (one for each resonance mode/resonant frequency) to facilitate independent control of coupling for each resonance mode (¶¶148-155, 163-164).
The User Guide for Ansoft High Frequency Structure Simulator published in 2005 (“HFSS User Guide”) teaches how to model dielectric resonators and to optimize sizes, shapes and locations of coupling apertures (pp. 414-434).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTOR COLE, telephone number (571) 272-4686. The examiner can be reached Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM ET.
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/VICTOR COLE/
Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843