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 .
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/21/2024 and 1/8/2026 was in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mikawa (WO 2019198702 A1; see translation).
With regards to claim 1. Mikawa disclose(s):
(Original) A communication system (figs 14-24), comprising:
a base station (11; fig 14) configured to transmit and receive a radio wave [0078];
a terminal (12; fig 14) configured to transmit and receive the radio wave to and from the base station [0078];
and a plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9; fig 22; [0102]) installed on the same plane (103) between the base station and the terminal and configured to refract the radio wave and emit a refracted radio wave in a direction of the terminal when the radio wave transmitted from the base station passes through each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates ([0102-0103]).
With regards to claim 2. Mikawa disclose(s):
(Original) The communication system according to claim 1,
wherein each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9; fig 22) is installed, on an installation plane (103) that passes through a geometric center of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9) and is orthogonal to a line connecting an antenna of the base station and an antenna of the terminal (see plane of 103 being orthogonal to at least one of the electromagnetic propagation which involves signal from base station to terminal), in a region defined by a first linear distance between the antenna of the base station and a geometric center of each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates and a second linear distance between the antenna of the terminal and the geometric center of each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (see electromagnetic propagation towards 103 and electromagnetic propagation coming out of 103 which involves linear distance between antenna of base station or terminal to refraction plate).
With regards to claim 7. Mikawa disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The communication system according to claim 1,
wherein coordinates of a plurality of unit structures included in the plurality of radio wave refraction plates are plotted on a graph indicating a position on a horizontal axis and a transmission phase on a vertical axis (see xyz in fig 22),
and the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9) is installed with the coordinates placed on a straight line (see coordinate Y).
With regards to claim 10. Mikawa disclose(s):
(Original) A radio wave refraction plate (figs 22),
comprising a plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9; fig 22; [0102]) installed on the same plane (103) between a base station configured to transmit and receive a radio wave and a terminal configured to transmit and receive the radio wave to and from the base station and configured to refract the radio wave and emit a refracted radio wave in a direction of the terminal when the radio wave transmitted from the base station passes through each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates ([0102-0103]).
With regards to claim 11. Mikawa disclose(s):
(Original) The radio wave refraction plate according to claim 10,
wherein each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates is installed (fig 22),
on an installation plane (103) that passes through a geometric center of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9) and is orthogonal to a line connecting an antenna of the base station and an antenna of the terminal (see plane of 103 being orthogonal to at least one of the electromagnetic propagation which involves signal from base station to terminal),
in a region defined by a first linear distance between the antenna of the base station and a geometric center of each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates and a second linear distance between the antenna of the terminal and the geometric center of each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (see electromagnetic propagation towards 103 and electromagnetic propagation coming out of 103 which involves linear distance between antenna of base station or terminal to refraction plate).
With regards to claim 16. Mikawa disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The radio wave refraction plate according to claim 10,
wherein coordinates of a plurality of unit structures included in the plurality of radio wave refraction plates are plotted on a graph indicating a position on a horizontal axis and a transmission phase on a vertical axis (see xyz in fig 22),
and the plurality of radio wave refraction plates (9) is installed with the coordinates placed on a straight line (see coordinate Y).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 19 is/are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
With regards to claim(s) 19: the prior art fails to disclose a/an method requiring:
projecting the plurality of refraction plates on the plane; and calculating installation positions of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates with an area of each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates included in an odd-order Fresnel zone being larger than an area of each of the plurality of radio wave refraction plates included in an even-order Fresnel zone, in combination with other limitations of the claim.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 3-6, 8-9, 12-14, 15, and 17-18 is/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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Polehn (US 20200144717 A1) discloses:
A radio frequency (RF) transceiver transmits a radio signal to the phased array antenna. The phased array antenna deflects the radio signal that is arriving at the phased array antenna in a particular direction indicated by the optical control beam. The particular direction of the deflected radio signal is toward a particular user device. The radio signal includes an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal over a Fifth Generation carrier.
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Renan Luque whose telephone number is (571)270-1044. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Taningco can be reached at (571) 272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RENAN LUQUE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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