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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 12/2/24 is 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, the limitation of “a length shorter than one wavelength of an operating frequency” is indefinite in that a) it is not made clear, concise, and exact what or which “one” operating frequency is referred to by this limitation such that the length of the first antenna may be determined, b) it is not made clear whether said “one operating frequency” is or is not an operating frequency of the aforementioned antenna, and as claimed may be interpreted as being any given operating frequency of any antenna device, and c) with the prior two points considered, the limitation of “shorter than one wavelength of an operating frequency” renders indefinite the length of the first antenna such that it may be anywhere between near-zero and infinitesimally shy of the wavelength of the highest conceivable operating frequency of an antenna device; thus the metes and bounds of the claim as recited are indefinite in scope. To expedite prosecution, the claim will be examined as best understood by the examiner.
Claims 2-5 are included for their dependency upon claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, the limitation of “a length of one wavelength of an operating frequency” is indefinite in that a) it is not made clear, concise, and exact what or which “one” operating frequency is referred to by this limitation such that the length of the first antenna may be determined, and b) it is not made clear whether said “one operating frequency” is or is not an operating frequency of the aforementioned antenna, and as claimed may be interpreted as being any given operating frequency of any antenna device; thus the metes and bounds of the claim as recited are indefinite in scope. To expedite prosecution, the claim will be examined as best understood by the examiner.
Regarding claim 6, the limitation of “a length shorter than one wavelength of an operating frequency” is indefinite in that a) it is not made clear, concise, and exact what or which “one” operating frequency is referred to by this limitation such that the length of the first antenna may be determined, b) it is not made clear whether said “one operating frequency” is or is not an operating frequency of the aforementioned antenna, and as claimed may be interpreted as being any given operating frequency of any antenna device, and c) with the prior two points considered, the limitation of “shorter than one wavelength of an operating frequency” renders indefinite the length of the first antenna such that it may be anywhere between near-zero and infinitesimally shy of the wavelength of the highest conceivable operating frequency of an antenna device; thus the metes and bounds of the claim as recited are indefinite in scope. To expedite prosecution, the claim will be examined as best understood by the examiner.
Claim 7 is included for its dependency upon claim 6.
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 1-3 and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Niu (US PG Pub. No. 2016/0190709).
Regarding claim 1, Niu teaches (Fig. 1) an antenna device comprising: a first antenna (1) provided on one side of a ground (3) and having a length shorter than one wavelength of an operating frequency (see ¶32, ¶34 lines 6-9); and a second antenna provided on the one side (2), the second antenna being an antenna different from the first antenna (see ¶36 lines 1-5; additionally, it is inherent of an antenna that its length is shorter than a given operating frequency, said operating frequency being arbitrarily determined).
Regarding claim 2, Niu teaches the antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the one side is a short side of the ground having a rectangular shape (see Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Niu teaches the antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the first antenna and the second antenna operate in a same frequency band (see ¶36 lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 5, Niu teaches the antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the second antenna is any of a monopole antenna, an inverted-F antenna, an inverted-L antenna, and a loop antenna having a length of one wavelength of the operating frequency (see ¶32 lines 1-5; ¶34 lines 6-9; additionally, it is inherent of an antenna that its length the length of a given operating frequency, said operating frequency being arbitrarily determined).
Regarding claim 6, Niu teaches (Fig. 2) a wireless device comprising: an antenna device (1 and 2, see ¶31 lines 1-2); and a wireless circuit that performs wireless communication using the antenna device (while a wireless circuit is not explicitly recited, ¶31 recites the antenna system comprising antenna 1 and antenna 2 is a MIMO antenna system, which necessitates a wireless circuit to function as such; see also ¶36 lines 1-5, which recite antenna 1 and antenna 2 performing data reception and transmission, which similarly necessitates a wireless circuit that performs wireless communication using the antenna device), wherein the antenna device includes: a first antenna (1) provided on one side of a ground (3) and having a length shorter than one wavelength of an operating frequency (see ¶32, ¶34 lines 6-9); and a second antenna provided on the one side (2), the second antenna being an antenna different from the first antenna (see ¶36 lines 1-5).
Regarding claim 7, Niu teaches the wireless device according to claim 6, wherein the wireless circuit performs MIMO communication using the first antenna and the second antenna (see ¶31 and ¶36 lines 1-5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu (US PG Pub. No. 2016/0190709) as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Suzuki et al. (US PG Pub. No. 2009/0009401).
Regarding claim 4, Niu teaches the antenna device according to claim 1.
Niu does not teach wherein the first antenna is located between at least a part of the second antenna and the one side.
Suzuki et al. teaches (Fig. 1) an antenna device comprising: a first antenna (11) provided on one side of a ground (1; see ¶35); and a second antenna (12) provided on the one side, the second antenna being an antenna different from the first antenna (see Fig. 1), wherein the first antenna (11) is located between at least a part of the second antenna (12) and the one side (see Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the antenna device of Niu such that the first antenna is located between at least a part of the second antenna and the one side.
Doing so would provide the predictable benefit of enabling the antenna device to be disposed within a small-sized radio apparatus by condensing the size of the antenna arrangement (Suzuki, ¶46 and ¶14).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee et al. (US Patent No. 9,786,994), Oh et al. (US PG Pub. No. 2012/0154222), and Wu (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0344129) each teach antenna devices comprising two antennas attached to a same side of a ground.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jordan E. DeWitt whose telephone number is (571)270-1235. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dameon Levi can be reached at 571-272-2105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAMEON E LEVI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/Jordan E. DeWitt/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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