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 .
Preliminary Amendment
The amendment filed 9/18/2024 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 statements (IDS) submitted 10/31/2024 and 3/27/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following features must be shown or cancelled:
claim 12: “multiple resonators”;
claim 14: “a wall between the resonant chambers,” “an opening for coupling” and “the resonators”;
claim 15: “input signal feed” and “output signal feed”;
claim 16: “node”;
claim 17: “the node is a base station”.
No new matter should be entered.
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.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Tunable Coaxial Cavity Resonator.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 1, paragraphs 1 and 2 end with double periods.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 9 and 14 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 9 recites “the electric motor being a linear motor or a stepper motor, wherein the electric motor is a piezo motor.” It is unclear whether “piezo motor” is a third option along with the “linear motor” or “stepper motor” or whether it further limits the “linear motor” or “stepper motor” limitations. For examination purposes, this limitation will be understood as “the electric motor being a linear motor, a stepper motor or a piezo motor.”
Clam 14 recites “wherein a wall between the resonant chambers comprises an opening for coupling between the resonators.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for the terms “the resonant chambers” and “the resonators.” For examination purposes, this limitation will be understood to mean any opening between any resonators in a filter.
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 1-6, 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2022/090089 A1, published 5/5/2022 (“Doumanis”).
Doumanis discloses in Figs. 2-9 and the corresponding description:
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Claims 1, 10-11
A resonator (Fig. 7, annotated, resonator 70) comprising:
a chamber comprising a first wall (62), a second wall (42) opposite the first wall, and side walls (64);
a first cylinder (metal coating 54 surrounding ceramic ring 52 which can be a hollow cylinder, p. 5, lines 5-12, 19-24) grounded on one of the first (62) and second walls and extending into the chamber (Fig. 6, p. 5, lines 19-24, metal coating 54 provides an electrical connection to the metal cavity base 62);
a second cylinder (ring 32 with metal coating 34, p. 4, lines 30-35) which is coaxial with the first cylinder and grounded on the other wall of the first and second walls and extending into the chamber (p. 4, lines 34-35, metal coating 34 provides an electrical connection to the metal cavity lead 42);
a tuner (metallic tuner 72; p. 2, lines 3-6) being coaxial with the second cylinder and grounded on a bottom of the first cylinder (p. 6, lines 15-17); and
a dielectric tube (ceramic ring 52) being coaxial with the second cylinder and being configured to circumscribe the tuner along an overlap length (Fig. 7, annotated, p. 5, lines 19-24; p. 6, lines 4-8, 22-25).
Claim 2
a frequency of the resonator is tunable by adjusting at least one of: a penetration level of the tuner into the first and second cylinders or the overlap length (Fig. 8, step 86; p. 2, lines 3-6; p. 6, lines 19-20, the position of the metallic tuner may be adjustable by using a threaded screw; p. 7, line 17).
Claim 3
wherein the tuner is fixed at a penetration level into the first and second cylinders which is associated with a predefined frequency of the resonator (p. 7, line 17; once adjusted to set the desired frequency, the position of the tuner may be fixed).
Claim 4
wherein the second cylinder (ring 32 with metal coating 34, p. 4, lines 30-35) is an inner cylinder (Fig. 7) and the first cylinder (metal coating 54, p. 5, lines 5-12) is an outer cylinder lying coaxially to each other such that the first cylinder and the second cylinder overlap along part of their lengths (Fig. 7).
Claim 5
wherein the overlapping part between the first cylinder and second cylinder is at a center of the chamber (Fig. 7, annotated, the overlapping part between the two metal coatings 54 and 34 is at the center of the chamber).
Claim 6
wherein the dielectric tube is configured to be adjusted around the tuner mechanically to provide the overlap length (p. 6, lines 27-30, the ceramic ring 52 is not required to be fixed between two metal plates).
Claims 12-17
a filter for radio frequency (RF) signals comprising multiple resonators (Fig. 9, p. 7, lines 22-28).
Regarding Claim 13, in operation, the disclosed filter performs all the claimed steps.
Regarding Claim 14, there are walls and openings between the resonators in the disclosed filter (Fig. 9).
Regarding Claim 15, in operation, the filter is configured to receive a signal at an input port, couple the input signal with the resonators and output an output signal at an output port (Figs. 9-10).
Regarding Claims 16-17, the disclosed filter can be used in a node, such as a base station (p. 3, lines 28-30).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-8 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.
Claim 9 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
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.
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 www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL, can be reached at (571) 272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/VICTOR COLE/
Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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