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) submitted on September 9th 2024 is 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 § 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(s) 1-3 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kataoka (JP 2016162369 A) in view of Kato et al. (US 8602310 B2).
Regarding Claim 1, Kataoka discloses an antenna device (IC card 10 comprising an antenna device; Paragraph 29-46 and figure 1 of Kataoka) comprising:
a substrate (Sealing portion 33 serves as a substrate; Paragraph 29-46 and figure 1 of Kataoka); and
a first coil pattern provided on one surface of the substrate (Card base 30 includes a sealing portion 33 which serves as a first substrate upon which the first coil pattern 36 is placed; Paragraph 29-46 and figure 1 of Kataoka),
wherein the first coil pattern has a first winding part, a second winding part, and a third winding part (Coil pattern 36 is formed by a single wire conductor portion and comprises a large coil 31 and a small coil 32 formed by conductor portions 40a-40c with said portions comprising a total of 9 turns wherein the first 3 turns can be taken as first winding part, the next 2 turns can be a second winding part, and the last 4 turns can be a third winding part; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka),
wherein the first winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an outer peripheral end being opened and an inner peripheral end connected to an outer peripheral end of the second winding part (The first winding part comprising the first 3 turns has an outer peripheral end E1 that is open and the second inner end would be connected to the outer end of the second winding part which would be the 2 turns after; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka) ,
wherein the second winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an inner peripheral end connected to an outer peripheral end of the third winding part (The second winding part comprises the next 2 turns and has an inner end that would connected outer end of the third winding part comprised of the last 4 turns after; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka) ,
wherein the third winding part is wound in a plurality of turns (The last 4 turns of portions 40a-40c would form the third winding part; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka), and
wherein each turn of the second winding part has a first partial winding part wound concentrically with the third winding part and a second partial winding part protruding radially outward from the first partial winding part and wound about a center axis positioned between the first partial winding part and the first winding part (The second winding part formed by 2 turns comprises a first partial winding part which would be the wires helping to form large coil 31 which are concentric to the 4 turns below them forming the third part, also helping to form coil 31, and the second winding part also has its 2 turns help form the smaller coil 32 which protrudes outward such this part can be considered as a second partial winding part protruding radially outward and has a center axis between the first partial part in coil 31 and the first part comprising the top 3 turns helping from coil 32; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka).
Kataoka fail to disclose wherein the third winding part has an inner peripheral end being opened.
However, Kato et al. does disclose wherein the third winding part has an inner peripheral end being opened (Coil antenna pattern 35b for IC card comprises multiple turns which can be taken as a first, second, and third winding part wherein the third winding part comprises an inner peripheral end, now labeled E2, that is open; Paragraph 35-41 and 69-71 as well as figure 2 and 17 of Kato et al.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art modify the antenna as taught by Kataoka to have wherein the third winding part has an inner peripheral end being opened as taught by Kato et al. since opens end offer better radiation efficiency and impedance control.
PNG
media_image1.png
743
545
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
515
673
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
654
624
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 2, Kataoka further discloses wherein a number of turns of the third winding part is larger than a number of turns of the first winding part (Third winding part comprises the last 4 turns and the first winding part comprises the first 3 turns; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka).
Regarding Claim 3, Kataoka further discloses wherein a number of turns of the first winding part is larger than a number of turns of the second winding part (Third winding part comprises the last 4 turns and the first winding part comprises the first 3 turns; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka).
Regarding Claim 12, Kataoka discloses an IC card comprising: an antenna device; and an IC module (IC card 10 comprising an antenna device and an IC module 20; Paragraph 29-46 and figure 1 of Kataoka) ,
wherein the antenna device comprises
a substrate (Sealing portion 33 serves as a substrate; Paragraph 29-46 and figure 1 of Kataoka); and
a first coil pattern provided on one surface of the substrate (Card base 30 includes a sealing portion 33 which serves as a first substrate upon which the first coil pattern 36 is placed; Paragraph 29-46 and figure 1 of Kataoka),
wherein the first coil pattern has a first winding part, a second winding part, and a third winding part (Coil pattern 36 is formed by a single wire conductor portion and comprises a large coil 31 and a small coil 32 formed by conductor portions 40a-40c with said portions comprising a total of 9 turns wherein the first 3 turns can be taken as first winding part, the next 2 turns can be a second winding part, and the last 4 turns can be a third winding part; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka),
wherein the first winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an outer peripheral end being opened and an inner peripheral end connected to an outer peripheral end of the second winding part (The first winding part comprising the first 3 turns has an outer peripheral end E1 that is open and the second inner end would be connected to the outer end of the second winding part which would be the 2 turns after; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka) ,
wherein the second winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an inner peripheral end connected to an outer peripheral end of the third winding part (The second winding part comprises the next 2 turns and has an inner end that would connected outer end of the third winding part comprised of the last 4 turns after; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka) ,
wherein the third winding part is wound in a plurality of turns (The last 4 turns of portions 40a-40c would form the third winding part; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka), and
wherein each turn of the second winding part has a first partial winding part wound concentrically with the third winding part and a second partial winding part protruding radially outward from the first partial winding part and wound about a center axis positioned between the first partial winding part and the first winding part (The second winding part formed by 2 turns comprises a first partial winding part which would be the wires helping to form large coil 31 which are concentric to the 4 turns below them forming the third part, also helping to form coil 31, and the second winding part also has its 2 turns help form the smaller coil 32 which protrudes outward such this part can be considered as a second partial winding part protruding radially outward and has a center axis between the first partial part in coil 31 and the first part comprising the top 3 turns helping from coil 32; Paragraph 29-46 and 73-81 as well as figure 1 and 12 of Kataoka).
Kataoka fail to disclose wherein the third winding part has an inner peripheral end being opened.
However, Kato et al. does disclose wherein the third winding part has an inner peripheral end being opened (Coil antenna pattern 35b for IC card comprises multiple turns which can be taken as a first, second, and third winding part wherein the third winding part comprises an inner peripheral end, now labeled E2, that is open; Paragraph 35-41 and 69-71 as well as figure 2 and 17 of Kato et al.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art modify the antenna as taught by Kataoka to have wherein the third winding part has an inner peripheral end being opened as taught by Kato et al. since opens end offer better radiation efficiency and impedance control.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kataoka (JP 2016162369 A) in view of Kato et al. (US 8602310 B2) and Orihara et al. (US 9496598 B2).
Regarding Claim 5, Kataoka and Kato et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein a pattern width of each of the first and third winding parts is smaller than a pattern width of the first partial winding part of the second winding part.
However, Orihara et al. does disclose wherein a pattern width of each of the first and third winding parts is smaller than a pattern width of the first partial winding part of the second winding part (Coil antenna structure comprises a first, second , and third portion 5a, 5b, and 20 wherein the pattern width of a first partial winding of the second part is larger than the pattern width of the first and third parts 5a and 20; Paragraph 43-60 and figure 6 of Orihara et al.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art modify the antenna as taught by Kataoka and Kato et al. to have a pattern width of each of the first and third winding parts is smaller than a pattern width of the first partial winding part of the second winding part as taught by Orihara et al. since the spacing between the turns would affect the bandwidth and radiation efficiency.
PNG
media_image4.png
584
416
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kataoka (JP 2016162369 A) in view of Kato et al. (US 8602310 B2) and Finn et al. (US 20190197385 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Kataoka and Kato et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein each of the first winding part, the first partial winding part of the second winding part, and the third winding part is constituted of a mesh-like conductor pattern.
However, Finn et al. does disclose wherein each of the first winding part, the first partial winding part of the second winding part, and the third winding part is constituted of a mesh-like conductor pattern (Coil antenna comprises a first winding part CA, a second winding part EA-1 with a protruding portion CC serving as a first partial winding part, and a third winding part EA-2 wherein said structure may comprise a conductor mesh structure inserted into the material making the coils; Paragraph 223-227 and 461-467 as well as figure 4I of Finn et al.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art modify the antenna as taught by Kataoka and Kato et al. to have wherein each of the first winding part, the first partial winding part of the second winding part, and the third winding part is constituted of a mesh-like conductor pattern as taught by Finn et al. to alter the performance of the antenna structure (Paragraph 461-467 of Finn et al.).
PNG
media_image5.png
438
579
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4, 7, and 8-11 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.
Regarding claim 4, patentability exists, at least in part, with the claimed features of a “wherein a pattern width of the first partial winding part of the second winding part is larger than a pattern width of the second partial winding part of the second winding part” as recited in claim 4, claimed features “wherein the second partial winding part of the second winding part is constituted of a solid pattern.” as recited in claim 7, and claimed features “a second coil pattern having a fourth winding part, a fifth winding part, and a sixth winding part, wherein the fourth winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an outer peripheral end being opened and an inner peripheral end connected to an outer peripheral end of the fifth winding part, wherein the fifth winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an inner peripheral end connected to an outer peripheral end of the sixth winding part, wherein the sixth winding part is wound in a plurality of turns and has an inner peripheral end being opened, wherein each turn of the fifth winding part has a third partial winding part wound concentrically with the sixth winding part and a fourth partial winding part protruding radially outward from the third partial winding part and wound about a center axis positioned between the third partial winding part and the fourth winding part, and wherein the first and second coil patterns overlap each other such that center axes of the first and fourth winding parts are misaligned and that center axes of the third and sixth winding parts are misaligned” as recited in claim 8.
Kataoka and Kato et al. are cited as teaching some of the elements of the claimed invention including an IC card with an antenna device, an IC module, a first coil pattern, first winding part, a second winding part, a third winding part, an open outer peripheral end, an open inner peripheral end, first partial winding part, and a second partial winding part.
However, the prior art, when taken alone, or, in combination, cannot be construed as reasonably teaching or suggesting all of the elements of the claimed invention as arranged, disposed, or provided in the manner as claimed by the Applicant.
Claims 9-11 inherit the patentable claimed features of claim 8 and would also 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
CN 103414005 A (LUO, Xiang-dong) discloses a coil antenna structure comprising a coil with three winding parts that are all connected to each other.
JP 2015222854 A (KOSUGI MASANORI) disclose a coil antenna structure comprising a coil with multiple winding parts connected to each other with said portions comprising a different number of turns.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GURBIR SINGH whose telephone number is (703)756-4637. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. 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 http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dameon E 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAMEON E LEVI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/GURBIR SINGH/Examiner, Art Unit 2845