DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election with traverse of group I, claims 1-17, filed on 3/23/26 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “the coupler circuit claimed in group II is embedded in the antenna claimed in claim 1. This is not found persuasive because a search of limitations recited in claim 1 will NOT result in an inherent search of the limitations of claim 18 as claim 1 requires an antenna arrangement comprising an antenna having spaced feed points and a signal input can be coupled to the first coupler input or to the second coupler input, wherein the first and second coupler output are each connected to one or more feed points of the antenna. Claim 18 claimed a coupler circuit with NO antenna arrangement as claimed in claim 1; therefore claim 18 would requires additional search in a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search strategies or search queries). Therefore, there is a serious search and/or examination burden. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the applicant’s use.
Arrangement of the Specification
As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading:
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT.
(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM.
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
(1) Field of the Invention.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S).
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet).
(m) SEQUENCE LISTING. (See MPEP § 2422.03 and 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825). A “Sequence Listing” is required on paper if the application discloses a nucleotide or amino acid sequence as defined in 37 CFR 1.821(a) and if the required “Sequence Listing” is not submitted as an electronic document either on read-only optical disc or as a text file via the patent electronic system.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
In claim 1, line 18, the language, “can be” is unclear.
In claim 1, line 20, the language, “can be” is unclear.
In claim 1, line 22, the language, “can be” is unclear.
In claim 3, line 2, the language, “can be” is unclear.
In claim 6, line 2, the language, “can be” is unclear.
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)(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 1-11 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the publication of Ferrero et al “A Novel…Patch antenna” [cited by applicant].
Ferrero et al in disclose an antenna arrangement for receiving and transmitting electromagnetic waves of different polarization (fig7, p1564) comprising: an antenna that has at least two feed points arranged spaced apart from one another (feed points of a patch antenna, fig7), wherein the antenna is configured to transmit a polarized electromagnetic wave (chapter III); a signal input (RF input, fig6) for a high-frequency input signal; a coupler circuit that is coupled to the signal input (fig2,7) and that comprises: a first coupler input connected to a first node (node of the coupler connected to port 1); a second coupler input connected to a second node (node of the coupler connected to port 4); a first coupler output connected to a third node (node of the coupler connected to the upper feed point of the patch); and a second coupler output connected to a fourth node (node of the coupler connected to the lower feed point of the patch), wherein the first and third node are electrically coupled to one another via a first line (upper meander shaped line from the coupler), wherein the second and fourth node are electrically coupled to one another via a third line (lower meander shaped line from the coupler), wherein the first and second node can be electrically coupled via a second line by means of a first switching apparatus (abstract, p1563, II. Tunable coupler, B. Design of the tunable QLQC), wherein the third and fourth node can be electrically coupled via a fourth line by means of a second switching apparatus (abstract, p1563, II. Tunable coupler, B. Design of the tunable QLQC), wherein the signal input can be coupled to the first coupler input or to the second coupler input (fig6), wherein the first and second coupler output are each connected to one or more feed points of the antenna (fig7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, but would be allowable if overcome the above rejection and 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. The patents to Schaubert, Alwan, Higaki, Hong and Tsao are cited as of interested and illustrated a similar structure to an antenna arrangement for receiving and transmitting electromagnetic waves of different polarization.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THO GIA PHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1826. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8-430).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dimary Lopez can be reached on (571) 270-7893. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/THO G PHAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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