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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202420998849.1, filed on 05/09/2024.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ross III et al. (US9761935; hereinafter Ross III) in view of Tamura et al. (US4987424; hereinafter Tamura), further in view of Zekios et al (US20210143551; hereinafter Zekios).
Regarding claim 1, Ross III discloses “An antenna packaging structure, comprising an antenna, the antenna comprising a flexible substrate (2206), an antenna element (2204) disposed on the flexible substrate, a feeder structure (2224) connected to the antenna element, and a coaxial cable connected to the feeder structure (col. 6 lines 36-37; The connector 2224 may be connected to a coaxial cable (e.g., a 75-ohm RG6 coaxial cable fitted with an F-Type Male connector, etc.)), wherein inside the packaging container, the flexible substrate is in a folded state (figs. 2-6); the antenna element is folded along with the flexible substrate and maintains electrical properties after being unfolded (figs. 2-6);”.
Ross III does not disclose “a packaging container and an antenna contained in the packaging container”, “with at least one folding line thereof avoiding the feeder structure, and an elastic space with a teardrop-shaped cross-section is formed between the flexible substrate on both sides of the at least one folding line in each folding”, or “the coaxial cable is disposed within the elastic space or between the flexible substrate and the packaging container”.
However, Tamura teaches “a packaging container and an antenna contained in the packaging container (col. 2 lines 28-33; Such an antenna apparatus can be adhered to a wall of a room, or incorporated in furniture or an electric appliance. In addition, such a thin and flexible antenna apparatus can be incorporated in, e.g., a poster, a calendar, or a tapestry. Moreover, the above antenna apparatus is formed to have a cylindrical shape or other three-dimensional shapes, thereby providing both a good design and predetermined characteristics of an antenna)”. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to disclose the coaxial within the packaging container as well since when combined with the antenna structure of Ross III, it would be obvious to disclose the entire antenna apparatus (including the coaxial cable) within the packaging.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Tamura and make Ross III’s antenna packaging structure comprising a packaging container and an antenna contained in the packaging container, in order to protect the antenna.
Ross III does not disclose “with at least one folding line thereof avoiding the feeder structure, and an elastic space with a teardrop-shaped cross-section is formed between the flexible substrate on both sides of the at least one folding line in each folding”.
However, Zekios teaches “with at least one folding line thereof avoiding the feeder structure, and an elastic space with a teardrop-shaped cross-section is formed between the flexible substrate on both sides of the at least one folding line in each folding (see fig. 1B showing the folding away from the feeder structure 185 and 2C showing it folded in a teardrop shape)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Zekios and make Ross III’s antenna packaging structure with at least one folding line thereof avoiding the feeder structure, and an elastic space with a teardrop-shaped cross-section is formed between the flexible substrate on both sides of the at least one folding line in each folding, in order to fit the antenna into the package without harming the connection structure.
Regarding claim 2, Ross III discloses the antenna packaging structure of claim 1 as shown previously.
Ross III does not disclose “wherein a dimension of a cavity of the packaging container matches a dimension of the flexible substrate after being folded”.
However, Tamura teaches “wherein a dimension of a cavity of the packaging container matches a dimension of the flexible substrate after being folded (fig. 28 and col. 2 lines 28-33; Such an antenna apparatus can be adhered to a wall of a room, or incorporated in furniture or an electric appliance. In addition, such a thin and flexible antenna apparatus can be incorporated in, e.g., a poster, a calendar, or a tapestry. Moreover, the above antenna apparatus is formed to have a cylindrical shape or other three-dimensional shapes, thereby providing both a good design and predetermined characteristics of an antenna)”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Tamura and make Ross III’s antenna packaging structure wherein a dimension of a cavity of the packaging container matches a dimension of the flexible substrate after being folded, in order to keep the antenna from moving within the packaging container.
Regarding claim 11, Ross III discloses “The antenna packaging structure according to claim 1, wherein the antenna element is a metallic conductive network layer (2204) printed on the flexible substrate (2206) (see fig. 2-6)”.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ross III, Tamura, and Zekios, further in view of Tsai et al (US20170033459; hereinafter Tsai).
Regarding claim 12, Ross III discloses the antenna packaging structure of claim 1 as shown previously.
Ross III does not disclose “wherein a linewidth of each line in the antenna element is 3 to 12 mm”.
However, Tsai teaches “wherein a linewidth of each line in the antenna element is 3 to 12 mm (¶[0021]; Each of the arms and segments 112, 113, 117, 118, 121 and 122 has a width (W) ranging from 5 mm to 15 mm)”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the teachings of Tsai and make Ross III’s antenna packaging structure wherein a linewidth of each line in the antenna element is 3 to 12 mm, in order to operate at the desired frequency/wavelength.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-10 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 3, patentability exists, at least in part, with the claimed features of “wherein the flexible substrate has a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to each other, the flexible substrate is folded at least two times in the first direction to form an elongated structure, and edges of two sides of the elongated structure parallel to the second direction are respectively close to edges of two sides of the feeder structure”.
Ross III, Tamura, and Zekias are all cited as teaching some elements of the claimed invention including the antenna package of claim 1.
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. For at least this reason claim 1 is allowed.
Regarding claim 7, patentability exists, at least in part, with the claimed features of “wherein the flexible substrate has a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to each other, the flexible substrate is folded at least one time in the first direction and then folded at least one time in the second direction to form a wallet-like structure”.
Ross III, Tamura, and Zekias are all cited as teaching some elements of the claimed invention including the antenna package of claim 1.
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. For at least this reason claim 1 is allowed.
Claims 4-6 and 8-10 allowed for their dependence.
Conclusion
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/AUSTIN M BACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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