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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-11 in the reply filed on 9/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group 2 and group 3, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/14/2026.
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 2are 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. The limitations “especially” make it unclear if the condition is required by the claim or is not required because the word means particularly, mainly, markedly, notably, very much or the like. Dependent claims are rejected for failing to remedy the same issue.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Haque (US 2021/0293952 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Haque discloses a method for driving an ultrasound transducer array with beamforming capabilities with the aid of multiple channels, the method comprising the steps of [[abstract] ultrasonic transducer systems comprising: an ultrasonic imager comprising a plurality of pMUT transducer elements; [0006] transmit channel are delayed electronically relative to delay applied to other transmit channels driving]:
generating a respective voltage wave signal with intermediate voltage steps and a certain duration A of the intermediate voltage steps for each of the multiple channels by correspondingly connecting the corresponding elements in the ultrasound transducer array to a supply voltage or ground [[fig. 39a] shows a multilevel voltage pulses with 0V, 6V, and 12V levels; [0215] transmit driver 3018 may be a multistage drive and may generate an output with two or more levels of a signaling. The signaling can be unipolar or bipolar; [0006] in some embodiments, a delay of pulse onset is electrically programmable. In some embodiments, one or more of pulses in the pulse sequence are electrically programmable. In some embodiments, a shape of the multilevel pulse is sinusoidal, digital square, or arbitrary; [0024] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of a line transducer that shows multiple ground and biasing electrodes to enable differential poling directions per pMUT element; [0099] drive voltage reduces from 100V to 10V; [0118] first conductor during poling can be tied to ground potential, while the second conductor is tied to a negative potential, say −15V for a 1 μm thick PZT film, and the third electrode is tied at +15V],
defining corresponding relative time delays among the multiple channels to be linear [[0006] control circuit is configured to electrically control relative delays to be piecewise linearly increasing or decreasing in a column, and wherein a number of piecewise linear delay segments is an integer that is no less than 2. In some embodiments, the control circuit is implemented on an ASIC. In some embodiments, the control circuit is configured to electrically control relative delays along a column to be a summation of a linear delay and an arbitrary, fine delay. In some embodiments, the linear delay and arbitrary fine delays of the column are independent from other linear delay and arbitrary fine delays of other columns of the ultrasonic transducer, thereby allowing for arbitrary steering and focusing in three dimensions], and
defining phases with respect to the multiple channels such that a certain condition correlates the number of elements in the ultrasound transducer array with the number of generated phases [[fig. 18a] shows beamforming examples with four elements along with four different phases; [0238] arrays may include multiple line units, where each line unit includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements that are electrically coupled to each other. In embodiments, the line units may be driven with multiple pulses that have phase differences (or equivalently delays). By adjusting the phases, the resultant pressure waves may be steered at an angle, which is referred to as beamforming].
Regarding claim 2, Haque discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein, especially in the context of the certain condition, the number of elements in the ultrasound transducer array is equal to an integer multiple k of the number of generated phases [[fig. 18a] shows beamforming examples with four elements along with four different phases].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haque (US 2021/0293952 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Endo (US 2015/0027228 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Haque does not explicitly teach and yet Endo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of: defining a time delay between the multiple channels to be an odd integer multiple or an even integer multiple of a minimum time delay between the multiple channels, especially the minimum time delay between the multiple channels [[0009] first scanning period, the first integrated circuit apparatus may transmit odd-numbered pulse signals, among 1st to kth pulse signals (where k is a natural number of 2 or more) to channel terminals belonging to the first channel terminal group, among 1st to kth channel terminals, and the second integrated circuit apparatus may transmit even-numbered pulse signals, among the 1st to kth pulse signals, to channel terminals belonging to the second channel terminal group; [0115] a delay is provided in the pulse signals P1 to P8 by transmission focusing control.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success, to combine the multilevel pulsing as taught by Haque, with the odd or even pulsing as taught by Endo so that sector scanning (phase scanning) may be performed (Endo) [[0120]].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7339. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 9am-5pm.
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/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/ Examiner, Art Unit 3645
