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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action is in responses to the amendment filed on 07/16/26.
In this office action, withdrawn claim 3 is rejointed because independent claim 1 is allowable.
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.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stevens (US 2006/0087326).
For claim 1, Figure 1 of Stevens teaches a signal processing circuit comprising: a first element (R1) and a second element (R2) connected in series to each other between a first DC power supply (1a S1) and ground (1c S2), with respective resistance values thereof varying in response to a change in a physical amount of an observation target; an operational amplifier (IC1) having an inverting input terminal (- terminal) connected to a midpoint (1b) between the first element (R1) and the second element (R2), a non-inverting input terminal (+ terminal) connected to a second DC power supply (1e), and an output terminal (Vout); and a feedback resistor (Rf) connected between the output terminal (Vout) and the inverting input terminal (- terminal), wherein the inverting input terminal (- terminal) is directly connected to the midpoint (1b) between the first element (R1) and the second element (R2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-5 and 9-20 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1, as amended, is allowed because applicant’ arguments are found persuasive that the closet prior art (Bicking, US 2003/0117208), taken alone or in combination, fails to teach or suggest a signal processing circuit including the limitation “wherein a minimum value of an input resistance value to the inverting input terminal determined by the respective resistance values of the first element and the second element is greater than a resistance value of the feedback resistor” in combine with other limitations in the claim as a whole. Note that, another closet prior art, Stevens (US 2006/0087326), taken alone or in combination, also fails to teach or suggest a signal processing circuit including the limitation “wherein a minimum value of an input resistance value to the inverting input terminal determined by the respective resistance values of the first element and the second element is greater than a resistance value of the feedback resistor” in combine with other limitations in the claim as a whole.
Claims 3-5 and 9-20 are allowed because they depend on claim 1.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directly to Examiner Long Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 272-1753. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Regis Betsch, can be reached at (571) 270-7101. The fax number for this group is (571) 273-8300.
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/Long Nguyen/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2836
Prosecution Insights