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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
This Office Action is a response to Applicant’s communication (or preliminary’s amendment) filed on 10/24/2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-17 are currently presented in the instant application.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). A certified copy of the priority documents received on 11/04/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 10/24/2024 in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is considered by the examiner.
If applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending application not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.97 to disclose the same.
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, 5-6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunn et al (US 5691736), hereinafter Hunn, in view of Harel (US 20230163483), hereinafter Harel.
Regarding claim 1,
Hunn discloses an integrated base station antenna (an antenna ANT, Fig 1), comprising:
a passive antenna (an antenna 18, Fig 1) that includes a front radome (a radome 11, Fig 1), a rear radome (a transverse bulkhead 32, Fig 1), mounted in between the front radome and the rear radome (Fig 1), and a dielectric layer (a forward portion 25 of a heat shield 21, Fig 1) that is mounted in between the antenna 18 and the front radome (Fig 1) and spaced apart from both the front radome and the antenna 18; wherein a dielectric constant of the dielectric layer is greater than the dielectric constant of air (a dielectric constant in the range of about 1.01 to about 2.5; col 4, lines 15-18).
Hunn does not teach the antenna 18 comprises a passive antenna including a first array of radiating elements, and comprises an active antenna including a second array of radiating elements mounted behind the passive antenna.
However, Harel teaches an antenna (an APA system 200, Fig 2A) comprises a passive antenna (a passive antenna module 201, Fig 2A) includes a first array of radiating elements (a first antenna array 204 of antenna elements 205, Fig 2a), and comprises an active antenna (active antenna module 211, Fig 2A) includes a second array of radiating elements (a second antenna array 213 of antenna elements 214, Fig 2A) mounted behind the passive antenna (Fig 2A).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use an antenna comprising a passive antenna including a first array of radiating elements, and comprising an active antenna including a second array of radiating elements mounted behind the passive antenna in Hunn, as taught by Harel, in order to provide a compact form factor for the antenna.
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Regarding claim 2,
Hunn in view of Harel discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 1.
Hunn does not explicitly teach the dielectric layer is a flat dielectric layer.
However, Hun teaches the forward portion 25 of the secondary heat shield 21 can be in any desired shape, e.g. planar, hemispherical, conical, hyperbolic, or any combination thereof (col 3, lines 38-40).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a dielectric layer being a flat dielectric layer in Hunn as modified, in order to improve the electromagnetic characteristics of the antenna system.
Regarding claim 5,
Hunn in view of Harel discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 1.
Harel teaches a second operating frequency band of the second array encompasses higher frequencies than a first operating frequency band of the first array (paragraph [0039]).
Regarding claim 6,
Hunn in view of Harel discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 1.
Harel teaches the passive antenna includes a reflector (a ground plane 207, Fig 2A) that has an opening (Fig 2A), and the second array of radiating elements is configured to emit electromagnetic waves through the opening (Fig 2A).
Regarding claim 9,
Hunn in view of Harel discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 1.
Harel teaches a portion (a portion P331R, Fig 3) of the rear radome (a rear radome R331, Fig 3) that is in front of the active antenna is flat (Fig 3).
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Allowable Subject Matter
I. Claims 3-4 and 7-8 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 3, prior art of record or most closely prior art fails to disclose, “a first distance between the dielectric layer and the rear radome is selected based on an operating frequency band of the second array of radiating elements”.
Dependent claim 4 is considered to be allowable because of its/their dependency/dependencies on claim 3.
Regarding claim 7, prior art of record or most closely prior art fails to disclose, “the passive antenna further includes a plurality of tuning elements that are mounted in a space between the rear radome and the dielectric layer, where the tuning elements are directly in front of the active antenna”.
Dependent claim 8 is considered to be allowable because of its/their dependency/dependencies on claim 7.
II. Claims 10-17 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance.
Regarding claim 10, prior art of record or most closely prior art fails to disclose, “wherein at least one of a first distance between the rear radome and the matching dielectric layer and a second distance between the matching dielectric layer and the front radome is pre-selected to reduce reflection by the passive antenna of electromagnetic waves emitted by the plurality of second radiating elements”. These features reflect the application’s invention and are not taught by the pertinent prior arts. There is no reason or suggestion in the prior art for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Hunn (US 5691736) and Harel (US 20230163483).
Dependent claims 11-17 are considered to be allowable because of its/their dependency/dependencies on claim 10.
Conclusion
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the entire reference aspotentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of thepassage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hai Tran whose telephone number is (571) 270-7650. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am-5:00 pm.
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.
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/HAI V TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845