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 .
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 1-14 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 terms “high” and “low” in claims 1, 13, and 14 are relative terms which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “high” and “low” are not adequately defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The “low” as in “low sensitivity” is defined as lower than the “high sensitivity” but the “high” is not defined in the claims or the specification. The specification also differentiates between the high and the low with a threshold, but the threshold value is not defined. The specification also defines “high sensitivity” as the highest value “Gmax”, but Gmax is also not defined. As high and low are unclear, the range between the two values is also unclear, and therefore the scope of the claim is unclear. For example, the instant application could be claiming a sensitivity range of -90 dBm to -130 dBm or a range of -90 dBm to -180 dBm. As the independent claims 1, 13, and 14 are indefinite, the dependent claims which include the independent claims are also indefinite.
Conclusion
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/PETER DAVON DOZE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648