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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraph [0001, line 1, the issued patent information for application 18/081,922 should be provided. In paragraph [00135], line 6, “314 in FIG. 10” should be changed to “334 in FIG. 10”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 8, “the node voltages” should be changed to “the plurality of node voltages”.
Claims 2-9 are objected to because they depend on claim 1.
Also, claim 2, line 11, “have” should be changed to “has”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-9 are 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.
For claim 1, the recitation “output control modules” appears to be indefinite because it is not clear why the recitation recites “modules” while the drawing in Figure 5 shows “output control module” (300), and the claim later recites “output control module” (see line 2, claim 2), so it is not clear if application means “output control modules” or “output control module”. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-9 are indefinite because they depend on claim 1.
Also, in claim 2, the recitation “output control module” on line 2 lacks clear antecedent basis since claim 1 recited “output control modules” (not module), so it is not clear if applicant means “output control modules” or “output control module”. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claims 3-5 are indefinite because they depend on claim 2.
Also, in claim 3, the recitations “an inverted voltage of the first input voltage” (lines 7-8) and “an inverted voltage of the second input voltage” (lines 7-8) are unclear antecedent basis and should be changed to “the inverted voltage of the first input voltage” and “the inverted voltage of the second input voltage” respectively (see claim 1, lines 3-4). Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claims 4-5 are indefinite because they depend on claim 3.
Also, in claim 4, the recitation “the first node” lacks clear antecedent basis and it should be changed to “the first nodes”. Further, the recitation “the second nodes” (line 6) lacks clear antecedent basis and it is not clear where it comes from. Note that claim 2 only recited “first nodes” but never recited “second nodes”. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is also indefinite because it depends on claim 4.
Also, in claim 6, the recitation “the second nodes” (line 7) lacks clear antecedent basis and it is not clear where it comes from. Note that claim 2 only recited “first nodes” but never recited “second nodes”. Clarification and/or appropriate correction is required.
Claim 7 is also indefinite because it depends on claim 6.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 is allowed because the best prior art of records: (Lin et al, USP 11,695,416 in Figure 2) and Hong et al. (USP 9,825,634 in Figure 1) each teaches a level shifter but does not teach the limitations “a control voltage generation module, configured to receive the first control signal and generate a plurality of node voltages according to the first control signal and a second power supply voltage signal; and output control module, configured to generate a fifth output signal, a sixth output signal, a seventh output signal, and an eighth output signal according to the second power supply voltage signal and the node voltages; wherein four different logic states of the first input voltage and the second input voltage respectively indicate that the fifth output signal, the sixth output signal, the seventh output signal, and the eighth output signal are in low level, and in each logic state, only one output signal is in low level and the other three output signals are in high level” in combination with other limitations as recited in the claim.
Claims 2-9 are allowed because they depend on claim 1.
Conclusion
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