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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 1/02/2025, 5/22/2025, 7/17/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nanjing Leiying Electronic Tech (CN 112117534) – of record, hereinafter Nanjing.
Regarding claim 1 Nanjing discloses a magneto-electric dipole antenna adapted to output an electromagnetic wave, and comprising: a substrate module (e.g., Fig. 1, at substrates 1-3) having an upper surface and a lower surface; a director (e.g., Fig. 2, at 200) disposed on said upper surface of said substrate module; a reflector (e.g., Fig. 2, at 102) disposed on said lower surface of said substrate module; and a feeding module (e.g., Fig. 2, at see the fork shaped feeding lines) disposed in said substrate module between said director and said reflector; wherein, when a to-be-outputted signal is fed to said feeding module, a forward radiation that transmits in a forward direction pointing from bottom to top is generated, a backward radiation that transmits in a backward direction reverse to the forward direction is generated and is reflected by said reflector, and the forward radiation and the backward radiation thus reflected are directed by said director so as to generate the electromagnetic wave (as shown in Fig. 1).
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Regarding claim 2 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a ground layer (e.g., Fig. 1, at 1) disposed in said substrate module between said director and said reflector, and provided with a slot (Fig. 1, at the ground layer slot).
Regarding claim 3 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 2, wherein: the slot includes a first slot portion (e.g., Fig. 1, at 1 the first slot) and a second slot portion (e.g., Fig. 1, at 2 the second slot) that are in spatial communication with each other; the first slot portion extends along a first direction; the second slot portion extends along a second direction (e.g., Fig. 1, at 1 and 2 - the first slot and the second slot); a center of the first slot portion and a center of the second slot portion are aligned in a line that passes a center of said upper surface of said substrate module and a center of said lower surface of said substrate module (e.g., Fig. 1, at 1 and 2 - the first slot and the second slot).
Regarding claim 4 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 2, wherein: said feeding module includes a first feed-in line and a second feed-in line; said first feed-in line is disposed between said ground layer and said reflector; and said second feed-in line is disposed between said director and said ground layer (e.g., Fig. 1, at 1-3 - the first slot and the second slot; Fig. 1 ,at 2 the first feed line, Fig. 1, at 3 the second feed line).
Examiner note: if claim 4 were amended to depend on claim 3 this amendment would overcome all prior art of record.
Regarding claim 5 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 4, wherein: said first feed-in line includes two first line segments, a second line segment and a third line segment; said first line segments extend along a first direction, and are arranged side by side along a second direction (as shown in Fig. 1); said second line segment extends along the second direction, and has two end terminals that are respectively connected to two respective end terminals of said first line segments (as shown in Fig. 1); and said third line segment extends along the first direction, is arranged opposite to said first line segments with respect to said second line segment, and is connected to an intermediate terminal of said second line segment (as shown in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 5, wherein: said second feed-in line includes two fourth line segments, a fifth line segment and a sixth line segment; said fourth line segments extend along the second direction, and are arranged side by side along the first direction (as shown in Fig. 1); said fifth line segment extends along the first direction, and has two end terminals that are respectively connected to two respective end terminals of said fourth line segments; and said sixth line segment extends along the second direction, is arranged opposite to said fourth line segments with respect to said fifth line segment, and is connected to an intermediate terminal of said fifth line segment (as shown in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 7 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein: said director includes four director portions that are arranged around a center of said upper surface of said substrate module and that are spaced apart from each other (as shown in Fig. 1); two of said director portions lie in a first line that passes the center of said upper surface of said substrate module; and another two of said director portions lie in a second line that passes the center of said upper surface of said substrate module (as shown in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 7, further comprising: a ground layer disposed in said substrate module between said director and said reflector (as shown in Fig. 1); and four conductive vias, each of which penetrates said substrate module along the backward direction, and is connected to a respective one of said director portions and to said ground layer (as shown in Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 9 Nanjing further discloses the magneto-electric dipole antenna as claimed in claim 8, wherein: each of said director portions serves as an electric dipole (as shown in Fig. 1); and each of said conductive vias serves as a magnetic dipole (as shown in Fig. 1).
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nanjing in view of Malhat et al., “Dual/circular polarization beam shaping of time modulated plasma-based magneto-electric dipole antenna arrays”, hereinafter Malhat.
Regarding claim 10 Nanjing does not discloses all of an antenna array comprising: a first antenna, a second antenna, a third antenna and a fourth antenna, each of which is a magneto-electric dipole antenna according to claim 1; wherein said second antenna is aligned with said first antenna in a first direction, and is offset from said first antenna in a counterclockwise orientation by 90 degrees; wherein said third antenna is aligned with said second antenna in a second direction, and is offset from said second antenna in a counterclockwise orientation by 90 degrees; and wherein said fourth antenna is aligned with said third antenna in the first direction, and is offset from said third antenna in a counterclockwise orientation by 90 degrees.
Malhat discloses a first antenna, a second antenna, a third antenna and a fourth antenna, each of which is a magneto-electric dipole antenna according to claim 1 (see claim 1); wherein said second antenna is aligned with said first antenna in a first direction, and is offset from said first antenna in a counterclockwise orientation by 90 degrees (e.g., Fig. 15(a) at ME dipole array); wherein said third antenna is aligned with said second antenna in a second direction (e.g., Fig. 15(a) at ME dipole array), and is offset from said second antenna in a counterclockwise orientation by 90 degrees (e.g., Fig. 15(a) at ME dipole array); and wherein said fourth antenna is aligned with said third antenna in the first direction, and is offset from said third antenna in a counterclockwise orientation by 90 degrees (e.g., Fig. 15(a) at ME dipole array).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the magneto-electric dipole antenna disclosed by Nanjing in accordance with the teaching of Malhat regarding arranging a magneto-electric dipole antenna into an array in order to increase the antenna gain or to implement circular polarization (e.g., Malhat, page 11 section 6)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The International Search Reports contain additional references and analysis considered highly relevant to the current application. The European Search Report for Application EP 24216585 contains additional prior art that anticipates claim 1-10.
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 DAVID E LOTTER whose telephone number is (571)270-7422. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm.
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DAVID E. LOTTER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2845
/DAVID E LOTTER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845