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 .
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.
Claim 6 is 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.
Claim 6, Line 2, “a signal output terminal” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how this recitation relates to the previously defined “first drive output” and “second drive output” in claim 1, from which this claim depends (i.e. the same, or differing and newly defined limitations), thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chou (US 7319580).
As per Claims 1 and 5:
Chou discloses in Figure 9A:
A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) array (the 3 variable capacitors as shown in Figure 9A, corresponding to M1, M2, M3, as defined in Image 1 below) with a first MEMS device (M1) having a first electrostatic plate (left “metal”, 950, corresponding to E1, as defined in Image 1 below) and a first drive circuit (first driving path of the “voltage source controller”, 120, as shown in related Figure 1, corresponding to M1, by selectively supplying voltages to actuation electrodes, [Col. 2, Lines 40-43]) with a first drive output (corresponding to the output of variable capacitor M1 in the actuation electrode 230 corresponding to E2) coupled to a second electrostatic plate (left “actuation electrodes”, 230, corresponding to E2, as defined in Image 1 below) a first filter (“filter”, 150, as shown in related Figure 1) coupled to the first drive output and having a first frequency response producing a first resonant frequency in the second electrostatic plate (a desired frequency range wherein the varactor capacitances, within the varactor 200, comprising the actuation electrodes 230, are adjusted for another frequency range, [Col. 2, Lines 26-28]), a second MEMS device (M3) with a third electrostatic plate (right “metal”, 950, corresponding to E3, as defined in Image 1 below) and a second drive circuit (second driving path of the “voltage source controller”, 120, as shown in related Figure 1, corresponding to M3, as further shown in related Figure 9B, by selectively supplying voltages to actuation electrodes, [Col. 2, Lines 40-43]) with a second drive output (corresponding to the output of variable capacitor M3 in the actuation electrode 230 corresponding to E4) coupled to a fourth electrostatic plate (right “actuation electrodes”, 230, corresponding to E4, as defined in Image 1 below), and (as per Claim 5) the first electrostatic plate (E1) is pulled toward the second electrostatic plate (E2) by an electromagnetic force (950 is in the top beam electrode 215 which is bendable by voltages applied to actuation electrodes 230, [Col. 3, Lines 5-6] and collapses toward them, [Col. 4, Lines 54-56], corresponding to E2, therefore, as shown in related Fig 7, the beam 215 is pulled toward E2 and therefore the E1 would also be pulled toward E2).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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.
Claims 9-17 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABIGAIL YALDO whose telephone number is (703)756-1784. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7 AM - 4 PM.
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/ABIGAIL AMIR YALDO/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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