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 . 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 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.
This office action is in response to the application filed on 12/05/2024.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claims
Claims 1-16 are objected. The option “View Text Document in Different Locations” on DAV is not displaying claim tree. Appropriate correction is required for the claim format.
Claims 1-16 are pending and have been examined.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 12/05/2024 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a), because figures 1(a) and 1(b) should be designated by a legend such as “Prior Art” because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as amended. If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered, and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. If all the figures on a drawing sheet are canceled, a replacement sheet is not required. A marked-up copy of the drawing sheet (labeled as “Annotated Sheet”) including an annotation showing that all the figures on that drawing sheet have been canceled must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change to the drawings. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either "Replacement Sheet" or "New Sheet" pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d) . If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 01/07/2025 and 08/21/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 C.F.R. § 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS have been 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ye et al. (US 2022/0014109 A1).
In re to claim 1, Ye et al. disclose a converter (i.e. 10, fig. 2, see para. [0104]), comprising: an input terminal (i.e. Vin terminal), a first inverter circuit (i.e. 12), a first transformer (i.e. Tr1), a first rectifier circuit (i.e. 11), and an output terminal (i.e. output terminal at Co), wherein the first transformer comprises a first primary-side winding and a first secondary-side winding (i.e. Tr1 and Tr2); the input terminal is connected to a first terminal of the first inverter circuit (i.e. to the drain terminal of S2), a second terminal of the first inverter circuit is connected to the first primary-side winding (i.e. the source of S1 connected to the drain of SR1), and the first rectifier circuit is connected between the first secondary-side winding (i.e. m1) and the output terminal (i.e. output terminal at Co); and a third terminal (i.e. the terminal connected to the source of S1) of the first inverter circuit (i.e. 12) is connected to the output terminal (i.e. output terminal at Co) or to the first secondary-side winding.
In re to claim 2, Ye et al. disclose the converter (i.e. 10, fig. 2, see para. [0104]) according to claim 1, wherein the second terminal (i.e. Drain terminal of S1) of the first inverter circuit (i.e. 12) is connected to a first terminal of the first primary-side winding (i.e. Tr1), a second terminal of the first primary-side winding (i.e. Tr1) is connected to a first terminal of the first secondary-side winding (i.e. 1st terminal of Tr2) and to the first rectifier circuit (i.e. 11), and a second terminal of the first secondary-side winding (i.e. second terminal of Tr2) is connected to the first rectifier circuit (i.e. 12, see fig. 2).
In re to claims 3-4, Ye et al. disclose the converter (i.e. 10, fig. 2, see para. [0104]) according to claim 2, wherein the first terminal of the first primary-side winding (i.e. Tr1) and the first terminal of the first secondary-side winding (i.e. Tr2) are mutually dotted terminals (i.e. the dotted terminals of Tr1 and Tr2, see fig. 2) and the second terminal of the first primary-side winding (i.e. Tr1) and the second terminal of the first secondary-side winding (i.e. Tr2) are mutually dotted terminals (i.e. see fig. 2 for the dotted terminal); wherein the third terminal (i.e. the source of S2) of the first inverter circuit (i.e. 12) is connected to the second terminal of the first secondary-side winding (i.e. first terminal of Tr2, see fig. 2).
In re to claim 15, Ye et al. disclose the converter (i.e. 10, fig. 2, see para. [0104]) according to claim 1, wherein a quantity of turns of the first primary-side winding is greater than or equal to 0 (i.e. a quantity of turns of the first primary-side winding is greater than 0, see para. [0112]).
In re to claim 16, Ye et al. disclose an electronic device (i.e. 10, fig. 2, see para. [0104]), comprising a converter (i.e. 10, fig. 2, see para. [0104]), comprising: an input terminal (i.e. Vin terminal), a first inverter circuit (i.e. 12), a first transformer (i.e. Tr1), a first rectifier circuit (i.e. 11), and an output terminal (i.e. output terminal at Co), wherein the first transformer comprises a first primary-side winding and a first secondary-side winding (i.e. Tr1 and Tr2); the input terminal is connected to a first terminal of the first inverter circuit (i.e. to the drain terminal of S2), a second terminal of the first inverter circuit is connected to the first primary-side winding (i.e. the source of S1 connected to the drain of SR1), and the first rectifier circuit is connected between the first secondary-side winding (i.e. m1) and the output terminal (i.e. output terminal at Co); and a third terminal (i.e. the terminal connected to the source of S1) of the first inverter circuit (i.e. 12) is connected to the output terminal (i.e. output terminal at Co) or a third terminal of the first inverter circuit is connected to the first secondary-side winding.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In re to claim 5, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “a first terminal of the first secondary-side sub-winding is the first terminal of the first secondary-side winding, a second terminal of the first secondary-side sub-winding is connected to a first terminal of the second secondary-side sub-winding and to the output terminal, and a second terminal of the second secondary-side sub-winding is the second terminal of the first secondary-side winding”.
In re to claim 7, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “a first terminal of the second primary-side winding is connected to a second terminal of the second secondary-side winding; the input terminal is connected to a first terminal of the second inverter circuit, and a second terminal of the second inverter circuit is connected to a second terminal of the second primary-side winding; and a third terminal of the second inverter circuit is connected to the output terminal”.
In re to claim 9, None of the cited prior art alone or in combination disclose or teach the claimed inventions in which “wherein the converter further comprises a second inverter circuit and a second transformer, the second transformer comprises a second primary-side winding, and a first terminal of the second primary-side winding is connected to the second terminal of the first secondary-side winding; and a second terminal of the second inverter circuit is connected to a second terminal of the second primary-side winding; and a third terminal of the second inverter circuit is connected to the output terminal”.
The art of record does not disclose the above limitations, nor would it be obvious to modify the art of record to include either of the above limitations.
In re to claim 6, claim 6 depend on claim 5, thus is also objected for the same reasons provided above.
In re to claims 8 and 11-14, claims 8 and 11-14 depend on claim 7 and thus are also objected for the same reasons provided above.
In re to claim 10, claim 10 depend on claim 9, thus is also objected for the same reasons provided above.
Remarks
The examiner has cited columns, line numbers, paragraph numbers, references, or
figures in the references applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses to fully consider the reference in entirety, as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2141.02 and § 2123.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEMANE MEHARI whose telephone number is (571)270-7603. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM TO 6 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thienvu V. Tran can be reached at 5712701276. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YEMANE MEHARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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