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 application has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible typographical and grammatical errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which he/she may become aware in the application.
The Information Disclosure Statements filed 12/09/2024 has been considered.
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.
Claims 1-20 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.
Claim 1 recites on line 3 the limitation “a first adder configured to generate a differential analog signal”. It is unclear how an adder generates a differential signal. Clarification and/or correction are required.
Claim 9 recites on lines 3-4 the limitation “generating a differential analog signal based on a difference between a first analog signal and a second analog signal. It is unclear how the difference between two analog signals generates a differential signal. Clarification and/or correction are required.
Claim 14 recites on line 3 the limitation “a first adder configured to generate a differential analog signal”. It is unclear how an adder generates a differential signal. Clarification and/or correction are required.
Claims 2-8, 10-13 and 15-20 are also rejected due to their dependency on respective independent claims 1, 9 and 14 hereby rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Drawing Objections
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “differential analog signal” generated by the adder and recited in claims 1 and 14 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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. 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.
The drawings are not of sufficient quality to permit examination because they do not show the “differential analog signal” recited in independent claims 1, 9 and 14. Accordingly, replacement drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to this Office action. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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.
Applicant is given a shortened statutory period of TWO (2) MONTHS to submit new drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.81. Extensions of time may be obtained under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a) but in no case can any extension carry the date for reply to this letter beyond the maximum period of SIX MONTHS set by statute (35 U.S.C. 133). Failure to timely submit replacement drawing sheets will result in ABANDONMENT of the application.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wu et al (US 2024/0213999) teaches a converter for converting an input signal into an output signal, the converter comprising: a first adder configured to generate an analog signal, the analog signal corresponding to a difference between a first analog signal and a second analog signal, the first analog signal corresponding to the input signal; a first analog-to-digital converter configured to convert the analog signal to a first digital signal; a second analog-to-digital converter configured to convert a first quantization error to a second digital signal, the first quantization error corresponding to a difference between the analog signal and the first digital signal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH J LAUTURE whose telephone number is (571)272-1805. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 AM-6:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dameon Levi can be reached at 5712722105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH J LAUTURE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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