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 § 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 1-4, 6-9, 11-13 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sik et al. (KR101379050B1).
Sik et al. disclose;
Regarding claim 1:
an antenna module (in Fig. 1) comprising: a slot antenna structure (10) including a feed point (29) and a first substrate (11), the feed point (29) being arranged at the first substrate (11); and a metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23; Page 2, Lines 1-2; Page 5, Lines 14-17) arranged at the first substrate (11), a position of the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) not overlapping with a position of the feed point (29); wherein: the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is coupled with the feed point (29; Page 7, Lines 18-20; Page 10, Lines 11-14); and the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is configured to disperse an electromagnetic wave of the feed point (29; Page 5, Lines 10-13).
Regarding claim 2:
the first substrate (11) has an integral structure or is formed by a plurality of structures (defined by 11, 13 and 17); and the first substrate (11) includes a slot (15), the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) includes a metamaterial unit (21 and 23) having a negative refraction feature (Page 5, Lines 15-18), and the metamaterial unit (21 and 23) is arranged at an edge of the slot (15).
Regarding claim 3:
at least a portion of a coupling path (along l) of the metamaterial unit (21 and 23) and the feed point (29) passes through the slot (15).
Regarding claim 4:
the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) includes a plurality of metamaterial units (21 and 23) arranged at the edge of the slot (15) at an interval (See Figs.); and/or one metamaterial unit (21 and 23) of the plurality of metamaterial units (21 and 23) includes at least one of an opening resonance unit (21) and a subwavelength structure (23).
Regarding claim 6:
the slot antenna structure (10) includes a sub-antenna (17) arranged at the edge of the slot (15) of the first substrate (11), the feed point (29) being arranged at the sub-antenna (17).
Regarding claim 7:
a plurality of metamaterial modules (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) are provided (See Fig.), and at least one metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is arranged at each side of two opposite sides of the feed point (29).
Regarding claim 8:
the slot (15) includes a first side (along the bottom sider) and a second side (along the top sider) opposite to each other, the feed point (29) is arranged on the first side (along the bottom sider), and the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is arranged on the second side (along the top side).
Regarding claim 9:
an electronic device (in Fig. 1) comprising an antenna module (10) including: a slot antenna structure (define by 10) including a feed point (29) and a first substrate (11), the feed point (29) being arranged at the first substrate (11); and a metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) arranged at the first substrate (11), a position of the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) not overlapping with a position of the feed point (29); wherein: the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is coupled with the feed point (29); and the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is configured to disperse an electromagnetic wave of the feed point (29; Page 3, Lines 11-17; Page 5, Lines 10-13).
Regarding claim 11:
the first substrate (11) has an integral structure or is formed by a plurality of structures (defined by 11, 13 and 17); and the first substrate (11) includes a slot (15), the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) includes a metamaterial unit (21 and 23) having a negative refraction feature (Page 5, Lines 15-18), and the metamaterial unit (21 and 23) is arranged at an edge of the slot (15).
Regarding claim 12:
at least a portion of a coupling path (along l) of the metamaterial unit (21 and 23) and the feed point (29) passes through the slot (15).
Regarding claim 13:
the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) includes a plurality of metamaterial units (21 and 23) arranged at the edge of the slot (15) at an interval (See Figs.); and/or one metamaterial unit (21 and 23) of the plurality of metamaterial units (21 and 23) includes at least one of an opening resonance unit (21) and a subwavelength structure (23).
Regarding claim 15:
the slot antenna structure (10) includes a sub-antenna (17) arranged at the edge of the slot (15) of the first substrate (11), the feed point (29) being arranged at the sub-antenna (17).
Regarding claim 16:
a plurality of metamaterial modules (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) are provided (See Fig.), and at least one metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is arranged at each side of two opposite sides of the feed point (29).
Regarding claim 17:
the slot (15) includes a first side (along the bottom sider) and a second side (along the top sider) opposite to each other, the feed point (29) is arranged on the first side (along the bottom sider), and the metamaterial module (defined by the arrangement of 21 and 23) is arranged on the second side (along the top side).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sik et al. (KR101379050B1) in view of Gregoire et al. (US Pat. 10103445).
Regarding claim 10:
Sik et al. are silent on that a first body and a second body, wherein: a slot of the slot antenna structure is formed between the first body and the second body; and/or the feed point is arranged at the first body of the electronic device, and the metamaterial module is arranged at the second body of the electronic device.
Gregoire et al. disclose a first body (101) and a second body (105), wherein: a slot (102) of the slot antenna structure (100) is formed between the first body (101) and the second body (105); and/or the feed point (106) is arranged at the first body (101) of the electronic device (in Figs. 1A-1C), and the metamaterial module (103) is arranged at the second body (105) of the electronic device (in Figs. 1A-1C).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a first body and a second body, wherein: a slot of the slot antenna structure is formed between the first body and the second body; and/or the feed point is arranged at the first body of the electronic device, and the metamaterial module is arranged at the second body of the electronic device for the benefit enabling efficient radiation over a significantly wide bandwidth (Col. 2, Lines 1-2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 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.
Conclusion
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/BAMIDELE A IMMANUEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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