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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. IL 309781, filed on December 27, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 – 2, 5 – 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kralj (US 11489262 B1).
As to claim 1, Kralj discloses a patch antenna, comprising:
a thermally conductive first patch, configured to transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal (Figs. 1 – 2 items 102, 214);
an RF feed associated with said first patch, configured to feed said RF signal to said first patch (Figs. 1 – 2 items 108 – 114, 204 – 210); and
a thermally conductive cavity, wherein said first patch is located within and mechanically connected to said cavity (Figs. 1 – 2 items 106, 208 and 212),
said cavity being configured to dissipate thermal energy from said first patch (col. 3 ll. 11 “heat dissipation”).
As to claim 2, Kralj discloses the patch antenna of claim 1, wherein said first patch and said cavity comprise separate physical components (Fig. 2).
As to claim 5, Kralj discloses the patch antenna of claim 1, wherein said first patch comprises an electrically conductive substance on top of a dielectric substrate (Fig. 2 item 222).
As to claim 6, Kralj disclose the patch antenna of claim 1, further comprising a second patch within said cavity, thermally coupled to said cavity, such that said cavity dissipates thermal energy from said second patch (Fig. 2 items 218 and 220. Claims 6 – 7 and 15 do not define the structure of the connecting element connecting the patches to the cavity.).
As to claim 7, Kralj discloses the patch antenna of claim 6, wherein said second patch consists of a metallic substance (Fig. 3 col. 4 ll. 10 – 14 “the patch antenna elements 308 are embedded in a cavity 318 formed in a conductive material 320, such as aluminum”).
As to claim 8, Kralj discloses the patch antenna of claim 6, wherein said second patch comprises an electrically conductive substance on top of a dielectric substrate (Fig. 2 item 222 and Fig. 3 wherein patch embedded in conductive material 320.).
As to claim 9, Kralj discloses the patch antenna of claim 6, wherein said second patch comprises a separate physical component from said cavity, said patch antenna further comprising a connecting element configured to mechanically connect said second patch to said cavity so as to create a thermal conduction path from said second patch to said cavity (col. 3 ll. 11 “heat dissipation”).
As to claim 12, Kralj discloses the patch antenna of claim 1, further comprising a radome covering said cavity (Fig. 3 item 322).
Claims 1, 3 – 4 and 10 - 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jacques (FR 2686193 A1) as provided for on the IDS.
As to claim 1, Jacques discloses a patch antenna, comprising:
a thermally conductive first patch, configured to transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal (Figs. 1 – 2 item 18);
an RF feed associated with said first patch, configured to feed said RF signal to said first patch (Figs. 1 – 2 items 24, 25); and
a thermally conductive cavity, wherein said first patch is located within and mechanically connected to said cavity (Figs. 1 – 2 item 7),
said cavity being configured to dissipate thermal energy from said first patch (see title. Evan air dissipates heat. Fig. 1 item 4 radiates).
As to claim 3, Jacques discloses the patch antenna of claim 1, wherein said first patch and said cavity comprise a single physical component (Fig. 2).
As to claim 4, Jacques discloses the patch antenna of claim 1, wherein said first patch consists of a metallic substance (Fig. 1 item 4).
As to claim 10, Jacques disclose the patch antenna of claim 1, wherein said cavity is filled with a dielectric material (Fig. 1 item 9).
As to claim 11, Jacques discloses the patch antenna of claim 1, wherein said cavity is electrically conductive and is configured to serve as a ground for at least one patch of said antenna (Fig. 1 item 9).
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.
Claims 13 – 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. as being obvious over Kralj in view of official notice.
As to claim 13, Kralj discloses a phased array antenna, comprising: an array of patch antennas (Fig. 2), each of said patch antennas respectively comprising:
a thermally conductive first patch, configured to transmit a radio frequency (RF) signal (Figs. 1 – 2 items 102, 214);
an RF feed associated with said first patch, configured to feed said RF signal to said first patch (Figs. 1 – 2 items 108 – 114, 204 – 210); and
a thermally conductive cavity, wherein said first patch is located within and mechanically connected to said cavity (Figs. 1 – 2 items 106, 208 and 212),
said cavity being configured to dissipate thermal energy from said first patch (col. 3 ll. 11 “heat dissipation”); and
The Examiner takes official notice of the following features: a plurality of transmit/receive (TR) modules associated with respective patch antennas, configured to adjust at least one of a respective phase and a respective amplitude of RF signals applied to said patch antennas in accordance with respective control signals, so as to steer a beam of said phased array antenna. These features appear separate from the other part of the invention dealing with the configuration of patches as it relates to a cavity and thermal dissipation. Beamforming is the electronic phase shifting version of steering an antenna beam considered an improvement over mechanical scanning. Beamforming is also a big part of 5G design and is considered relevant to cellular communication and other technical fields. As such, the Examiner takes official notice of beamforming to allow for improved signal-to-noise without need for mechanical steering and faster scanning thus one of ordinary skill would be motivated to apply beamforming given the demand for 5G, better tracking, better searching, better resource allocation and interference management all easily done be shaping/steering beams.
As to claim 14, Kralj in view of official notice teaches the phased array antenna according to claim 13, further comprising at least one controller configured to generate said control signals so as to obtain a specified scan angle (beamforming).
As to claim 15, Kralj in view of official notice teaches the phased array antenna according to claim 13, wherein at least one of said patches consists of a metallic substance (item 320 aluminum).
As to claim 16, Kralj in view of official notice teaches the phased array antenna according to claim 13, wherein at least one of said patches comprises an electrically conductive substance on top of a dielectric substrate (Fig. 2 item 222).
As to claim 17, Kralj in view of official notice teaches the phased array antenna according to claim 13, wherein at least one of said patches comprises a second patch within said respective cavity, thermally coupled to said respective cavity, such that said respective cavity dissipates thermal energy from said second patch (Fig. 2 item 220 and col. 3 ll. 11 “heat dissipation”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W JUSTICE whose telephone number is (571)270-7029. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 - 5:30 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Kelleher can be reached at 571-272-7753. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL W JUSTICE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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