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 the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 2 was added after filing of the original PCT international filing date (of 7/26/22) to recite in line 3, “a_m and a_n are integers of 1 or more (N-1) or less”. However, the specification does not define variables “a_m and a_n” in such a way. Paragraph [0019] of the specification only specifies that “a_n (n=0, …, N-1) is an integer other than 0.” There is no upper limit placed on “a_n” in that definition or anywhere else in the specification. While it is stated in paragraph [0023]: “m and n are each a set of integers of 1 or more and (N-1) or less”, this does not mean that “a_n” must be (N-1) or less. Accordingly, newly added claim 2 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) for including new matter.
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 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 2, line 2, recites “when m and n are integers of 1 or more (N-1) or less,” and line 3 recites “a_m and a_n are integers of 1 or more (N-1) or less”. However, in both phrases, it is unclear what limit is imposed by “more (N-1) or less.” Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0199263 in view of Gross et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2014/0354467.
Regarding claim 1, Kang discloses an antenna device comprising N (integer of 3 or more) antenna elements (see communication apparatus – Fig. 1) that receive a sound wave or a radio wave, and further discloses that when incidence angles differ in value, an antenna array may be designed to distinguish steering vectors from each other (¶¶ [0041]-[0042]). Kang does not expressly show antenna elements positioned in such a way so as to distinguish steering vectors from one another so they are not primarily dependent on each other.
Gross discloses an angle-resolving antenna array where antenna arrays are utilized such that distances between individual antenna elements are selected to eliminate the ambiguity associated with steering vector incidence angles (¶¶ [0008], [0028]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select the distance between antenna elements so incidence angles associated therewith are unique and thus distinguished from one another, as suggested by Gross, in the apparatus of Kang, to provide unambiguous angular resolution (see Gross, ¶¶ [0006]-[0008]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wang et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0125795 disclose an angle-of-arrival system where a non-uniform linear array with varying spacings between antennas may be used.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Lugo whose telephone number is 571-272-3043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah Wang can be reached at 571-272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
8/28/2026
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