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 § 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.
Claims 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farjad-rad (US 2013/0315290 and Farjad hereinafter) in view of Vayrynen (US 2002/0141598).
Regarding claim 1, Farjad discloses a signal processing device [fig. 1] comprising: a receiver [110 except 145] that receives a signal [115]; a transmitter [120] that transmits the signal received by the receiver; and a controller [145], wherein the receiver includes an equalizer circuit [125] that compensates attenuation of the signal received, and the controller: detects a threshold voltage [Vth] of a transistor [transistor in 125, fig. 5] included in the signal processing device; when the threshold voltage detected is lower than or equal to a predetermined voltage value [predetermine Vth], sets a current of the equalizer circuit to be lower than or equal to a predetermined current value [reduce voltage Vth(step 325)]; and when the threshold voltage detected is higher than the predetermined voltage value [see step 320], sets the current of the equalizer circuit to be higher than the predetermined current value [step 330]. Farjad does not explicitly disclose the transmitter includes a noise cancelling circuit that reduces noise included in a processed signal generated in the receiver, deactivates the noise cancelling circuit and activates the noise cancelling circuit.
However, Vayrynen discloses [see fig. 1] a transmitter [6 including elements 1-5, fig. 1] includes a noise cancelling circuit [3] that reduces noise included in a processed signal generated in the receiver, deactivates the noise cancelling circuit and activates the noise cancelling circuit [par. 16-23]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Farjad by incorporating a noise cancelling circuit as thought in Vayrynen in order to activate and deactivate automatic noise cancellation when it is required.
Regarding claim 8, Farjad discloses a method of controlling a signal processing device [fig. 1] that includes: a receiver [110 except 145] that receives a signal [115]; and a transmitter [120] that transmits the signal received by the receiver, the receiver including an equalizer circuit [125] that compensates attenuation of the signal received, the method comprising: determining whether a threshold voltage [Vth] of a transistor [transistor in 125, fig. 5] included in the signal processing device is lower than or equal to a predetermined voltage value [predetermine Vth]; when the threshold voltage of the transistor included in the signal processing device is determined to be lower than or equal to a predetermined voltage value, setting a current of the equalizer circuit to be lower than or equal to a predetermined current value [reduce voltage Vth(step 325)]; and when the threshold voltage of the transistor included in the signal processing device is determined to be higher than the predetermined voltage value [see step 320], setting the current of the equalizer circuit to be higher than the predetermined current value [step 330]. Farjad does not explicitly disclose the transmitter includes a noise cancelling circuit that reduces noise included in a processed signal generated in the receiver, deactivates the noise cancelling circuit and activates the noise cancelling circuit.
However, Vayrynen discloses [see fig. 1] a transmitter [6 including elements 1-5, fig. 1] includes a noise cancelling circuit [3] that reduces noise included in a processed signal generated in the receiver, deactivates the noise cancelling circuit and activates the noise cancelling circuit [par. 16-23]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Farjad by incorporating a noise cancelling circuit as thought in Vayrynen in order to activate and deactivate automatic noise cancellation when it is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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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/METASEBIA T RETEBO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2842