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 1-2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Tucker (US Publication No. 20100182100).
Regarding claim 1, Tucker teaches a communication device (i.e., communication device 800a-b) (fig. 7) that transmits a high-frequency signal (i.e., high-frequency signal/high-tension signal from the three phase supply side at the line choke 401 to the load side at the load choke 402; fig. 4), comprising: at least one signal line (cable 700; fig. 7) that transmits the high-frequency signal and includes a first signal line (405a; fig. 7); at least one overvoltage protection component (430a-420a; fig. 7) that is connected to the first signal line and includes a first overvoltage protection component (varistor MOV S in block 420a; fig. 7); and at least one impedance component (capacitors and resistors in block 460a; fig. 7) that is connected in series with the first overvoltage protection component (implicit, as seen if fig. 7) between the first signal line and a ground (ground; fig. 7), wherein the at least one impedance component achieves both reduction of current wraparound (i.e., it maintains a low earth leakage current at all times; para. [0056]) via the ground due to a high-frequency component (470a; fig. 7) of an electrostatic noise (i.e., noise suppression filters with low ELC; para. [0010]) applied to the communication device and reduction of a current (i.e., with the purpose of shunting to earth the RF noise current; para. [0022]) flowing through the first overvoltage protection component due to a low-frequency component (410; fig. 7) of the electrostatic noise (i.e., EMI suppression filter for AC power lines; para. [0022]).
Regarding claim 2, Tucker teaches the communication device of claim 1; wherein the at least one signal line further includes: a second signal line (405b; fig. 7); and at least one overvoltage protection component (430b-420b; fig. 7) that is connected to the second signal line and includes a second overvoltage protection component (varistor MOV S in block 420b; fig. 7), and the high-frequency signal is transmitted by differential transmission (i.e., The high-pass filter 470 in this realization is a two-stage bridge-type filter with differential output 461; para. [0036]) by the first signal line and the second signal line (implicit, as seen fig. 7).
Regarding claim 5, Tucker teaches the communication device of claim 2; wherein the at least one impedance component includes a first resistor (i.e., resistors in block 460a; fig. 7) that is inserted between the first overvoltage protection component and the ground (implicit, as seen in fig. 7), and a second resistor (i.e., resistors in block 460b; fig. 7) that is inserted between the second overvoltage protection component and the ground (implicit, as seen in fig. 7) (e.g., FIG. 7 shows an example of realization of a two-stage filter using two identical modules 800a/800b according to one aspect of the invention. Each module is preferably realized on a PCB and comprises a transconductance amplifier 460a/460b, a high-pass filter 470a/470b, a SSR switch 420a/420b, an array of "X" capacitors 410a/410b and a discriminator 430a430/b; para. [0053]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, Tucker teaches the invention set forth above. However, Tucker does not particularly teach wherein the at least one impedance component includes a first resistor and a first inductor that are inserted in series between the first overvoltage protection component and the ground, and a second resistor and a second inductor that are inserted in series between the second overvoltage protection component and the ground.
Hence claim 3 will be deemed allowable if rewritten in an independent form.
Claims 4 and 6-20 are not elected.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUAAMAR Q AL-TAWEEL whose telephone number is (571)270-0339. The examiner can normally be reached 0730-1700.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thienvu V Tran can be reached at (571) 270- 1276. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MUAAMAR QAHTAN AL-TAWEEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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