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 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claims 3-4, 7, 10, 12, 17, and 19-20 depend upon rejected claims 1 and 18 and inherit the deficiency thereby.
Claim 1, Line 9, “an electromagnetic chip” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how the “electromagnetic chip” is related to the “the choke”, and the specification offers no further understanding or clarification to one of ordinary skill in the art, thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the length" in Line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 2, Lines 2-3; Claim 6, Line 3; Claim 9, Line 3, recite the limitation "the signal operating range". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim 5, Line 2, “a diameter of the round hollow waveguide” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how this recitation is related to the “a diameter of the round hollow waveguide” as previously defined in claim 1, from which this claim depends, thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the outer layer" in Line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11, Line 2, “a via” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how this recitation of “a via” is related to the “a metallized via” as previously defined in claim 8, from which this claim depends, thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the surface of the other of the surfaces" in Line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13, Line 6, “a ground layer of the choke” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how this recitation is related to the “a conductive ground layer included in the printed circuit board” as previously defined in claim 8, from which this claim depends, thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Claim 14, Line 2, “a waveguide polarizer” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how this recitation relates to the “a waveguide polarizer” as previously defined in claim 1, from which this claim depends, thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the round waveguide" in Line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15, Line 1; and Claim 16, Line 1, recite the limitation "the signal". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim 18, Line 2, “a round hollow waveguide” is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art as to how this recitation of “a round hollow waveguide” is related to the “a waveguide” as previously defined in line 1 of the same claim, thereby leaving the boundaries of the claim unclear.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Baekelandt (US 9653814).
As per Claims 18-20:
Baekelandt discloses in Figure 8:
A circular polarized antenna device (as per Claim 18, D1, as shown in annotated Image 1 below, corresponding to “the mode generator… integrated with a horn antenna”, [Col. 8, Lines 33-35], is inherently a circular polarized antenna device) comprising a waveguide (W1, as shown in annotated Image 1 below, corresponding to the “waveguide”, as shown in Figure 8) with a waveguide polarizer which is a section of a round hollow waveguide (P1, as shown in annotated Image 1 below, grooves compensating differential phase shift between polarized fundamental modes and suitable for circular polarization, [Col. 5, Lines 13-17], and the cores which define the grooves can be removed, [Col. 9, Lines 6-7], therefore, P1 is inherently the round hollow waveguide polarizer due to the polarization caused by the grooves and the removal of the corresponding cores), having a smaller diameter than said waveguide (antecedent waveguide sections further away from the feed horn antenna have a smaller diameter, [Col. 3, Lines 9-11], as is further evident by the structure within the definition of “D”, as shown in related Figure 7, therefore the waveguide polarizer has a smaller diameter than the waveguide) and two longitudinal diametrically opposite grooves (“grooves”, 1 and 5, as shown in related Figure 6, at 90° and −90°, [Col. 8, Lines 52-53]) in walls of the polarizer (P1, as is evident by Figure 8 and related Figure 7) and an emission device which is a horn antenna (as per Claim 19, A1, as shown in annotated Image 1 below, the grooved waveguide section integrated in the “horn antenna”, [Col. 9, Lines 11-13], the horn antenna inherently being the emissions device, as is known to one of ordinary skill in the art), the antenna device providing incidence of linear polarized waves on the polarizer at an angle of 45 degrees to the grooves of the polarizer (as per Claim 20, a mode generator for vertical linear polarization based on adding rectangular waveguide stubs at ±45°, [Col. 3, Lines 5-9]).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
The most pertinent prior art to independent claim 1 is Henderson (US 9276302), a reference as cited by the applicant, which teaches a transmitter, a receiver, a rotary joint, a choke in the air gap, a waveguide, and a hollow waveguide.
Another pertinent prior art to independent claim 1 is Tantawi (US 9419322), which teaches a transmitter, a receiver, a waveguide, and grooves.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABIGAIL YALDO whose telephone number is (703)756-1784. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7 AM - 4 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached at (571) 272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABIGAIL AMIR YALDO/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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