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.
Claim(s) 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MASUDA; Masanori et al. (US Publication #US 20200003846 A1; hereinafter Masuda; provided by the applicant) in view of TANABE; Kei (US Publication # US 20180321332 A1; hereinafter Tanabe; provided by the applicant).
Regarding claim 1, Masuda teaches
A magnetic sensor (fig.1 #10, #110 and par.57) comprising:
a sensor chip (implicitly taught for #110 in fig.24) having a magnetosensitive element (fig.1 #112-#118);
first compensation coils (fig.1 #132) and configured to generate a canceling magnetic field based on an output signal from the magnetosensitive element (par.70);
a first switch connected in series to the first compensation coil (fig.1 #170);
a control circuit configured to periodically turn on/off the first switch (fig.21 and par.117-120; “at Step 2120, the magnetic resetting unit 160 magnetically resets each magnetoresistive element provided in the sensor unit 110” par.118); and
Masuda fails to teach and second compensation coils; a detection circuit configured to detect a compensation current flowing through the second compensation coil.
Tanabe does teach second compensation coils (fig.2 shows 1st and 2nd compensation coils #40 and #50);
a detection circuit (fig.2 magnetic field detection unit #10) configured to detect a compensation current flowing through the second compensation coil (par.50-52).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Masuda to include the teachings of Tanabe; which would provide a magnetic field detecting method that can selectively detect a detection magnetic field without separately providing a sensor for detecting an environmental magnetic field as disclosed by Tanabe (par.18).
Regarding claim 2, Masuda in view of Tanabe teaches the magnetic sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein a distance between the second compensation coil and the magnetosensitive element is smaller than a distance between the first compensation coil and the magnetosensitive element (#40 in figs. 11 and 12).
Claim(s) 3-5 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MASUDA in view of TANABE further in view AKUSHICHI; Taiju et al. (US Publication # US 20220349960 A1; hereinafter Akushichi; provided by the applicant).
Regarding claim 3, Masuda in view of Tanabe teaches the magnetic sensor as claimed in claim 1, but fails to teach further comprising a first magnetic field collecting body collecting a magnetic field to the magnetosensitive element, wherein the first compensation coil is wound around the first magnetic field collecting body.
Akushichi does teach further comprising a first magnetic field collecting body (fig.12 and 13 disclose magnetic field collecting body 33) collecting a magnetic field to the magnetosensitive element (par.42 “The external magnetic members 31 to 33 collect magnetic flux in the sensor chip 20”), wherein the first compensation coil is wound around the first magnetic field collecting body (fig.12 and 13).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Masuda in view of Tanabe to include the teachings of Akushichi; which would a magnetic sensor that can properly cancel a magnetic field to be applied to the magnetosensitive element with the compensating coil and can prevent magnetic saturation of the external magnetic member as disclosed by Akushichi (par.17).
Regarding claim 4, Masuda in view of Tanabe further in view of Akushichi teaches the magnetic sensor as claimed in claim 3, Akushichi further teaches wherein the second compensation coil is integrated in the sensor chip (fig.12 and 13 shows compensation coils integrated into sensor 20).
Regarding claim 5, Masuda in view of Tanabe teaches the magnetic sensor as claimed in claim 2, but fails teach further comprising a second magnetic field collecting body collecting a magnetic field to the magnetosensitive element, wherein the sensor chip is disposed between the first and second magnetic field collecting bodies, and wherein the second compensation coil is wound around the second magnetic field collecting body.
Akushichi does teach further comprising a second magnetic field collecting body (fig.12, 13 or 15 show multiple magnetic field collecting bodies 31-33) collecting a magnetic field to the magnetosensitive element (par.41-42), wherein the sensor chip is disposed between the first and second magnetic field collecting bodies (fig.12, 13 or 15), and wherein the second compensation coil is wound around the second magnetic field collecting body (fig.12, 13 or 15).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Masuda in view of Tanabe to include the teachings of Akushichi; which would a magnetic sensor that can properly cancel a magnetic field to be applied to the magnetosensitive element with the compensating coil and can prevent magnetic saturation of the external magnetic member as disclosed by Akushichi (par.17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 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 6, the updated prior art does not teach or suggest, in combination with the rest of the limitation of claim 6,
“… a second switch connected in series to the second compensation coil, wherein the control circuit is configured to turn on the second switch while the first switch is turned off and turn off the second switch while the first switch is turned on.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 20230118663 A1; YAMAJI; Yuichiro et al. is a magnetic sensor.
US 20210116518 A1; GOKITA; Takeo is a magnetic sensor.
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/CARL F.R. TCHATCHOUANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/GIOVANNI ASTACIO-OQUENDO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 9/11/2026
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