CTNF 19/057,047 CTNF 100833 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 9/12/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and being considered by the examiner. Drawings 06-36-01 Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 15A, 15B should be designated by a legend such as “Prior Art” because only that which is old is illustrated. MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1, 13, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over H. Zhang, J. et al., Design of Dual-band Coupled-line Balun, 2011 Int’l Workshop on Antenna Technology (iWAT), pp. 332-335 (“Zhang”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0245520 A1, published 8/8/2019 (“Andersson”) . PNG media_image1.png 359 646 media_image1.png Greyscale Regarding claim 1 , Zhang discloses a multiband balun (Fig. 2a, annotated, dual-band Marchand balun, pp. 332-333), comprising: a first balanced line (annotated), one end of the first balanced line being grounded and an other end of the first balanced line being connected to a balanced terminal (Port 2), the balanced terminal being connected to a balanced circuit (p.332, balanced terminal of a balun is for connecting to a balanced circuit); a second balanced line (annotated), one end of the second balanced line being grounded and an other end of the second balanced line being connected to a balanced terminal (Port 3), the balanced terminal being connected to the balanced circuit; an unbalanced line (annotated), one end of the unbalanced line being connected to an unbalanced terminal (Port 1), the unbalanced terminal being connected to an unbalanced circuit (p.332, unbalanced terminal of a balun is for connecting to an unbalanced circuit); and a first switch (p. 332, “open- or short-termination” at Port 4), wherein the first switch switches a state of an unbalanced termination to one of an open state and a ground state (p. 332, “open- or short-termination” at Port 4), the unbalanced termination being one end of the unbalanced line opposite the one end connected to the unbalanced terminal. Zhang discloses a dual-band balun with a dual open- or short-termination at Port 4 but does not explicitly discloses a switch effecting the dual termination. However, Andersson, in the same field of endeavor, discloses a modified Marchand balun including a switch which switches the unbalanced termination to either an open state or a ground state (Fig. 9, switch 19 or 23, ¶¶72-101). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dual-band balun of Zhang by adding a switch disclosed in Andersson for the benefit of providing a compact, low loss, high isolation circuit, as taught by Andersson (¶98). One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to carry out this modification with a reasonable expectation of success because both Zhang and Andersson disclose structurally and operationally similar Marchand baluns, made of similar materials, and used in similar devices. It would also have been obvious to combine the elements as claimed because, as set forth above, all the claimed elements (Marchand baluns and semiconductor switches) were known in the prior art, could have been combined by known methods with no change in their respective functions, with the combination yielding nothing more than predictable results. MPEP 2143.I.A. Regarding claim 13 , Zhang in view of Andersson discloses wherein the first switch operates according to a control signal from a controller (Andersson, ¶113). Regarding claim 17, Zhang in view of Andersson discloses wherein the first switch is connected to the unbalanced termination (Andersson, Fig. 9, termination 17 or 26, ¶¶72-101) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 2 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Andersson , as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0308511 A1, published 10/20/2016 (“Boglione”) . Regarding claim 2 , Zhang in view of Andersson discloses all the limitations except wherein the unbalanced line has a first line length, and the first switch further switches a line length of the unbalanced line to one of the first line length and a second line length, the second line length being shorter than the first line length. However, Boglione, in the same field of endeavor, discloses a tunable Marchand balun using pass gate switches to connect or disconnect lengths of lines to tune the balun to different frequencies wherein the unbalanced line has a first line length, and the first switch further switches a line length of the unbalanced line to one of the first line length and a second line length, the second line length being shorter than the first line length (Fig. 2A, ¶¶26-31). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the dual-band balun of Zhang by adding additional stubs along with a switch disclosed in Boglione for the benefit of tuning the balun to different frequencies, as taught by Boglione (¶26, 28). One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to carry out this modification with a reasonable expectation of success because Zhang, Andersson and Boglione disclose structurally and operationally similar Marchand baluns, made of similar materials, and used in similar devices. Regarding claim 15 , Zhang in view of Andersson and Boglione discloses a second switch (Boglione, Fig. 2C, switch 202f-h), wherein the second switch switches so that a sum of line lengths of the first balanced line and the second balanced line corresponds to the line length of the unbalanced line (¶¶34-35) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-07 AIA 07-97 12-51-07 Claim s 19-20 are allowed. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art references of Zhang and Boglione do not disclose or render obvious the feature of “the adjustment line having a length less than or equal to a difference between the first line length and the second line length,” in combination with the remaining limitations of claims 19 and 20, respectively . 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 3-12, 14, 16, 18 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 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0119845 A1, published 5/17/2012 (“Lu”) discloses a balun including a tuning line as part of the unbalanced line, which may be connected to ground or left open (Figs. 1-2, ¶¶23, 69). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTOR COLE , telephone number (571) 272-4686. The examiner can be reached Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM ET. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. 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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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call (800) 786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or (571) 272-1000. /VICTOR COLE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2843 /ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 2 Art Unit: 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 3 Art Unit: 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 4 Art Unit: 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 5 Art Unit: 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 6 Art Unit: 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 7 Art Unit: 2843 Application/Control Number: 19/057,047 Page 8 Art Unit: 2843
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