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, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sakurai et al. (US 20210159623).
Sakurai et al. disclose;
Regarding claim 1:
(in Figs. 1-4) an antenna device (defined by 20 and 30), comprising: a substrate (30) having a first main surface (31), a second main surface (39) opposite the first main surface (31), and a side surface (35) connecting the first main surface (31) and the second main surface (39); an antenna pattern (32) formed on at least one of the first main surface (31) and the second main surface (39); and an antenna pad (36) extending from the antenna pattern (32) and formed on the side surface (35), the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) welded onto a printed circuit motherboard (10) at the antenna pad (36; Para. 0003, Lines 1-5; Para. 0024, Lines 5-7).
Regarding claim 2:
the antenna pad (36) includes a first pad portion (363 – defined by one among the plurality of 36) formed on the side surface (35), the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) is welded onto the printed circuit motherboard (10) at the first pad portion (363 – defined by one among the plurality of 36) in a vertical mounting mode (See Figs.) in which the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) is placed vertically relative to the printed circuit motherboard (10).
Regarding claim 10:
further comprising a fixing pad (defined by the single 36) formed on the side surface (35) and fixing the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) onto the printed circuit motherboard (10).
Regarding claim 11:
the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) is assembled onto the printed circuit motherboard (10) by a surface mounting technology (See Figs.; Para. 0003, Lines 1-5; Para. 0004, Lines 1-3).
Regarding claim 12:
an antenna device assembly (in Figs. 1-4), comprising: an antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) including a substrate (30) having a first main surface (31), a second main surface (39) opposite the first main surface (31), and a side surface (35) connecting the first main surface (31) and the second main surface (39), an antenna pattern (32) formed on at least one of the first main surface (31) and the second main surface (39), and an antenna pad (36) extending from the antenna pattern (32) and formed on the side surface (35), the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) is welded onto a printed circuit motherboard (10) at the antenna pad (36); and a bracket (20) attached to the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) and assembling the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) onto the printed circuit motherboard (3.) in a vertical mounting mode (See Figs.) in which the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) is placed vertically relative to the printed circuit motherboard (10).
Regarding claim 13:
the bracket (20) includes a positioning pin (26) engaging a positioning hole in the printed circuit motherboard (10) to position the bracket (20) and the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30) on the printed circuit motherboard (10).
Regarding claim 16:
the bracket (20) is detachably or integrally attached to the antenna device (defined by 20 and 30).
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
Claims 3-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai et al. (US 20210159623) in view of Johnson et al. (US 20020033772).
Regarding claim 3:
Sakurai et al. are silent on that the antenna pad includes a second pad portion formed on the first main surface or the second main surface, the antenna device is welded onto the printed circuit motherboard at the second pad portion in a horizontal mounting mode in which the antenna device is placed horizontally relative to the printed circuit motherboard.
Johnson et al. disclose (in Fig. 1) the antenna pad (38) includes a second pad portion (defined by a pair of 38 adjacent 34) formed on the first main surface () or the second main surface (along 32), the antenna device (defined by 26-30, 32, 34 and 52) is welded onto the printed circuit motherboard (14; Para. 0026, Lines 13-16) at the second pad portion (defined by a pair of 38 adjacent 34) in a horizontal mounting mode (See Fig. 1) in which the antenna device (defined by 26-30, 32, 34 and 52) is placed horizontally relative to the printed circuit motherboard (14).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the antenna pad includes a second pad portion formed on the first main surface or the second main surface, the antenna device is welded onto the printed circuit motherboard at the second pad portion in a horizontal mounting mode in which the antenna device is placed horizontally relative to the printed circuit motherboard as taught by Johnson et al. into the device of Sakurai et al. for the benefit of achieving a smaller form factor (Para. 0007, Lines 3-9).
Regarding claim 4:
Sakurai et al. disclose the first pad portion (363 – defined by one among the plurality of 36) extends from the antenna pattern (32).
Regarding claim 5:
Sakurai et al. disclose the second pad portion (363 – defined by one among the plurality of 36) extends the antenna pattern (32).
Regarding claim 6:
Sakurai et al. disclose a plurality of grooves (etched beside the 36 along 35 in 30) are provided in the substrate (30), the grooves (etched beside the 36 along 35 in 30) are disposed on a pair of opposite sides of the first pad portion (36; See Fig. 3).
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai et al. (US 20210159623) in view of Jin et al. (US 20240258696).
Regarding claims 7-9:
Sakurai et al. are silent on that the antenna pattern includes a signal pattern and a ground pattern separated from each other as required by claim 7; the antenna pad has a signal pad and a ground pad separated from each other as required by claim 8; and the signal pad extends from the signal pattern and the ground pad extends from the ground pattern as required claim 9.
Jin et al. disclose (in Fig. 4) the antenna pattern (20) includes a signal pattern (22) and a ground pattern (10) separated from each other (See Fig.); the antenna pad (23) has a signal pad (231) and a ground pad (232) separated from each other (See Fig.); the signal pad (231) extends from the signal pattern (defined by A) and the ground pad (232) extends from the ground pattern (10).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the antenna pattern includes a signal pattern and a ground pattern separated from each other, the antenna pad has a signal pad and a ground pad separated from each other and the signal pad extends from the signal pattern and the ground pad extends from the ground pattern as taught by Jin et al. into the Sakurai et al. for the antenna to realize 360o vertical polarization coverage of a radiation field and to improve a roundness of a horizontal radiation pattern of the radiation field, thereby improving the coverage uniformity of the radiation field in the horizontal direction (Para. 0053, Lines 5-9).
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai et al. (US 20210159623) in view of Huang et al. (US 20220109228).
Regarding claim 14:
Sakurai et al. are silent on that the bracket has a picking platform with a picking area of at least 5 mm×5 mm.
Huang et al. disclose (in Figs. 2 and 3) a bracket (40) has a picking platform (41).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the bracket has a picking platform as taught by Huang et al. into the device of Sakurai et al. for the benefit of having supporting parts and can realize effective bearing for a three-dimensional antenna structure having the first part and the second part and increase the design flexibility of the antenna device (Para. 0022, Lines 13-17) so that integration of the antenna is realized, and the antenna stand effectively bears the second antenna structure (Para. 0011, Lines 5-8).
Sakurai as modified are silent on a picking area of at least 5 mm×5 mm.
Accordingly, it would have been an obvious matter of design consideration to implement an area of the picking area of at least 5 mm×5 mm since such a modification would not affect the proper functioning of the antenna device, involves only a mere change in the size of the component and a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 15:
Sakurai as modified are silent on that the picking platform is made of temperature resistant material capable of withstanding at least 260 degrees Celsius.
Accordingly, it would have been an obvious matter of design consideration to implement the picking platform is made of temperature resistant material capable of withstanding at least 260 degrees Celsius, especially since the Specification has not disclose the temperature resistant material is serving any function in the operation of the antenna device, and would have been a mere choice of material based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination in Sinclair & Carroll Co. v.Interchemical Corp., 325 U.S. 327, 65 USPQ 297 (1945).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAMIDELE A. IMMANUEL whose telephone number is (571)272-9988. The examiner can normally be reached General IFP Schedule: Mon.-Fri. 8AM - 7PM (Hoteling).
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/BAMIDELE A IMMANUEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/ALEXANDER H TANINGCO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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