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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I, claims 1-16, in the reply filed on 9/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 20100330909).
As to claim 1, Wu et al.’s figures 1A-1D show a multi beam forming network (intended use) of circuit elements manufactured using a multi-layer structure, said multi-layer construction comprising a top layer (figure 1B) having a top circuit trace, said top circuit trace being a continuous top trace having at least one top island trace (TML_B1); a middle ground layer (figure 1C) having at least one window (HL); a bottom layer (figure 1D) having a bottom circuit trace, said bottom circuit trace being a continuous bottom trace having at least one bottom island trace (TML_B2); wherein at least one of said at least one window aligns with both of said at least one top island trace (figure 1A) and said at least one bottom island trace such that coupling occurs between signals passing through said at least one top island trace and said at least one bottom island trace; said at least one window is configured with a plurality of corners and said at least one window having a length and a height.
As to claim 3, the figures show that at least one of said at least one top island trace is symmetrical about a center longitudinal axis of said continuous trace.
As to claim 4, the figures show that at least one of said at least one bottom island trace is symmetrical about a center longitudinal axis of said continuous bottom trace.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2, 7, 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 20100330909).
As to claim 2, Wu et al.’s figures fail to show that the at least one window has rounded corners. Wu et al.’s figure 5 shows that the window corner is modified. ¶0051 teaches that figure 5 is used to illustrate possible modification of the invention and does not limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the window with rounded corners in order to ensure optimum performance, MPEP 2144.04,IV.B.
As to claim 7, Wu et al.’s figures fail to show that the middle ground layer has a plurality of windows. However, device comprises plurality of couplers is well known in the art. Furthermore, it has been held that “mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced”, MPEP 2144.04. VI.B. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to duplicate Wu et al.’s device for the purpose of providing plurality of couplers/phase shifters. Thus, the modified Wu et al.’s figures shows the middle ground layer has a plurality of windows (within plurality of couplers).
As to claim 11, the modified Wu et al.’s figures show that at least one window of said plurality of windows has a height that is greater in value than its length (dependent on which side is considered as the high and which side is considered as the length, see Wu et al.’s figure 4).
As to claim 12, the modified Wu et al.’s figures show that at least one window of said plurality of windows has a length that is greater in value than its height length (dependent on which side is considered as the high and which side is considered as the length, see Wu et al.’s figure 4).
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 20100330909) in view of Kenyon, S. Wayne et al. (US 4394630).
As to claim 5, Wu et al.’s figures fail to show at least one of said at least one top island trace is asymmetrical about a center longitudinal axis of said continuous trace. However, Kenyon, S. Wayne et al.’s figure 5 or 7 shows a similar device that its island trace is asymmetrical about a center longitudinal axis of said continuous trace. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to arrange Wu et al.’s island trace asymmetrical about a center longitudinal axis of the continuous trace for the purpose of compensating even and odd mode phase velocity differences, thereby improving the coupler performance.
As to claim 6, the modified Wu et al.’s figures show that at least one of said at least one bottom island trace is asymmetrical about a center longitudinal axis of said continuous bottom trace.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 and 13-16 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.
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/QUAN TRA/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2843
