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 5-10 and 14-21 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 5, lines 4, 6 and 8, note that the relationship is unclear between the three instances of “a dielectric layer” and the previous recited “a dielectric layer” defined in claim 1, from which this claim depends from (i.e. does the previous recited “dielectric layer” comprises a plurality of dielectric layer including the ones recited in claim 5, or are these dielectric “layers” recited in claim 5 separate and distance from the dielectric “layer” defined in claim 1). Correction is required. Due to the dependency from claim 5, claims 6-10 have also been rejected under 35 USC 112(b).
Claim 6, lines 3 and 5, note that the relationship is unclear between both instances of “the dielectric layer” and the previous recited “dielectric” layers defined in claims 1 and 5, from which this claim depends from (i.e. there are multiple “dielectric” layers defined, which one is the recitation of “the dielectric layer” referring to). Correction is required. The examiner suggests possibly amending the claims to add a modifier to each instance of a “dielectric” layer when its defined (i.e. “a first dielectric layer”, “a second dielectric layer, etc.) to make it clear as to which dielectric layer is being referred to.
Claim 14, lines 4, 6 and 8, note that the relationship is unclear between the three instances of “a dielectric layer” and the previous recited “a dielectric layer” defined in claim 1, from which this claim depends from (i.e. does the previous recited “dielectric layer” comprises a plurality of dielectric layer including the ones recited in claim 14, or are these dielectric “layers” recited in claim 14 separate and distance from the dielectric “layer” defined in claim 1). Correction is required. Due to the dependency from claim 14, claims 15-21 have also been rejected under 35 USC 112(b).
Claim 15, lines 3 and 5, note that the relationship is unclear between both instances of “the dielectric layer” and the previous recited “dielectric” layers defined in claims 1 and 14, from which this claim depends from (i.e. there are multiple “dielectric” layers defined, which one is the recitation of “the dielectric layer” referring to). Correction is required. The examiner suggests possibly amending the claims to add a modifier to each instance of a “dielectric” layer when its defined (i.e. “a first dielectric layer”, “a second dielectric layer, etc.) to make it clear as to which dielectric layer is being referred to.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US2022/0199314 A1) in view of Schoessow (US2011/0012691 A1).
In regards to claim 1, Chen et al. teaches in annotated Fig. 1 below a transformer at a multilayer substrate having a plurality of wiring layers (13, 15, 16 and 18) laminated with a dielectric layer (11-19) interposed in between, the transformer comprising:
An output-side coil (15 and 18) between a first terminal (Annotated Terminal A) and a second terminal (Annotated Terminal B); and
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An input side unbalanced-side coil (13 and 16) between a third terminal (Annotated Terminal C) and a fourth terminal (Annotated Terminal D), wherein the output-side coil is configured such that a first inductor (15) and a second inductor (18) at different ones of the wiring layers are connected in parallel (see paragraph [0030]), and the input side unbalanced-side coil is configured such that a third inductor (13) and a fourth inductor (16) at different ones of the wiring layers are connected in series (see paragraph [0032]).
Chen et al. does not teach: in regards to claim 1, wherein the output-side coil (15 and 18) is a balanced-side coil between the first terminal and the second terminal.
Schoessow teaches in Fig. 4 a transformer (400) comprising input side terminals (412), output side terminals (414) and a plurality of coils. Schoessow teaches in paragraph [0029], either the input side or output side of the transformer can be configured to be a balanced side input/output with respect to ground for the benefit of forming a balun.
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the invention of Chen et al. and have designed the output-side coil as an output balanced-side coil with respective to ground because such a modification would have provided the benefit of forming a transformer balun as taught by Schoessow (see paragraph [0029]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 11-13 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.
Claim 5-10 and 14-21 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORGE L SALAZAR JR whose telephone number is (571)-272-9326. The examiner can normally be reached between 9am - 6pm Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached on 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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/JORGE L SALAZAR JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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