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 § 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 1-10 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors.
There are various issues with the claims that do not allow a person of ordinary skill to ascertain the metes and bounds of the claims to avoid infringement. Listed below are some of the indefinite phrases.
The terms “exponential" ” in claims are a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The terms “corresponding to” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The terms can mean any arbitrary threshold or any possible relationship for the amplifier, transducer, converter, bits, voltage, DC link, magnitude. It can mean anything from just having the existence of the parts to some optimization or unstated factor. A person of ordinary skill cannot ascertain the metes and bounds of these claimed relationships in order to avoid infringement.
Claims 1, 3-8 and 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted structural cooperative relationships are: "based on" or "magnitude" It can mean anything from having some sort of equation and relationship to just having cut offs or thresholds. A person of ordinary skill would not be able to clearly ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed limitation to avoid infringement.
Regarding claim 9, applicant’s are claiming a “matching device”. This appears to be what is effectively a device whose function may be a filter or an amplifier or a converter or a transducer any of which would read on the claim. Its only function is to send the amplified signal to the transducer as an acoustic signal. Anything that converts an amplified signal to an acoustic signal would read on the claim. The claim does not make clear what the device is or what its function is besides calling it a matching device and saying it makes and transmits an acoustic signal. It could be the transducer or a different amplifier. Any transducer would read on the claim. A person of ordinary skill would not be able to meaningfully ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed limitation.
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.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haase(US 20030156495 A1) in view of Podhola (US 20230361599 A1) as further evidenced by Yeh(US 20090285403 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hasse teaches receiving a signal[Fig 2, 3 has oscillator #202 that provides the signal];
amplifying the signal based on a power amplifier[Fig 2 has amplifier #204 for amplifying signal before transmission by transducer #104];
and transmitting ....., based on a transducer, an acoustic signal to which the amplified signal is converted[Fig 2 has amplifier #204 for amplifying signal before transmission by transducer #104],
..... an inverter connected to the ADC and to a load including the transducer, and a direct current (DC) link connected to the inverter.[Fig 3, 0051 has amplifier #204 having inverters and DC link that powers transducer ie load #206].
Hasse does not explicitly teach transmitting underwater[though this would be an intended use and not carry much patentable weight]…..wherein the power amplifier comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) ,
Podhola teaches transmitting underwater[0266, 0521 has underwater acoustic communication]…..wherein the power amplifier comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) ,[Fig 42 has converter and amplifier. See 0251, 0359, 0530, See also Fig 58 and 0378 for amplifier, compensation circuit and inverter]
Yeh also shows at 0048 that digital/analog conversion and power amplification are common steps in frequency transmission.
or (broadly teaches xxx). (latter 2 for inherency). xxx (xx) teaches that xxx. (Breakdown of teaching/secondary here)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the acoustic transmitter of Haase with the underwater use and the ADC converter in order to convert analog to digital signals and the reverse in an underwater environment.
Regarding claim 10, Hasse teaches a processor[0053-0054 has micro processor];
and one or more memories configured to store one or more instructions[0053-0054 has micro processor meaning it would have storage],
wherein, when executed, the one or more instructions are configured to control the processor so that the processor performs[0053-0054 has micro processor meaning it has programmed instructions]:
receiving a signal[Fig 2, 3 has oscillator #202 that provides the signal];
amplifying the signal based on a power amplifier[Fig 2 has amplifier #204 for amplifying signal before transmission by transducer #104];
and transmitting ....., based on a transducer, an acoustic signal to which the amplified signal is converted[Fig 2 has amplifier #204 for amplifying signal before transmission by transducer #104],
....., an inverter connected to the ADC and to a load including the transducer, and a direct current (DC) link connected to the inverter. [Fig 2 has amplifier #204 for amplifying signal before transmission by transducer #104]].
Hasse does not explicitly teach transmitting underwater[though this would be an intended use and not carry much patentable weight]…..wherein the power amplifier comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) ,
Podhola teaches a processor[0224 has processor];
and one or more memories configured to store one or more instructions[0224 has storage and computer readable medium meaning it teaches use of memory],
wherein, when executed, the one or more instructions are configured to control the processor so that the processor performs[0224 has processor following programmed instructions].....transmitting underwater[0266, 0521 has underwater acoustic communication]…..wherein the power amplifier comprises an analog to digital converter (ADC) ,[Fig 42 has converter and amplifier. See 0251, 0359, 0530, See also Fig 58 and 0378 for amplifier, compensation circuit and inverter]
Yeh also shows at 0048 that digital/analog conversion and power amplification are common steps in frequency transmission.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date to have modified the acoustic transmitter of Haase with the underwater use and the ADC converter in order to convert analog to digital signals and the reverse in an underwater environment.
Regarding claim 2, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein the ADC includes a first conversion part and a second conversion part, each connected to the inverter. [0054 has ADC and 0078 and 0082 has A/D converters with multiplexing signal meaning signals go to different paths. See also Fig 5, 14, 20B].
Podhola teaches wherein the ADC includes a first conversion part and a second conversion part, each connected to the inverter. [Fig 42 has converter and amplifier. See 0251, 0359, 0530, See also Fig 58 and 0378 for amplifier, compensation circuit and inverter].
Regarding claim 3, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein a magnitude of the signal is converted to a binary bit corresponding to the magnitude of the signal based on the first conversion part and transferred to the inverter, and wherein a sign of the signal is converted to a binary bit corresponding to the sign of the signal based on the second conversion part and transferred to the inverter. [0054 has ADC and 0078 and 0082 has A/D converters with multiplexing signal meaning signals go to different paths. See also Fig 5, 14, 20B].
Podhola teaches wherein a magnitude of the signal is converted to a binary bit corresponding to the magnitude of the signal based on the first conversion part and transferred to the inverter, and wherein a sign of the signal is converted to a binary bit corresponding to the sign of the signal based on the second conversion part and transferred to the inverter. [Fig 42 has converter and amplifer. See 0251, 0359, 0530, See also Fig 58 and 0378 for amplifier, compensation circuit and inverter. Moreover this appears to be a description of how analog to digital conversion works].
Regarding claim 4, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein the DC link includes one or more DC voltage sources, and wherein a number of the one or more DC voltage sources is determined to correspond to a bit number of the binary bit corresponding to the magnitude of the signal. [Fig 3 has capacitor #324 similar to applicants own art].
Podhola teaches wherein the DC link includes one or more DC voltage sources, and wherein a number of the one or more DC voltage sources is determined to correspond to a bit number of the binary bit corresponding to the magnitude of the signal. [Figs 40-58 show various circuits with multiple capacitors for DC voltage].
Regarding claim 5, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein a voltage value of each DC voltage source included in the one or more DC voltage sources is set based on an exponential gap. [Fig 3 has capacitor #324 similar to applicants own art.].
Podhola teaches wherein a voltage value of each DC voltage source included in the one or more DC voltage sources is set based on an exponential gap. Figs 40-58 show various circuits with multiple capacitors for DC voltage. 0343, 0357, 0363, 0388, 0469-0470 has voltage control ].
Regarding claim 6, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein the inverter includes one or more switching circuits, and wherein information on each bit of the binary bit corresponding to the magnitude of the signal and information on a voltage of each DC voltage source included in the one or more DC voltage sources is transferred to each switching circuit included in the one or more switching circuits. [0054 has ADC and 0078 and 0082 has A/D converters with multiplexing signal meaning signals go to different paths. See also Fig 5, 14, 20B].
Podhola teaches wherein the inverter includes one or more switching circuits, and wherein information on each bit of the binary bit corresponding to the magnitude of the signal and information on a voltage of each DC voltage source included in the one or more DC voltage sources is transferred to each switching circuit included in the one or more switching circuits. [Fig 42 has converter and amplifier. See 0251, 0359, 0530, See also Fig 58 and 0378 for amplifier, compensation circuit and inverter. Moreover this appears to be a description of how analog to digital conversion works].
Regarding claim 7, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein the magnitude of the signal is amplified based on the DC link through the one or more switching circuits. [Fig 2 has amplifier #204 for amplifying signal before transmission by transducer #104].
Regarding claim 8, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein the amplified signal is obtained from the inverter based on the amplified magnitude and information on the binary bit corresponding to the sign of the signal, and wherein the amplified signal is transferred to the load including the transducer. [Fig 3, 0051 has amplifier #204 having inverters and DC link that powers transducer ie load #206].
Regarding claim 9, Hasse, as modified, teaches wherein the transducer includes a sensor connected to a matching device to which the amplified signal is inputted and configured to convert the amplified signal to the acoustic signal and transmit the acoustic signal. [Fig 3, 0051 has amplifier #204 having inverters and DC link that powers transducer ie load #206 meaning the amplified signal is made into an acoustic signal].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VIKAS NMN ATMAKURI whose telephone number is (571)272-5080. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:30pm.
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 http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Isam Alsomiri can be reached at (571)272-6970. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/VIKAS ATMAKURI/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
Prosecution Insights