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 § 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.
Claims 1, 7-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Too et al. (WO 2020/234393 A1) in view of Watanabe et al. (US 6,781,643).
As to claim 1, Too discloses in figure 1: a plurality of first patch electrodes (upper pattern ITO of waveplate cell 105); a plurality of second patch electrodes facing and spaced apart from the plurality of first patch electrodes (lower pattern ITO of waveplate cell 105); a first liquid crystal layer provided between the plurality of first patch electrodes and the plurality of second patch electrodes; and an active matrix LCD cell 160 (column 13, lines 15-20) disposed underneath the first and second patch electrodes.
Too does not disclose the structure of the active matrix LCD cell 160. Watanabe discloses a conventional active matrix LCD cell in figure 2, comprising: an electrode layer 123; a first substrate 140; an active matrix substrate 150 including a plurality of transistors; and a second liquid crystal layer 130 provided between the array substrate and the electrode layer. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Too by providing an active matrix LCD cell having the structure disclosed by Watanabe because conventional structures were known to be cost-effective and reliable.
As to claim 7, Too in view of Watanabe discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Too further discloses in figure 1, wherein the size of the first patch electrode is the same as the size of the second patch electrode.
As to claim 8, Too in view of Watanabe discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Too further discloses in figure 1, wherein the first patch electrode and the second patch electrode are arranged so as to be rotationally symmetrical with respect to the center of the first patch electrode and the center of the second patch electrode in a plan view.
As to claim 9, Too in view of Watanabe discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Although not explicitly shown, the plurality of first patch electrodes are inherently connected to a switching element in order to control the voltage applied to them.
As to claim 12, Too in view of Watanabe discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Although not explicitly shown, the active matrix LCD cell of Watanabe inherently includes a control circuit configured to supply a common voltage to the electrode layer 123.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 10-11 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art taught or fairly suggested an intelligent reflecting surface comprising the combination required by claim 2, including: a radio wave reflecting part; and a display panel part, wherein the radio wave reflecting part includes the plurality of first patch electrodes, the plurality of second patch electrodes, the first liquid crystal layer, the electrode layer, and the first substrate, and the display panel part includes the array substrate, the second liquid crystal layer, the electrode layer, and the first substrate. Claims 3-6 and 10-11 are objected to by virtue of their dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Chung whose telephone number is (571)272-2288. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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/DAVID Y CHUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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