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
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nagaishi (WO 2020/075422).
Regarding claim 1, Nagaishi discloses in Figures 1-2, a radio wave transmissive cover to be provided on a front side of a transmitting and receiving unit in a radio wave radar device and configured to transmit a radio wave emitted from the transmitting and receiving unit, the radio wave transmissive cover comprising:
a reflection suppression section (101) configured to suppress reflection of the radio wave toward the transmitting and receiving unit (201), wherein the reflection suppression section (101) has a configuration in which a plurality of tapered portions (105-104-105) are arranged, and
each of the plurality of tapered portions has a hollow tapered shape (AIR) that opens toward the transmitting and receiving unit (201).
Regarding claims 2-3, as applied to claim 1, Nagaishi discloses in Figures 1-2, further comprising:
a laminated structure of a plurality of dielectric layers (102, 101, 103), wherein at least one (101) of the plurality of dielectric layers (101, 102, 103) has the plurality of tapered portions (105-104-105);
wherein the reflection suppression section (101) is made of a dielectric material having a relative dielectric constant of 2 to 20 (see par. 0034).
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yenna et al (US 2021/0055151).
Regarding claim 1, Yenna discloses in Figures 1-2 and par. 0028, a radio wave transmissive cover (1) to be provided on a front side of a transmitting and receiving unit (unit emitting radar signal SHF, Fig. 1) in a radio wave radar device (2) and configured to transmit a radio wave emitted from the transmitting and receiving unit, the radio wave transmissive cover (1) comprising:
a reflection suppression section (12, Fig. 2) configured to suppress reflection of the radio wave toward the transmitting and receiving unit, wherein the reflection suppression section (12) has a configuration in which a plurality of tapered portions are arranged, and each of the plurality of tapered portions has a hollow tapered shape that opens toward the transmitting and receiving unit (see par. 0028).
Regarding claim 10, as applied to claim 1, Yenna discloses in Figures 1-2,
wherein the hollow tapered shape (12) is a triangular pyramid shape.
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 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Yenna et al (US 2021/0055151).
Regarding claims 4-5, Yenna discloses in Figures 1-2,
wherein each of the plurality of tapered portions has an inner tapered surface that faces the transmitting and receiving unit, and the inner tapered surface is so that there is a reflection coefficient of the radio wave.
Yenna is silent on the reflection coefficient of the radio wave less than -6 dB.
However, such difference is not patentable merit. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to set, select or adjust the inclining of the inner tapered surface to achieve maximum suppression of the reflection and optimize the performance of the transmitting and receiving unit, and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 5, as applied to claim 4, Yenna discloses on Figure 2 and par. 0009, the inner tapered surface is inclined at an inclination angle of 30 to 75 degrees (between 300 and 600, see par. 0009).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Nagaishi (WO 2020/075422).
Regarding claim 6, as applied to claim 1, Nagaishi discloses in Figures 1-2, wherein the plurality of tapered portions (104, 105) have bases, respectively.
Nagaishi is silent on the sizes of the bases are 0.25 to 1.5 times a wavelength of the radio wave. However, such difference is not patentable merit. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to set or select the sizes of the bases at a specific values to optimize the reflection suppression and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claims 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Nagaishi (WO 2020/075422) in view of Sugai (JP 2019190928).
Regarding claim 7, Nagaishi discloses every feature of claimed invention as expressly recited in claim 6, except for wherein the sizes of the bases of the plurality of tapered portions are non-uniform.
Sugai discloses in Figure 1, wherein the sizes of the bases of the plurality of tapered portions are non-uniform (5a, 5b).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify the sizes of the bases of Nagaishi with the bases having sizes being non-uniform as taught by Sugai to improve the detection accuracy of target on wide angle side. Therefore, to employ having the sizes being non-uniform as claimed invention would have been obvious to persons kill in the art.
Regarding claim 8, as applied to claim 1, Sugai discloses in par. 0021, wherein the plurality of tapered portions are arranged with arrangement periods of 0.25 to 1.5 times a wavelength of the radio wave (“1/2 wavelength”, see par. 0021).
Regarding claim 9, Sugai discloses every feature of claimed invention as expressly recited in claim 8, except for
the arrangement periods of the plurality of tapered portions are non-uniform. However, such difference is not patentable merit. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to set the distance or arrangement periods non-uniform to achieve desired the reflection suppression, and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only ordinary skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Inquiry
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/DIEU HIEN T DUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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