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 .
1. Acknowledgement is made to the preliminary amendment, filed 3/19/2025. Claims 1-25 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. Acknowledgement is made to the information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/19/2025. The information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
3. Claims 12-16, 18, 20, & 22-25 are objected to because of the following informalities, which appear to be minor draft errors including grammatical and/or lack of antecedent basis problems.
Regarding claims 12-16, these are all dependent upon claim 10 which appears to be an apparatus claim and claims 12-16 are method claims. Perhaps claims 12-16 were intended to be dependent upon claim 11.
Regarding claim 18, lines 1 & 2 recite the limitation of “the central region”, however there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 20, lines 1 & 2 recite the limitations of “the impedance matching” and “the predefined resonance frequency”, and line 3 recites the limitations of “the first cut-out groove” and “the second cut-out groove”, however there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Regarding claims 20 & 24, the claims recite the limitations of “the first loop antenna” and “the second loop antenna”, however there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
Regarding claims 22 & 23, the claims recite the limitations of “the first loop antenna”, “the second loop antenna”, “the first dipole antenna” and “the second dipole antenna”, however there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims.
Regarding claim 25, line 1 recites the limitation of “the metal sheet”, however there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
4. Claims 1-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koskelainen (US 2015/0076238 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Koskelainen discloses a wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag comprising:
an antenna comprising:
a first dipole antenna (520a – dipole antenna) with a first cut-out groove [0094 & Fig. 6];
a second dipole antenna (520b – dipole antenna) with a second cut-out groove [0094 & Fig. 6]; and
a first loop antenna (120a-120d – 1st electrically conductive structure, each as split loops) and a second loop antenna (140 – 2nd electrically conductive structure and aligned with 120a-120d) disposed within a central region of the antenna [0094 & Fig. 6]; and
an RFID chip (210 – RF communication circuit) embedded at a center of the central region of the antenna [0052, 0094 & Figs. 1d & 6 – the pads (128) are for attaching a RF communication circuit].
Regarding claim 2, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first cut-out groove and the second cut-out groove are rectangular [0048, 0049, 0094, & Figs. 1a, 2a, & 6].
Regarding claim 3, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first dipole antenna and the second dipole antenna are identical to each other [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 4, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first loop antenna, the second loop antenna, the first dipole antenna and the second dipole antenna are formed from a single piece of conductive material [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 5, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first loop antenna is coupled to the first dipole antenna via a first coupling region and the second loop antenna is coupled to the second dipole antenna via a second coupling region [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 6, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first loop antenna and a second loop antenna form a curved rectangular shape [0070 & Figs. 2f1 & 2f2].
Regarding claim 7, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first loop antenna includes a first elongated slot and the second loop antenna includes a second elongated slot [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 8, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the first dipole antenna and the second dipole antenna are adapted to resonate at a first resonant frequency, the first loop antenna, the second loop antenna and the RFID chip are adapted to resonate at a second resonant frequency [0035-0038 & 0094].
Regarding claim 9, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, wherein the dielectric substrate is a foam including a thickness of 1.3 millimeters [0077 & 0078].
Regarding claim 10, Koskelainen discloses the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag of claim 1, further comprising a dielectric substrate adhered to an under surface of the antenna and the RFID chip [0105-0107].
Regarding claim 11, Koskelainen discloses a method of operation of a wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag, the method comprising:
receiving an incoming RF signal via an antenna of the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag [0035-0038];
transferring the received incoming signal to an RFID chip (210 – RF communication circuit) of the wideband non-folded on-metal UHF RFID tag through the antenna [0035-0038];
responding to the received incoming signal to trigger the RFID chip to resonate at at least one of two resonant frequencies matching one at a time [0035-0038];
transmitting an output signal from the RFID chip back to the antenna [0035-0038 & 0107]; and
radiating the output signal via the antenna [0035-0038 & 0107].
Regarding claim 12, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 10, wherein the incoming signal is generated by one or more RFID readers each operating at multiple frequencies exposed under RF signal transmitted from RFID readers [0035-0038 & 0106-0108].
Regarding claim 13, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 10, wherein the antenna is configured to resonate at multiple resonance frequencies in the UHF range [0035-0038 & 0106-0108].
Regarding claim 14, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 10, wherein the incoming signal is transferred to the RFID chip via a first dipole antenna to a first loop antenna and via a second dipole antenna to a second loop antenna [0094-0096].
Regarding claim 15, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 10, wherein responding to the received signal occurs via the antenna to match the frequency of the received incoming signal and an inductive reactance of the antenna and thereby an inductive reactance of the RFID tag to radiate back the output signal [0035-0038 & 0106-0108].
Regarding claim 16, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 10, wherein the output signal includes a data retrieved from the RFID chip [0035-0038 & 0106-0108].
Regarding claim 17, Koskelainen discloses a method for manufacturing a wideband non-folded on-metal tag, the method comprising:
cutting a metal sheet to form an antenna [0079, 0094, & Fig. 6];
constructing a first dipole antenna (520a – dipole antenna) with a first cut-out groove and a second dipole antenna (520b – dipole antenna) with a second cut-out groove from the antenna [0094 & Fig. 6]; and
forming a first loop antenna (120a-120d – 1st electrically conductive structure, each as split loops) and a second loop antenna (140 – 2nd electrically conductive structure and aligned with 120a-120d) within a central region of the antenna [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 18, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 16, further comprising embedding an RFID chip to a center of the central region of the antenna [0052, 0094 & Figs. 1d & 6].
Regarding claim 19, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 17, further comprising configuring the RFID chip for impedance matching at a resonance frequency when exposed to an RF signal [0035-0038 & 0106-0108].
Regarding claim 20, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 18, wherein the impedance matching for the predefined resonance frequency is configured to the antenna by adjusting: a length of the first cut-out groove and the second cut-out groove; a depth of the first cut-out groove and the second cut-out groove; a length of the first loop antenna and the second loop antenna; or a load reactance of the RFID chip [0035-0038, 0053-0055, & 0094].
Regarding claim 21, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 19, wherein the impedance matching for a predefined resonance frequency is tuned by a thickness of a dielectric substrate adhered to an under surface of the antenna and the RFID chip [0035-0038, 0077, 0078, & 0106-0108].
Regarding claim 22, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the first loop antenna, the second loop antenna, the first dipole antenna and the second dipole antenna are formed from a single piece of conductive material [0079 & 0094].
Regarding claim 23, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the first loop antenna is coupled to the first dipole antenna via a first coupling region and the second loop antenna is coupled to the second dipole antenna via a second coupling region [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 24, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the first loop antenna includes a first elongated slot and the second loop antenna includes a second elongated slot [0094 & Fig. 6].
Regarding claim 25, Koskelainen discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the metal sheet is an aluminum sheet [0079].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAULTEP SAVUSDIPHOL whose telephone number is (571)270-1301. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F,7-3 EST. If the examiner cannot be reached by telephone, he can be reached through the following email address: paultep.savusdiphol@uspto.gov
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone and email are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael G. Lee can be reached on (571) 272-2398. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAULTEP SAVUSDIPHOL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876