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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
This Office Action is a response to Applicant’s communication (or preliminary’s amendment) filed on 03/19/2025. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-15 are currently presented in the instant application.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). A certified copy of the priority documents received on 03/19/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 06/09/2025 in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is considered by the examiner.
If applicant is aware of any prior art or any other co-pending application not already of record, he/she is reminded of his/her duty under 37 CFR 1.97 to disclose the same.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on 03/19/2025 accepted as part of the formal application.
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 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khan et al (US 20250125535), hereinafter Khan.
Regarding claim 12,
Khan discloses an antenna assembly (an antenna assembly 300, Fig 5) comprising:
a phased array antenna (a phased array antenna 100, Fig 5) comprising a plurality of spaced apart antenna elements (antenna elements 10, Fig 5) arranged in a plurality of rows and columns of the antenna elements and defining a first axis of symmetry (an axis of symmetry 11’, Fig 5); and
a non-spherical lens (a lens 30, Fig 5) disposed on the phased array antenna and substantially covering at least some of the antenna elements, the non-spherical lens comprising a non-spherical first major surface facing away from the antenna elements (Fig 5) and an opposite second major surface facing the antenna elements (Fig 5), the non-spherical first major surface comprising at least a curved portion curved along at least one direction (Fig 5);
such that in a scan plane (a scan plane 40, Fig 5) that comprises the first axis of symmetry and a normal (a normal 53, Fig 5) to the phased array antenna.
Khan does not explicitly teach the antenna assembly steers a beam in the scan plane having a maximum gain G1 and a 3dB beam width W1 when steered along a first direction making an angle of less than about 10 degrees with the normal and a maximum gain G2 and a 3dB beam width W2 when steered along a second direction making an angle of no less than about 30 degrees with the normal, G1 and G2 within 4 dB of each other, W1 and W2 within 15% of each other.
However, Khan teaches that as depicted by the curve 602, the 3 dB beamwidth W1 of the beam 50, when steered along the first direction 52 making the angle α1 of less than about 10 degrees with the normal 53 to the first horizontal surface 21, is about 12.8 degrees. In the graph 600, the angle α1 corresponds to a scan angle of about 7 degrees. Further, the 3 dB beamwidth W2 of the beam 51, when steered along the second direction 54 making the angle α2 of greater than about 40 degrees with the normal 53, is about 17 degrees. In the graph 600, the angle α2 corresponds to a scan angle of about 55 degrees. As is apparent from the curve 602, W1 and W2 within 35% of each other (Fig 6; paragraph [0075]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use an antenna assembly steering a beam in a scan plane having a maximum gain G1 and a 3dB beam width W1 when steered along a first direction making an angle of less than about 10 degrees with a normal and a maximum gain G2 and a 3dB beam width W2 when steered along a second direction making an angle of no less than about 30 degrees with the normal, G1 and G2 within 4 dB of each other, W1 and W2 within 15% of each other in Khan, in order provide a wide-angle coverage without a significant gain degradation at wider scan angles.
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Regarding claim 13,
Khan as modified discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 12.
Khan teaches the non-spherical lens substantially covers at least 20% of the antenna elements (Fig 5).
Regarding claim 14,
Khan as modified discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 12.
Khan teaches the second major surface of the non-spherical lens and the antenna elements define a non-zero minimum gap (a gap D, Fig 2) therebetween (a gap D, Fig 2).
Regarding claim 15,
Khan as modified discloses the claimed invention, as discussed in claim 14.
Khan teaches the minimum gap is between about 1/8 to about 1/2 of a free-space wavelength of an operating frequency of the antenna assembly (paragraph [0061]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are allowed.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance.
Regarding claim 1, prior art of record or most closely prior art fails to disclose, “the structured first major surface comprising a center and a first annular peak region surrounding, and substantially concentric with, the center, the first annular peak region having a first annular peak having an average separation P1 from the reference plane, a minimum separation between the structured first major surface and the reference plane inside the first annular peak being P2, P1/P2 ≥ 2”. These features reflect the application’s invention and are not taught by the pertinent prior arts. There is no reason or suggestion in the prior art for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Khan (US 20250125535) to include features of claim 1.
Dependent claims 2-8 are considered to be allowable by virtue of its/their dependency/dependencies on claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, prior art of record or most closely prior art fails to disclose, “the annular first band defining a cavity therein extending along a thickness direction of the lens from a first open end of the cavity at the first band peak to an opposite second end, the cavity having a maximum height Hc along the thickness direction of the lens, the first band having a height Hb1 along the thickness direction of the lens and a base having a width Wb1, Hc/Hb1 ≥ 0.5, Hb1 > Wb1”. These features reflect the application’s invention and are not taught by the pertinent prior arts. There is no reason or suggestion in the prior art for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Khan (US 20250125535) to include features of claim 9.
Dependent claims 10-11 are considered to be allowable by virtue of its/their dependency/dependencies on claim 9.
Conclusion
The Examiner has pointed out particular references contained in the prior art of record within the body of this action for the convenience of the Applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply.
Applicant, in preparing the response, should consider fully the entire reference aspotentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of thepassage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hai Tran whose telephone number is (571) 270-7650. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:00 am-5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dimary Lopez can be reached on (571) 270-7893. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HAI V TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
