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 10-13 are 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.
Claim 10 recites the limitation " wherein the support comprises a carrier being a dielectric, in particular a foil or a printed circuit board ", however, it is unclear what the support actually comprises because the language does not specify if it is an alternative of a dielectric, a foil or a printed circuit board or one of them. Thus, the claim is indefinite. Dependent claims 11-13 are likewise rejected.
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.
Claims 1-7, 9-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Daojian et al. US Patent Application Publication 2018/0191083 (cited by applicant).
Regarding Claim 1, Daojian et al. teaches an antenna (Figs. 1-7), in particular for a mobile communication base station (Par. 0003, 0004), comprising a reflector (202 Figs. 2, 6, 7 Par. 0007), a first radiator (201 Fig. 7 Par. 0007) having a radiator head (plate holding 201 Fig. 7) and at least one support (203 Fig. 7 Par. 0008), as well as a second radiator (101 seen in Fig. 1 Par. 0056);
wherein the radiator head comprises at least two radiation structures forming at least one dipole (Fig. 7), the reflector comprises a reflector ground plane (implicit from 202 Fig. 7), and the support is mounted to the reflector and supports the radiator head above the reflector (Figs. 2, 7);
wherein the second radiator is mounted to the reflector (Fig. 1);
wherein a balun structure (a balun element Par. 0007) and a shifting structure are provided at least partly on the support (402 Fig. 4 Par. 0008);
wherein the balun structure comprises a balun ground plane at the support and a signal line at the support (401 Fig. 4 Par. 0069); and
wherein the shifting structure electrically connects the balun structure to the radiator head (Fig. 4 Par. 0112), comprising a connecting line (thick rectangular region of 402 Fig. 4) and an inductive line (meandering region of 402 Fig. 4), wherein the connecting line is capacitively coupled to the balun ground plane and extending to the radiator head (through capacitor C Fig. 5 Par. 0079), and the inductive line extends from the connecting line to the reflector ground plane and provides an inductivity (Figs. 4, 5 Par. 0069).
Regarding Claim 2, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the balun ground plane comprises two separate balun ground portions and the shifting structure comprises two connecting lines and two inductive lines (Fig. 4), wherein each radiation structure is associated with one of the connecting lines, one of the inductive lines and one of the balun ground portions, in particular wherein each radiation structure is electrically coupled to the associated connecting line, the associated connecting line being electrically coupled to the associated inductive line and the associated balun ground portion (Figs. 4, 5).
Regarding Claim 3, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the signal line is capacitively coupled to both balun ground portions (Figs. 4, 5).
Regarding Claim 4, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the connecting line comprises a patch portion capacitively coupled to the balun ground plane, in particular the associated balun ground portion (path 402 and inductive live extending in a meandering bath below Figs. 4, 6).
Regarding Claim 5, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the inductive line is galvanically coupled to the connecting line, in particular to the patch portion (Figs. 4, 6).
Regarding Claim 6, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the inductive line comprises an inductive portion, in particular wherein the inductive line comprises parallel traces forming the inductive portion (Figs. 4, 6).
Regarding Claim 7, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the inductive line comprises a coupling portion, the coupling portion being capacitively coupled to the balun ground plane, in particular to the associated balun ground portion (Figs. 4, 6).
Regarding Claim 9, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the balun structure is located fully on the support (Figs. 4, 6, 7) or in part on the support and in part on the reflector; and that the shifting structure is located fully on the support (Figs. 4, 6, 7) or in part on the support and in part on the radiator head, in particular wherein the inductive line is located fully on the support.
Regarding Claim 10, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the support comprises a carrier being a dielectric (dielectric Par. 0039), in particular a foil or a printed circuit board, the carrier having two surfaces, wherein the balun structure and the shifting structure are applied to the surfaces of the carrier, in particular as metallizations (Figs. 4, 6, 7).
Regarding Claim 11, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the two surfaces are a ground surface and a signal surface, wherein the balun ground plane is provided on the ground surface, the connecting line of the shifting structure is provided on the signal surface, and the inductive line of the shifting structure is provided on the ground surface or the signal surface (Figs. 4, 6, 7).
Regarding Claim 12, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the inductive line is galvanically coupled to the connecting line by a via extending through the carrier (Figs. 4, 6, 7).
Regarding Claim 13, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the connecting line, in particular the patch portion, and the balun ground plane overlap in a projection perpendicular to the carrier (Figs. 2, 7).
Regarding Claim 14, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the radiator comprises four radiation structures on the radiator head forming two dipoles (Figs. 1, 7), and two supports, wherein each support is associated with one of the dipoles (Figs. 1, 7), in particular wherein the supports are arranged perpendicular to one another (Figs. 1, 7).
Regarding Claim 15, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the antenna comprises a plurality of first radiators forming at least one of a first array and a plurality of second radiators forming a second array (Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 16, Daojian et al. teaches a mobile communication base station comprising an antenna (Figs. 1-7 Par. 0003, 0004) comprising a reflector (202 Figs. 2, 6, 7 Par. 0007), a first radiator (201 Fig. 7 Par. 0007) having a radiator head (plate holding 201 Fig. 7) and at least one support (203 Fig. 7 Par. 0008), as well as a second radiator (101 seen in Fig. 1 Par. 0056);
wherein the radiator head comprises at least two radiation structures forming at least one dipole (Fig. 7), the reflector comprises a reflector ground plane (implicit from 202 Fig. 7), and the support is mounted to the reflector and supports the radiator head above the reflector (Figs. 2, 7);
wherein the second radiator is mounted to the reflector (Fig. 1);
wherein a balun structure (a balun element Par. 0007) and a shifting structure are provided at least partly on the support (402 Fig. 4 Par. 0008);
wherein the balun structure comprises a balun ground plane at the support and a signal line at the support (401 Fig. 4 Par. 0069); and
wherein the shifting structure electrically connects the balun structure to the radiator head (Fig. 4 Par. 0112), comprising a connecting line (thick rectangular region of 402 Fig. 4) and an inductive line (meandering region of 402 Fig. 4), wherein the connecting line is capacitively coupled to the balun ground plane and extending to the radiator head (through capacitor C Fig. 5 Par. 0079), and the inductive line extends from the connecting line to the reflector ground plane and provides an inductivity (Figs. 4, 5 Par. 0069).
Regarding Claim 17, Daojian et al. teaches a user device for mobile communication comprising an antenna (Figs. 1-7 Par. 0003, 0004) comprising a reflector (202 Figs. 2, 6, 7 Par. 0007), a first radiator (201 Fig. 7 Par. 0007) having a radiator head (plate holding 201 Fig. 7) and at least one support (203 Fig. 7 Par. 0008), as well as a second radiator (101 seen in Fig. 1 Par. 0056);
wherein the radiator head comprises at least two radiation structures forming at least one dipole (Fig. 7), the reflector comprises a reflector ground plane (implicit from 202 Fig. 7), and the support is mounted to the reflector and supports the radiator head above the reflector (Figs. 2, 7);
wherein the second radiator is mounted to the reflector (Fig. 1);
wherein a balun structure (a balun element Par. 0007) and a shifting structure are provided at least partly on the support (402 Fig. 4 Par. 0008);
wherein the balun structure comprises a balun ground plane at the support and a signal line at the support (401 Fig. 4 Par. 0069); and
wherein the shifting structure electrically connects the balun structure to the radiator head (Fig. 4 Par. 0112), comprising a connecting line (thick rectangular region of 402 Fig. 4) and an inductive line (meandering region of 402 Fig. 4), wherein the connecting line is capacitively coupled to the balun ground plane and extending to the radiator head (through capacitor C Fig. 5 Par. 0079), and the inductive line extends from the connecting line to the reflector ground plane and provides an inductivity (Figs. 4, 5 Par. 0069).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Daojian et al. US Patent Application Publication 2018/0191083 (cited by applicant).
Regarding Claim 8, Daojian et al. teaches wherein the coupling portion comprises a trace extending parallel to an edge of the balun ground plane (Fig. 4).
Daojian et al. is silent on in particular wherein the distance between the trace and the edge is smaller than 1.5 mm and smaller than 1/100 of a wavelength of an average frequency of a frequency band of the radiation structures.
However, Daojian et al. teaches dimensions of radiating elements that corresponds to a wavelength of center frequency of a signal (Par. 0038-0041, 0183-0185).
In this particular case, configuring dimensions of antenna elements such as the distance between the trace and the edge is common and well known in the art in order to obtain the required coupling at the frequency band of operation.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the distance between the trace and the edge to be smaller than 1.5 mm and smaller than 1/100 of a wavelength of an average frequency of a frequency band of the radiation structures based on the teachings of Daojian et al. as a result effect in order to obtain the required coupling at the frequency band of operation.
Conclusion
The cited art in PTO-892 was found during the examiner's search, but was not relied upon for this office action. However it is still considered pertinent to the applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL M BOUIZZA whose telephone number is (571)272-6124. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dimary Lopez can be reached at (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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/MICHAEL M BOUIZZA/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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