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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. EP15163852, filed on 04/16/2015.
Claim Status
This Office Action is in response to communications filed on 6/19/2025. Claims 1-10 are pending for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/19/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-7 and 10-11, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panetta et al. (FR 3144366).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches an antenna system
a radio communication antenna
an electronic card
a plurality of electrical connection members Examiner notes that because of resilient properties of the bent rigid metal wire constituting the contactless antenna 3 allow the two ends of the rigid metal wire to abut against two predetermined locations on the motherboard, connectors are not necessary like contact pads or receiving openings. two ends thus form the claimed bases which are in contact with one of the contact tracks of the electronic board. These ends are clearly attached to the antenna (see figures 7 and 8) )
characterized in that the electronic card
Panetta does not expressly teach the use of gold on the contact tracks and that each electrical connection member
Regarding claim 2 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system claim 1
Regarding claim 3 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system claim 1
Again, Examiner does not agree that the problem of allowing a reliable antenna system to be obtained while making it less expensive to manufacture described by the Applicant is correct. Based on the cited prior art above, the actual problem addressed by the present invention appears, instead to be that of selecting and positioning a metal having good conductivity and good corrosion resistance. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to try using such an arrangement with gold on the contacts with each electrical connection member being composed of a lower coupling element or foot fixed to the radio communication antenna an upper coupling element or contact head coated with gold and in contact with the contacts or contact tracks and a housing element or body connecting the foot to the contact head, as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue known options within his or her technical grasp because the distinctive claimed feature is merely one of several obvious possibilities from which a person skilled in the art seeking to solve the stated problem would choose, according to the circumstances, without exercising inventive skill because gold is generally known in the art to be a metal with good conductivity and good corrosion resistance.
Regarding claim 4 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system claim 3
Regarding claim 5 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system claim 1
Regarding claim 6 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system (claim 1
Regarding claims 7 and 11 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system (1) according to claim 1
Regarding claim 10 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches an electronic payment terminal claim 1 .
Claims 8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panetta et al. (FR 3144366) in view of Chen et al (U.S. Patent Application Pub. 2015/0295330).
Regarding claims 8 and 12 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system (1) according to claim 1.
Panetta is silent on each electrical connection member
Therefore it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to combine the antenna system of Panetta with the electrical connection member is formed by a folded blade forming the foot, the body and the contact head, as taught by Chen in order to have an electronic contacting section being reverse U-shaped and formed on and protruding from a front end of the resilient section; and two pre-pressing elements located respectively in the openings of the wings, pre-pressing the resilient section of the resilient electric contacting arm toward the soldering base, and limiting the resilient section to sway in an extent from an inner upper edge of each opening to the soldering base (see claim 1).
Claims 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Panetta et al. (FR 3144366) in view of Tudose et al (EP 2610785).
Regarding claim 9 (Currently Amended), Panetta teaches the antenna system (1) according to claim 1
Tudose from an analogous near field communication (NFC) art teaches a radio communication antenna having a resonance frequency of between 12 MHz and 20 MHz, (¶022-¶023). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to combine the antenna system of Panetta with the concept of a radio communication antenna having a resonance frequency of between 12 MHz and 20 MHz, as taught by Tudose in order to have an NFC system operate in variable power scenarios being based on the distance between communicative devices, such as RFID applications.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANCIL H LITTLEJOHN JR whose telephone number is (571)270-3718. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5 (CST).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at (571) 272-3114. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANCIL LITTLEJOHN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2685
` /QUAN ZHEN WANG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2685
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