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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 9-11, 14-17, & 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Qiao et al. (US PGPub 20250141077)
As per claims 1, 9, & 15:
Qiao et al. discloses in Figs. 1-3 & 9:
A dynamic antenna element (filters may be used with dynamic antennas, just being dynamic antenna elements as an intended use) comprising a filter (title and abstract) comprising:
A resonator, comprising:
a dielectric body (dielectric resonant cavity 100 & 200) comprising:
a top surface (view of Fig. 2);
a bottom surface opposite (bottom of Fig. 1) from the top surface; and
side walls between the top surface and the bottom surface (as seen in Figs. 1-3);
at least two first blind vias (first and second frequency holes 110 & 120) within the dielectric body, the at least two first blind vias extend from the top surface toward the bottom surface (as seen in Fig. 3), and the at least two first blind vias are arranged in a first direction;
a through groove (coupling slot 300) between at least two first blind vias; and
at least one second blind via (third frequency hole 400) is on a side wall of the side walls between the at least two first blind vias, the at least one second blind via extends from a surface of the side wall of the side walls to the through groove, an extension direction of the at least one second blind via is perpendicular to the first direction, and the at least one second blind via and the through groove are separated from each other (as seen in Figs. 1-3).
As per claims 2, 10, & 16:
Qiao et al. discloses in Figs. 1-3 & 9:
at least one second blind via comprises:
two second blind vias (400) between the at least two first blind vias (110 and 120), and the two second blind vias are symmetrically opposite of two opposite sides of the through groove (300) in the extension direction (As seen in Fig. 9).
As per claims 3, 11, & 17:
Qiao et al. discloses in Figs. 1-3 & 9:
the side walls comprise:
a first side wall (lower left of Fig. 9); and
a second side wall opposite from the first side wall (upper right of Fig. 9), and the first side wall and the second side wall are arranged in the extension direction (as seen in Fig. 9);
wherein one of the second blind vias of the two second blind vias is on the first side wall, and the other of the second blind vias of the two second blind vias is on the second side wall (as seen in Fig. 9).
As per claims 6, 14, & 20:
Qiao et al. discloses in Figs. 1-3 & 9:
a third blind via (additional blind vias 110 and 120 are provided opposite the groove 300) within the dielectric body, and extending from the top surface to the bottom surface, and on a plane parallel to the top surface, the third blind via and the at least one second blind via are separately located on two opposite sides of the through groove (as seen in Fig. 9).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 4-8, 12-14, & 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiao et al. (US PGPub 20250141077) in view of Chun (US PGpub 20210280954).
As per claims 4, 12, & 18:
Qiao et al. is silent regarding:
the at least two first blind vias are symmetrically opposite of two opposite sides of the through groove in the first direction.
Chun discloses in Fig. 2::
Chun discloses that a dielectric resonant cavity (211-213) with blind vias (resonant recesses 241-243) is formed by a center placement of the blind vias in the resonant cavities to reduce the size of the resonant cavities ([0049-0050]).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the at least two first blind vias symmetrically opposite of two opposite sides of the through groove in the first direction as a way of lowering the resonant frequency of the cavities by symmetrically centering the blind vias as taught by Chun ([0049-0050]), and further, as the dimension of the cavities is a design parameter for determining the transmission modes as taught by Qiao ([0038]).
As per claims 5, 13, & 19:
Qiao et al. discloses in Figs. 1-3 & 9:
In the first direction, the at least one second blind via is located at a central position between the at least two resonant cavities ([0037]).
Qiao et al. is silent regarding:
in the first direction, the at least one second blind via is located at a central position between the at least two first blind vias.
Chun discloses in Fig. 2:
Chun discloses that a dielectric resonant cavity (211-213) with blind vias (resonant recesses 241-243) is formed by a center placement of the blind vias in the resonant cavities to reduce the size of the resonant cavities ([0049-0050]).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in the first direction, the at least one second blind via is located at a central position between the at least two first blind vias as a way of lowering the resonant frequency of the cavities by symmetrically centering the blind vias as taught by Chun ([0049-0050]), and further, as the dimension of the cavities is a design parameter for determining the transmission modes as taught by Qiao ([0038]).
As per claims 6, 14, & 20:
Qiao et al. discloses in Figs. 1-3 & 6:
The groove (300) may be positioned away from the side walls (as seen in Fig. 6 [0047])
Qiao et al. does not disclose:
a third blind via within the dielectric body, and extending from the top surface to the bottom surface, and on a plane parallel to the top surface, the third blind via and the at least one second blind via are separately located on two opposite sides of the through groove.
Chun discloses in Figs. 4 & 5:
a dielectric body (ceramic waveguide, [0085]) comprising:
a top surface (Fig. 4 discloses a plan view, which may be seen as either above or below, disclosing top and bottom surfaces);
a bottom surface opposite from the top surface;
and side walls between the top surface and the bottom surface;
at least two first blind vias (resonant recesses 441-446) within the dielectric body, the at least two first blind vias extend from the top surface toward the bottom surface (all recesses extend from one surface, which may be designated the top surface), and the at least two first blind vias are arranged in a first direction (resonant recesses 441 & 443 are formed in a direction parallel to the horizontal of Fig. 4);
a through groove (through partition wall 422) between at least two first blind vias; and at least one second blind via is on a side wall of the side walls between the at least two first blind vias, and a third blind via (coupling structure 460) within the dielectric body, and extending from the top surface to the bottom surface (as seen in Fig. 5).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form a third blind via within the dielectric body, and extending from the top surface to the bottom surface, and on a plane parallel to the top surface, the third blind via and the at least one second blind via being separately located on two opposite sides of the through groove to provide the benefit of providing capacitive cross coupling between the resonant cavities to provide a transmission zero at a frequency lower than the passband as taught by Chun ([0110-0111]).
As a consequence of the combination, a third blind via within the dielectric body, and extending from the top surface to the bottom surface, and on a plane parallel to the top surface, the third blind via and the at least one second blind via are separately located on two opposite sides of the through groove.
As per claim 7:
Qiao et al. does not disclose:
a direction from the top surface to the bottom surface, a depth of the third blind via is greater than a depth of the first blind via.
Chun discloses in Figs. 4-9:
The depth of the coupling recess is a design parameter for determining the frequency of the capacitive cross coupling ([0100]).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art for a direction from the top surface to the bottom surface, a depth of the third blind via to be greater than a depth of the first blind via as a design parameter for determining the frequency of the capacitive cross coupling as taught by Chun ([0100]), and further as one of a limited number of options (greater than, less than, equal to).
As per claim 8:
Qiao et al. does not disclose:
the third blind via is located at a central position between the at least two first blind vias.
Chun discloses in Fig. 2:
Chun discloses that a dielectric resonant cavity (211-213) with blind vias (resonant recesses 241-243) is formed by a center placement of the blind vias in the resonant cavities to reduce the size of the resonant cavities ([0049-0050]).
At the time of filing, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form in the first direction, the at least one second blind via is located at a central position between the at least two first blind vias as a way of lowering the resonant frequency of the cavities by symmetrically centering the blind vias as taught by Chun ([0049-0050]), and further, as the dimension of the cavities is a design parameter for determining the transmission modes as taught by Qiao ([0038]), such that the coupling recess of the third blind via would be formed at a central position between the at least two first blind vias.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL S OUTTEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7123. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30AM-6:00PM.
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/Samuel S Outten/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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