Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
2. This communication is responsive to Application No. 19/238,642 filed on September 03, 2025. Claims 1-3, 9-14 and 17 have been amended. Accordingly, claims 1-18 are subject to examination.
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
3. The IDSs submitted on 06/18/25, 03/02/26 and 06/29/26 have been entered and considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections/Suggestions
4. Following claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claim 1, “wherein” (line 2) should be replaced with “wherein:” and then the limitation “the combining and splitting unit…” (lines 3-4) should begin in a new paragraph with an indent; and
in claim 9, “wherein” (line 2) should be replaced with “wherein:” and then the limitation “an analog signal…” (line 2) should begin in a new paragraph with an indent.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretations
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. –An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
6. This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “the combining and splitting unit is configured to…” and “the digital-to-analog conversion unit is configured to…” in claim 1; “the digital path is configured to…” in claim 3; “the first/second combining and splitting unit is configured to…” and “the first/second digital-to-analog conversion unit is configured to…” in claim 9; and “the digital path is configured to…” in claim 11.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If Applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, Applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-18 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 pre-AIA the Applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “the digital signal” (line 9). It is not clear whether said “digital signal” in line 9 is referring to “a digital signal” (lines 4-5) or “one digital signal” (line 8). Claim 1 further recites the limitation “one digital signal” (line 10). It is not clear whether said "one digital signal" is different from or the same as recited in line 8 of claim 1 "one digital signal". In addition, claim 1 recites the limitation “multi-carrier signals” (line 11). It is not clear whether said "multi-carrier signals" is different from or the same as recited in line 8 of claim 1 "multi-carrier signals". Hence, renders claim 1 and its dependent claims indefinite. Similar rejection applies to claim 9. In addition, claim 9 recites the limitation “an analog signal” (line 21). It is not clear whether said "analog signal" is different from or the same as recited in line 2 of claim 9 "an analog signal".
Claim 5 recites the limitation “one digital signal” (line 4). It is not clear whether said "one digital signal" is different from or the same as recited in line 8 of claim 1 "one digital signal".
Claim 18 recites the limitation “an analog signal” (line 1). It is not clear whether said "analog signal" is different from or the same as recited in line 2 of claim 9 "an analog signal".
Reason for Allowance
9. Pan (US 2014/0362869 A1) teaches a combiner-splitter configured to: in a first transmission direction (Figure 3: Downlink), combine (Figure 3: Multiplexer) multi-carrier signals (Figure 3: OFDM Modulator) into one digital signal and transmit the digital signal to a digital-to-analog converter (Figure 3: DAC) and in a second transmission direction (Figure 3: Uplink), split (Figure 3: Demultiplexer) one digital signal (Figure 3: ADC) received from the digital-to-analog converter (Figure 3: DAC) into a plurality of multi-carrier signals (Figure 3: OFDM Modulator); and the digital-to-analog converter configured to: in the first transmission direction (Figure 3: Downlink), convert the digital signal received from the combiner-splitter (Figure 3: Multiplexer) into an analog signal (Figure 3: DAC) and in the second transmission direction (Figure 3: Uplink), convert a received analog signal into the digital signal and transmit the digital signal to the combiner-splitter (Figure 3: Demultiplexer).
Long (US 2012/0219085 A1) teaches in Figure 1 a combiner-splitter (Combiner/Splitter) and a digital-to-analog converter (Transceiver).
Li (WO 2021/109812 A1 –Attached as a Foreign Reference) teaches in Figure 9 a combiner-splitter (MUX/DEMUX) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC/ADC).
Dobashi (US 2024/0322907 A1) teaches in Figure 2 a combiner-splitter (MPLEX/DMPLEX Unit) and a digital-to-analog converter (ADC/DAC).
However, with regard to claim 1, the prior art of record fails to disclose said combining and splitting unit (Figures 2-4: 110) and said digital-to-analog conversion unit (Figures 2-4: 120); and regarding claim 9, the prior art of record fails to disclose said first/second combining and splitting unit (Figures 5-6: 111/121) and said first/second digital-to-analog conversion unit (Figures 5-6: 112/122) as claimed in “combination” with “the corresponding structure, material or act described in the Applicant’s specification as performing the entire claimed function and [or] equivalents thereof” where applicable under 35 U.S.C 112(f).
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to SHAWKAT M. ALI whose telephone number is (571) 270-1639. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 8:30AM-3:30PM ET.
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 AIR at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, SAM K. AHN can be reached on (571) 272-3044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHAWKAT M ALI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
Prosecution Insights