US 11303011

US patent 11303011, titled "Smartphone antenna in flexible PCB," was filed on November 25, 2020, and issued on April 12, 2022. The inventors are Sang Hoon Lee, Kyoung Jun CHOI, and Sae Rom LEE. The original assignee was AQ Corp, which was reassigned to AQ Corporation on May 26, 2021, and subsequently to WYE IP CAPITAL LLC on September 29, 2025. Therefore, the current assignee is WYE IP CAPITAL LLC.

Abstract:
A smartphone antenna module for use in a smartphone and a smartphone having the antenna module are provided. The smartphone antenna module comprises a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) including a first coil antenna and a second coil antenna, and a magnetic sheet engaged with the flexible PCB. The flexible PCB has a through hole. The first coil antenna surrounds the through hole and the second coil antenna surrounds the first coil antenna and the through hole. The magnetic sheet includes a base portion and a head portion extending from an edge of the base portion. The head portion is contoured and sized to pass through the through hole. The head portion is placed over a first PCB section of the flexible PCB while the base portion is placed under a second PCB section of the flexible PCB. The first and second PCB sections are located on an opposite side of each other across the through hole.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1: This claim describes a smartphone antenna module. It features a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) with a top and bottom surface. The PCB contains a first coil antenna, a second coil antenna, and a through-hole. The first coil antenna encircles the through-hole, while the second coil antenna encircles both the first coil antenna and the through-hole. The module also includes a magnetic sheet with a base, a head, and a neck connecting them. The head portion of this magnetic sheet passes through the PCB's through-hole. The flexible PCB is divided into a first section (between an edge and the through-hole) and a second section (opposite the first section across the through-hole, also between an edge and the through-hole). The claim specifies that, when viewed from above, the head of the magnetic sheet sits over the first PCB section, overlapping parts of both the first and second coil antennas in that section. Conversely, the base of the magnetic sheet is positioned underneath the second PCB section, overlapping parts of both the first and second coil antennas in that section.

• Independent Claim 11: This independent claim outlines a more complex smartphone antenna module. It includes a flexible PCB with a top and bottom surface, containing three coils (first, second, and third) and two through-holes (a first and a second). The first coil surrounds the first through-hole, the third coil surrounds the second through-hole, and the second coil surrounds all three components: the first coil, the third coil, the first through-hole, and the second through-hole. A magnetic sheet, comprising a base, a head, and a neck connecting them, is engaged with the PCB. Both the head and neck of this magnetic sheet pass through the first through-hole, and the neck also passes through the second through-hole. The flexible PCB is divided into three sections along an axis: a first PCB section (between an upper edge and the first through-hole), a second PCB section (between the two through-holes), and a third PCB section (between the second through-hole and a lower edge). The claim details that, when viewed from above, the magnetic sheet's head is placed over the first PCB section, overlapping portions of the first and second coils in that area. The neck portion is located underneath the second PCB section, overlapping parts of the first, third, and second coils in that section. Finally, the base portion is situated underneath the third PCB section, overlapping parts of the third and second coils in that section.

Litigation:
As of April 26, 2026, the provided information indicates the following litigation related to US11303011:

• A US case filed in the Texas Eastern District Court (case number 2:25-cv-01012).
• A PTAB case IPR2026-00231, which is currently pending.

A search of CAFC 2026 dockets specifically for patent 11303011 did not return any direct results using public search capabilities. It is possible that any appeals related to the mentioned District Court or PTAB cases have not yet reached the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or are not publicly indexed in standard searches at this time.