Obviousness

Obviousness Analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103

A patent claim is considered obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103 if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) at the time the invention was made. The analysis involves considering the scope and content of the prior art, the differences between the prior art and the claims, the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art, and any secondary considerations of non-obviousness. A clear rationale or motivation to combine prior art elements must be articulated, guarding against hindsight reasoning.

The patent US11303011 generally describes a smartphone antenna module with a flexible PCB integrating multiple coil antennas (e.g., MST and NFC) and a magnetic sheet with specific structural features (head, neck, base portions) that interact with through-holes and sections of the flexible PCB.

Potential Combinations of Prior Art References for Obviousness

While the provided information does not detail specific prior art cited against US11303011 during its prosecution or in the pending IPR, we can identify general areas of prior art and potential motivations for combination that a PHOSITA would have possessed.

1. Flexible PCB Antennas in Smartphones

• Prior Art: The use of flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) antennas in mobile phones is well-established. For example, "Flexible printed circuit board (FPC) antennas for mobile phone operation" by Wu et al. (2010) discusses FPC antennas for multi-band designs and integrating circuit components with antennas on a single flexible PCB. US6593900B1 also discloses flexible PCB antennas. It is also known that flexible PCB antennas are thin, lightweight, bendable, and suitable for devices with special space requirements.
• Motivation to Combine: A PHOSITA would be motivated to utilize flexible PCBs for smartphone antennas to save space, reduce weight, and conform to the device's internal structure, especially given the dense integration of components in smartphones. The patent itself states that spaces for NFC and MST antennas are limited in smartphones, requiring efforts in designing antenna structures and component layouts. This highlights a known problem in the art.

2. Integration of Multiple Antennas (MST, NFC, Wireless Charging) in Smartphones

• Prior Art: Smartphones commonly include NFC antennas and MST antennas. US2016/0180120 A1 describes hardware for Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) devices, which includes a driver and an inductor, and generates magnetic pulses. Samsung Pay, announced in 2015, leverages both NFC and MST technologies for mobile payments. Wireless charging antennas are also known in smartphones. The patent states that "each coil can be used as one of an MST antenna, an NFC antenna and other antenna that uses a coil antenna, such as wireless charging antenna."
• Motivation to Combine: The integration of multiple wireless communication functions (MST, NFC, wireless charging) into a single smartphone is a clear design and market driven incentive. A PHOSITA would seek to combine these functionalities in an efficient and compact manner to meet consumer demand for multi-functional devices. The patent explicitly acknowledges that "smartphones include a circuit and an antenna for enabling near field RF communication (NFC)" and "a circuit and an antenna for magnetic secure transmission (MST) are applied to some smartphones."

3. Use of Magnetic Sheets with Antennas

• Prior Art: Magnetic sheets (e.g., ferrite or nanocrystal materials) are commonly used in conjunction with antennas, particularly for NFC and MST, to improve performance by guiding magnetic flux and reducing interference from metallic components like batteries and metal housings. The patent itself extensively describes the function of magnetic sheets.
• Motivation to Combine: A PHOSITA would understand the benefit of using magnetic sheets to enhance the performance of NFC and MST antennas, especially in the compact and metal-dense environment of a smartphone. This is a "known technique" to improve antenna performance. The patent notes that "the housing of the smartphone tends to be made of a metal" and "internal components such as a battery may also significantly affect the operations of the antennas," necessitating improvements in antenna structures.

4. Through-holes and Interacting Magnetic Sheets

• Prior Art: While the specific "head, neck, and base" configuration passing through a through-hole might be a novel arrangement in US11303011, the concept of a magnetic core passing through an antenna coil is fundamental to inductor design. Flexible PCBs with through-holes are known in the art, as seen in various flexible PCB antenna designs.
• Motivation to Combine: Given the space constraints in smartphones, a PHOSITA would be motivated to optimize the placement and interaction of antennas and magnetic materials. If an antenna coil is to surround a magnetic material for improved performance, creating a through-hole in the PCB to allow the magnetic material to pass through and interact more closely with various coil segments would be an obvious design choice to enhance magnetic coupling and miniaturization. This addresses the problem of limited space and the need for efficient antenna structures.

Specific Obviousness Arguments for Independent Claims

Regarding Independent Claim 1:

Independent Claim 1 describes a flexible PCB with a first coil (surrounding a through-hole) and a second coil (surrounding the first coil and through-hole), combined with a magnetic sheet having a head passing through the through-hole. The head is over a first PCB section overlapping parts of both coils, and the base is under a second PCB section overlapping parts of both coils.

• Combination: A PHOSITA combining, for example, the teachings of Wu et al. (flexible PCB antennas in mobile phones) with general knowledge of MST/NFC antenna design utilizing magnetic sheets for flux guidance would find Claim 1 obvious.
• Rationale:
  • Flexible PCB with Coils: The general concept of integrating multiple coil antennas (like an inner MST and an outer NFC, or vice versa) on a flexible PCB for a smartphone is well-known for space-saving and design flexibility.
  • Through-hole: Providing a through-hole in a flexible PCB to allow a component to pass through for better integration or functionality is a common design technique.
  • Magnetic Sheet with Head/Base: Given the known benefits of magnetic sheets in improving antenna performance and the space constraints in smartphones, a PHOSITA would be motivated to configure the magnetic sheet to interact optimally with the coils. Designing a magnetic sheet with a narrower "head" portion to pass through a central through-hole and then having wider "base" portions that sit on different sides of the PCB (e.g., above one section and below another) to maximize overlap with different parts of the coils would be a logical design optimization. This would be a known technique for improving magnetic coupling and miniaturizing the antenna module. The specific arrangement of the head over a first PCB section and the base under a second PCB section, where both overlap respective coil portions, is an intuitive way to achieve magnetic coupling for coils located on different sides of the through-hole, or coils that extend across the through-hole.

Regarding Independent Claim 11:

Independent Claim 11 describes a flexible PCB with three coils (first around a first hole, third around a second hole, second surrounding all three) and two through-holes. A magnetic sheet with a base, head, and neck is engaged, where the head and neck pass through the first hole, and the neck passes through the second hole. The claim specifies the overlapping arrangement of the magnetic sheet portions with the PCB sections and coils.

• Combination: This claim builds on the concepts of Claim 1 by introducing a third coil and a second through-hole, with a more elaborate magnetic sheet structure (neck). The same prior art mentioned above, combined with general engineering principles for optimizing multi-antenna systems in confined spaces, would be relevant.
• Rationale:
  • Multiple Coils and Through-holes: Extending the idea of two concentric coils around one through-hole to three coils and two through-holes, especially for integrating more functions (e.g., MST, NFC, and wireless charging), is a straightforward scaling of a known solution to address a similar problem (space constraints for multiple antennas).
  • Magnetic Sheet with Neck: The introduction of a "neck" portion in the magnetic sheet that passes through both through-holes, while the head and base interact with different PCB sections and coils, is a further optimization for ensuring effective magnetic flux guidance across multiple coils arranged along an axis. This would be a predictable modification to an existing magnetic sheet design to accommodate an increased number of coils and through-holes in a compact, linear arrangement, aiming for improved performance of all integrated antennas. A PHOSITA would recognize that extending a magnetic material to span multiple coils would enhance the magnetic field interaction across the system. The specific positioning of the head, neck, and base to overlap various coil segments in different PCB sections is a design choice driven by the need to efficiently couple magnetic flux to all relevant coils.

General Motivation to Combine:

The primary motivation for a PHOSITA to combine these elements from the prior art would be to address the ongoing challenge of miniaturizing and integrating multiple wireless communication functionalities (MST, NFC, wireless charging) into the increasingly compact form factors of smartphones. Known design incentives and market forces continually prompt variations in mobile device technology to achieve better performance, greater efficiency, and more features within limited space.

A PHOSITA, with knowledge of existing flexible PCB antennas, magnetic materials for EMI shielding and flux guiding, and the need for multiple communication protocols in smartphones, would find it obvious to combine these known elements in a manner that optimizes space utilization and antenna performance. The specific structural arrangements in US11303011, such as the through-holes and the multi-section magnetic sheet, represent predictable design choices for achieving these goals in a crowded smartphone environment.