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 .
Response to Amendment
The following addresses applicant’s remarks/amendments dated 6.
The amendment is sufficient to overcome the objection to the abstract.
Claim 1 was amended. No claim was cancelled. No new claims were added. Therefore, claims 1-18 are currently pending in the current application and are addressed below
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-10 of the Remarks, filed 8 January 2026, with respect to the rejections of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Asada et al., JP 4719284 B2 in view of Hall et al., US 20100302528 A1.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 9, 11-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada et al., JP 4719284 B2 (“Asada”) in view of Hall et al., US 20100302528 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Asada discloses an apparatus for recognizing objects in a monitoring environment, said apparatus having a transmission section for transmitting light into the monitoring environment (Fig. 10 (a), lighting means 11, Paragraph [0087]) and a receiving section for receiving light reflected at objects in the monitoring environment (Fig. 10(a), imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]), wherein the transmission section has a first transmission unit for transmitting light having a first light property into a first illumination section of the monitoring environment (Fig. 10(a), intermediate light source 16, Paragraph [0087]) and at least a second transmission unit for simultaneously transmitting light having a second light property into a second illumination section of the monitoring environment (Fig. 10(a), intermediate light source 17, Paragraph [0087]), wherein the first light property and the at least a second light property are formed differently (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, Paragraph [0090]), and wherein the receiving section has a receiving unit for simultaneously receiving reflected light having the first light property and reflected light having the at least a second light property (Fig. 10(a), imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]), wherein the first light property of the light transmitted by the first transmission unit and the at least a second light property of the light transmitted by the at least a second transmission unit are formed as a color mixture (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, Paragraph [0090]-[0091]), with a first light color being used only as a portion of the first light property (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16, red LEDs 12a, Paragraph [0090]), a second light color being used only as a portion of the second light property (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 17, green light source 14a, Paragraph [0090]), and at least a third light color being used as a portion of both light properties (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, blue LEDs 13a, Paragraph [0090]), with further the first transmission unit and the at least a second transmission unit being configured for a flash-like illumination of the respective illumination section for a complete illumination of the respective illumination section (Fig. 12, LED light-emitting elements 12a, 13a, and 14a, diffuser plate 15, Paragraph [0093]).
Asada does not teach: said apparatus having a transmission section for transmitting laser light into the monitoring environment.
However, Hall teaches a color LIDAR scanner device that uses laser diode emitters to transmit red, blue, and green light (Fig. 1, blue laser diode 22, red laser diode 24, green laser diode 26, Paragraph [0015]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have replaced Asada’s colored LEDs with Hall’s colored laser diodes. One of ordinary skill in the art could have replaced one light source with the other and the results would have been predictable (MPEP 2143 I KSR Rationale B).
Regarding claim 2, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein blue is used as the first light color, and/or green is used as the second light color, and/or red is used as at least a third light color (Asada, Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 17, green light source 14a, Paragraph [0090]: green used as second color; See also: Paragraph [0084]).
Regarding claim 4, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein a wavelength band around a mean value is used as a light color of a light or wherein the light is formed as monochromatic laser light and the light color of the light is determined by the monochromatic laser light (Asada, Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, red LEDs 12a, blue LEDs 13a, green LEDs 14a, Paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 9, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first illumination section and the at least a second illumination section do not overlap (Asada, Fig. 12, intermediate light-emitting region 15RB, intermediate light-emitting region 15BG, Paragraph [0096]); and/or wherein the first illumination section and the at least a second illumination section adjoin one another.
Regarding claim 11, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first illumination section is arranged at a first spacing from the receiving section and the at least a second illumination section is arranged at a second spacing from the receiving section, with the first spacing and the second spacing being formed differently (Asada, Fig. 10(a), intermediate light sources 16 and 17, imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]-[0087]).
Regarding claim 12, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first transmission unit and/or the at least a second transmission unit and/or the receiving unit, are formed free of moving parts (Asada, Fig. 10(a), intermediate light sources 16 and 17, imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]-[0087]).
Regarding claim 13, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the receiving unit has a plurality of light sensors (Asada, Fig. 3, line camera 21, CCDs 21a, 21b, and 21c, Paragraph [0051]).
Regarding claim 14, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 13, wherein the plurality of light sensors comprises a first sensor group and at least a second sensor group that is at least partly different therefrom, and with light sensors of the first sensor group being configured to receive reflected light having the first light property and light sensors of the at least a second sensor group being configured to receive reflected light having the second light property (Asada, Fig. 3, line camera 21, CCDs 21a, 21b, and 21c, Paragraph [0051]).
Regarding claim 16, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the receiving section comprises a first imaging for optically imaging and/or focusing the light reflected from the first illumination section of the monitoring environment and from the at least a second illumination section of the monitoring environment onto the receiving unit (Asada, Fig. 1, imaging unit 3, lens system 24, Paragraph [0051]); and/or wherein at least one of the first transmission unit and the second transmission unit has a second imaging unit for optically imaging and/or focusing the light transmitted by the corresponding transmission unit into the monitoring environment onto the corresponding first illumination section and/or at least a second illumination section.
Regarding claim 17, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one of the first transmission unit and the second transmission unit has a plurality of light transmitters (Asada, Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, red LEDs 12a, blue LEDs 13a, green LEDs 14a, Paragraph [0090]), with the light transmitters being arranged in a transmitter matrix and/or the receiving unit is arranged between the first transmission unit and the at least a second transmission unit (Asada, Fig. 10(a), intermediate light sources 16 and 17, imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]-[0087]).
Claims 7-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada in view Hall in further view of Donovan, US 20170307736 A1 (“Donovan”).
Regarding claim 7, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1.
Asada, as modified in view of Hall, does not teach: wherein the first illumination section and the at least a second illumination section completely or at least substantially completely cover the monitoring environment.
However, Donovan teaches arranging two light transmitters with different wavelengths such that their illumination sections overlap over that entire measurement point cloud (Donovan, Fig. 19, measurement point cloud 1900, [0127]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Asada and Hall’s light sources by arranging the intermediate light sources such that their emitting regions overlap over the entire monitoring region , which is disclosed by Donovan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve performance while also reducing size, cost, and complexity, as suggested by Donovan (Paragraph [0050]).
Regarding claim 8, Asada, as modified in view of Hall and Donovan, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 7, wherein the first illumination section and the at least a second illumination section cover the monitoring environment in equal parts or at least substantially equal parts (Asada, Fig. 12, intermediate light-emitting region 15RB, intermediate light-emitting region 15BG, Paragraph [0096]).
Regarding claim 10, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1.
Asada, as modified in view of Hall, does not teach: wherein the first illumination section and the at least a second illumination section overlap in a redundancy region.
However, Donovan teaches arranging two light transmitters with different wavelengths such that their illumination sections overlap over a line (Donovan, Fig. 20, measurement point cloud 2000, line 2006, Paragraph [0129]-[0130]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Asada and Hall’s light sources by arranging the intermediate light sources such that their emitting regions overlap over a small portion of the monitoring region, which is disclosed by Donovan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve performance while also reducing size, cost, and complexity, as suggested by Donovan (Paragraph [0050]).
Claims 3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada in view of Hall in further view of Bridges et al., US 20150043009 A1 (“Bridges”).
Regarding claim 3, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1.
Asada, as modified in view of Hall, does not teach: wherein at least a fourth light color is used as a portion of the first light property and/or of the at least a second light property.
However, Bridges teaches a light source that combines infrared light with blue-green-red light (Fig. 4, infrared light source 217, Paragraph [0024]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Asada and Hall’s lighting means by adding infrared light sources into the intermediate light sources, which is disclosed by Bridges. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to “[enable] more accurate color matching and eliminate problems such as color skew”, as suggested by Bridges (Paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 5, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1.
Asada, as modified in view of Hall, does not teach: wherein the first transmission unit comprises a first dichroic mirror for combining at least light having the first light color and light having the third light color into light having the first light property; and/or wherein the at least a second transmission unit comprises a second dichroic mirror for combining at least light having the second light color and light having the third light color into light having the second light property.
However, Bridges teaches using dichroic beam splitters to combine different wavelengths of light. (Fig. 4, dichroic beam splitters 214, 216, and 218, Paragraph [0024]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Asada and Hall’s lighting means by using dichroic beam splitters to combine light from different colored LEDs the in the intermediate light sources rather than alternating colored LEDs, which is disclosed by Bridges. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to “[enable] more accurate color matching and eliminate problems such as color skew”, as suggested by Bridges (Paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 6, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 1.
Asada, as modified in view of Hall, does not teach: wherein the receiving section has at least a third dichroic mirror for splitting the light colors of the first light property and the second light property of the reflected light.
However, Bridges teaches a dichroic beam splitter that separates RGB light into a color receiver and IR light into a fiber-optic ferrule (Fig. 3, dichroic beam splitter 254, color receiver 260, fiber-optic ferrule 256, Paragraph [0022]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the imaging unit, disclosed by Asada, by adding a dichroic beam splitter to separate light by wavelengths and direct the light into the corresponding receiver, which is disclosed by Bridges. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to “[enable] more accurate color matching and eliminate problems such as color skew”, as suggested by Bridges (Paragraph [0029]).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada in view of Hall in further view of Hunziker et al., DE 102017129654 A1 (“Hunziker”).
Regarding claim 15, Asada, as modified in view of Hall, discloses the apparatus in accordance with claim 14.
Asada, as modified in view of Hall, does not teach: wherein the light sensors of the first sensor group and the light sensors of the at least a second sensor group are alternately arranged in the sensor matrix.
However, Hunziker teaches a filter arrangement for a light receiver array. The filter arrangement has a color filter that comprises red, green, and blue filter elements alternately arranged in a two-dimensional array (Fig. 3, filter arrangement 122, color filter 123, measuring light 196, Paragraph [0111]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the line camera, disclosed by Asada by alternating the CCDs in two-dimensional array, which is disclosed by Hunziker. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to optimize sensor operation by ensuring a suitable spectral distribution of the illumination light, as suggested by Hunziker (Paragraph [0086]).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Asada in view of Donovan.
Regarding claim 18, Hall discloses (Fig. 10 (a), lighting means 11, Paragraph [0087]) and a receiving section for receiving light reflected at objects in the monitoring environment (Fig. 10(a), imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]), wherein the transmission section has a first transmission unit for transmitting light having a first light property into a first illumination section of the monitoring environment (Fig. 10(a), intermediate light source 16, Paragraph [0087]) and at least a second transmission unit for simultaneously transmitting light having a second light property into a second illumination section of the monitoring environment (Fig. 10(a), intermediate light source 17, Paragraph [0087]), wherein the first light property and the at least a second light property are formed differently (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, Paragraph [0090]), and wherein the receiving section has a receiving unit for simultaneously receiving reflected light having the first light property and reflected light having the at least a second light property (Fig. 10(a), imaging unit 3, Paragraph [0086]), wherein the first light property of the light transmitted by the first transmission unit and the at least a second light property of the light transmitted by the at least a second transmission unit are formed as a color mixture (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, Paragraph [0090]-[0091]), with a first light color being used only as a portion of the first light property (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16, red LEDs 12a, Paragraph [0090]), a second light color being used only as a portion of the second light property (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 17, green light source 14a, Paragraph [0090]), and at least a third light color being used as a portion of both light properties (Fig. 11, intermediate light sources 16 and 17, blue LEDs 13a, Paragraph [0090]), with further the first transmission unit and the at least a second transmission unit being configured for a flash-like illumination of the respective illumination section for a complete illumination of the respective illumination section (Fig. 12, LED light-emitting elements 12a, 13a, and 14a, diffuser plate 15, Paragraph [0093]).
Asada does not teach a vehicle comprising the apparatus.
However, Donovan teaches implementing an apparatus with a light transmitting and receiving section in a vehicle (Fig. 1, LIDAR system 100, vehicle 108, Paragraph [0052]-[0053]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Asada’s device by implementing the apparatus on a vehicle, which is disclosed by Donovan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to enable real-time measurements of object distances for automobiles, as suggested by Donovan (Paragraph [0003]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5405. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5:30 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao can be reached at (571) 270-3603. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RACHEL NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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