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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed March 10, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The examiner acknowledges the amending claims 1, 7 and 15 by the amendment submitted by the applicant(s) filed on March 10, 2026. Claims 1 – 20 are pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
With regard claims 1, 7 and 15, the phrase limitation “the gain medium being configured to be pumped from an upper face of the gain medium such that no pump radiation is incident on a side face or a bottom face of the gain medium” is considered new matter. The disclosure does not provide sufficient structure associated “that no pump radiation is incident on a side face or a bottom face of the gain medium” as is claimed and is not shown in the Figures. The specification discloses on Figure 3 and paragraphs [0008, 0025 and 0029] that the gain medium being configured to be pumped from above and/or the gain medium is pumped from above, below, or a side, but don't disclose or suggest that no pump radiation is incident on a side face or a bottom face of the gain medium. The new phrase limitation "the gain medium being configured to be pumped from an upper face of the gain medium such that no pump radiation is incident on a side face or a bottom face of the gain medium" not only indicates the pump's location relative to the gain medium, but it also claims where the light cannot reach or cannot be incident. Just because the light from the pump does not enter from a side or a bottom does not mean that it does not reach or does not incident the side or the bottom after first passing through the top of the gain crystal. The phrase limitation “the gain medium being configured to be pumped from an upper face of the gain medium such that no pump radiation is incident on a side face or a bottom face of the gain medium” are not supported in the specification and figures presented by the applicant.
As such, the specification does not demonstrate the applicant has made an invention that achieves the claimed structure, because the invention is not described with sufficient detail such that one of ordinary skill in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention. Not corresponding to the structure describe in the specification.
Claims 2 – 6 depend on claim 1, claims 8 – 14 depend on claim 7 and claims 16 – 21 depend on claim 15, are rejected since they inherit the lack of written description of the claims on which they depend.
Appropriate correction is required.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Delma R. Forde whose telephone number is (571)272-1940. The examiner can normally be reached M - TH 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
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/Delma R Forde/Examiner, Art Unit 2828
/TOD T VAN ROY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828