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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hughes (4,209,253).
Regarding claim 1, Hughes discloses a laser radar receiving system (Fig. 1) comprising a laser radar (1, 7) and a reflecting element (5), wherein said laser radar comprises a first reflector mirror (4), an emitting channel (note the funnel neck in Fig. 1), an emission system (1) and a basic receiving system (7), wherein a laser beam emitted by the emission system is: reflected by said first reflector mirror 4 and reaches a target (9) through said emitting channel; is reflected from the target and passes through the emitting channel; and is reflected by the first reflector mirror and received by said basic receiving system, wherein an area (note the void area at the right lower corner of the housing as shown in Fig. 1) outside said emitting channel is unreachable by said laser beam reflected from the target, and wherein the reflecting element is disposed outside said area and reflects said laser beam reflected from the target to said basic receiving system. Thus, when interpreted broadly, Hughes meets the claimed invention.
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.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hughes (4,209,253).
Regarding claim 4, Hughes discloses that the reflecting element 5 is a reflector mirror, but does not specify that the emitting channel has an opaque hollow cylindrical structure. As shown in Fig. 1, Campbell inherently includes a light guide housing for light beams in the funnel shape areas. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a cylindrical tube type light guide into Hughes to perform the well known functions as claimed. The selection of the cylindrical tube type would have been a matter of obvious design choice since it could be in any shape so long it guides the lights.
Regarding claim 5, Hughes discloses said emission system comprises a laser tube (1) and a second reflector mirror (3), and said laser tube emits said laser beam, which is reflected by said second reflector mirror and said first reflector mirror in turn, and then passes through said emission channel to the target outside said window cover; said basic receiving system comprises a third reflector mirror (2) and a receiving tube (7), and said laser beam reflected by the target passes through said emitting channel, and then is reflected to said receiving tube by said first reflector mirror 4 and said second reflector mirror 3 in turn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 5-10 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 5, lines 6-7, “said window cover” lacks proper antecedent basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 5-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL LEE whose telephone number 571-272-7349. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, John Miller, can be reached on 571-272-7353. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL LEE/ Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2422
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