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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 on 03/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/30/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With regard to the applicant arguments that the prior art does not teach:
Respective separate prism pairs for each laser.
And temperature control of the prisms which may result in displacement of the laser beam passing through the prism pair along a desired axis.
The examiner respectfully disagrees:
With regard to the RESPECTIVE separate prism pairs, as this is an amendment that has been rejected below with new art the argument is considered moot and has been stated below in the new 103 rejection including the new prior art Di (CN 209590421, of record).
With regard to beam displacement or steering through temperature control, as noted in the past this is covered by figure 2, and paragraphs [0023], [0027], [0032], and additionally mentioned in paragraph [0016], with regards to figure 2, which is a graph showing “temperature induced beam steering”
Therefore, due to those reasons stated above, the current and old rejections are believed to be proper and as such have been restated below to include the new amended limitation and prior art to further reject it as such.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McCallion (US 20080291950, of record) herein after referred to as D1, and further in view of Di (CN 209590421, of record) herein after referred to as D2.
With regard to claim 1, D1 teaches a method of controlling a position at which laser beams used in flow cytometry impinge on a flow cell, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045]); comprising directing each of said laser beams (DFB Array) through a respective prism pair (beam steering prisms) comprising a first and a second prism (24a, 24b), and controlling a temperature (apply heat) of at least one of said first and second prisms of each prism pair (24a, 24b), wherein said first and second prisms(24a, 24b) of each prism pair are oriented such that an ellipticity of a laser beam passing through the prism pair is changed beams combined and lowered), and such that controlling the temperature ([0036]) of at least one of said first and second prisms results in a displacement ([0036]) of the laser beam passing through the prism pair (24a, 24b) along a direction corresponding to a minor transversal axis of said beam at the flow cell (40, [0064]), and wherein a position at which each of the plurality of laser beams impinges on the flow cell (40) is controlled by controlling a temperature of at least one of said first (24a) and second prisms (24b) of each corresponding prism pair (24a, 24b).
However, D1 does not expressly disclose directing each of said laser beams through a respective separate prism pair comprising a first and a second prism.
In a related endeavor, D2 teaches a multi-colour laser beam combining module, in at least (fig. 1); comprising directing each of said laser beams (10, 20, 30) through a respective prism pair (12, 22, 32; each comprising element 4 from figure 2a) comprising a first and a second prism (4 left, 4 right).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the invention of D1 with directing laser beams through respective separate prism pairs comprising a first and a second prism as taught by D2, for the purpose of better directing laser light in the system without light leakage or any unwanted interactions or unneeded timing.
With regard to claim 2, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 1, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein controlling a temperature of at least one of said first and second prisms includes controlling the temperature of both said first and second prisms.
With regard to claim 3, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 2, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein said first prism and said second prism have a respective refractive index temperature dependency (dn/dT) ([0025]) of the same sign, and wherein controlling the temperature of both said first and second prism includes controlling the temperature of the first and second prisms in opposite directions ([0036-0038]).
With regard to claim 4, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 2, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein said first prism and said second prism have a respective refractive index temperature dependency (dn/dT) ([0025]) of opposite sign, and wherein controlling the temperature of both the first and second prism includes controlling the temperature of the first and second prisms in the same direction ([0036-0038]).
With regard to claim 5, D1 teaches an arrangement for providing excitation light to a flow cell in a cytometry system, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); comprising a plurality of laser modules (Fig. 5, 14a-14d), each laser module comprising a laser source (12), a prism pair (24a, 24b) comprising a first prism (24a) arranged in a radiation beam path of said laser source (12), configured to transmit a laser beam of said laser source (12), and a second prism (24b) arranged in said radiation beam path of said laser source (12), configured to transmit said laser beam transmitted through said first prism (24a), and a first temperature controller (fig. 6, element 60) for controlling a first temperature of at least one of said first prism (24a) and said second prism (24b), wherein said first and second prisms (24a, 24b) are oriented such that an ellipticity of the laser beam is changed by passing through the prism pair (24a, 24b), and such that controlling the temperature of at least one of said first and second prisms (24a, 24b) results in a displacement of the laser beam passing through the prism pair (24a, 24b) along a direction corresponding to a minor transversal axis of said laser beam at the flow cell (40).
However, D1 does not expressly disclose directing each of said laser beams through a respective separate prism pair comprising a first and a second prism.
In a related endeavor, D2 teaches a multi-colour laser beam combining module, in at least (fig. 1); comprising directing each of said laser beams (10, 20, 30) through a respective prism pair (12, 22, 32; each comprising element 4 from figure 2a) comprising a first and a second prism (4 left, 4 right).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the invention of D1 with directing laser beams through respective separate prism pairs comprising a first and a second prism as taught by D2, for the purpose of better directing laser light in the system without light leakage or any unwanted interactions or unneeded timing.
With regard to claim 6, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 5, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein at least one of said laser modules further comprises a second temperature controller for controlling a second temperature of at least one of said first prism and said second prism, wherein the first temperature controller and the second temperature controller correspond to different prisms ([0074-0075]).
With regard to claim 7, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 6, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein said first prism and said second prism have a respective refractive index temperature dependency (dn/dT) ([0025]) of the same sign, and wherein the first and second temperature controllers are configured to control the temperature of the first and second prisms in opposite directions ([0036-0038]).
With regard to claim 8, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 7, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein said first prism and said second prism are made from the same material ([0061]).
With regard to claim 9, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 6, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein said first prism and said second prism have a respective refractive index temperature dependency (dn/dT) ([0025]) of opposite sign, and wherein the first and second temperature controllers are configured to control the temperature of the first and second prisms in the same direction ([0036-0038]).
With regard to claim 10, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 5, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); further comprising one or more cylindrical lenses positioned along the beam path, and configured to further shape the laser beam into desired dimensions at the flow cell (Fig. 3; coli and focus lens).
With regard to claim 11, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 5, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein the first and second prisms of each prism pair are arranged at angles that result in a desired thickness of the laser beam, along the minor axis, at the flow cell (Fig. 1 and [0032]).
With regard to claim 12, D1 teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as have been outlined above with respect to claim 11, wherein D1 further teaches an optical beam steering mechanism, in at least (fig. 3-6; and [0037-0045], [0064]); wherein the first and second prisms of each prism pair are arranged at angles that result in a desired thickness of the laser beam, along the minor axis, at the flow cell (Fig. 1 and [0032]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GRANT A GAGNON whose telephone number is (571)270-0642. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bumsuk Won can be reached at (571) 272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GRANT A GAGNON/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/BUMSUK WON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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