DETAILED ACTION
This Action addresses the communication received on 2 Jun 2026. Applicant has amended Claim 1; and added Claims 5-6. The Office rejects pending Claims 1-6 as detailed below.
Response to Amendments
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.
+_+_+ Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keilaf et al. - U.S. Pub. 20190271767 - in view of prior IDS entries Inomata - JP2010286448A - and Ohishi et al. - U.S. Pub. 20010002860 +_+_+
[** Examiner Note: The Office has included with this Action a full English Espace.net translated copy of the Inomata reference, which was only partially translated when previously cited in an IDS submitted by Applicant.]
As for Claim 1, Keilaf teaches a measurement apparatus mounted to a vehicle, the measurement apparatus comprising: a light emitting unit configured to radiate pulsed light (Fig. 1A, Projecting Unit 102, ¶72 L2-4); at least one light receiving element configured to output a light reception signal corresponding to an amount of light received at a preset sensitivity, and to receive reflected light of the pulsed light radiated by the light emitting unit (Figs. 1A and 4A, Sensing Unit 106, including photodetection Sensors 116, ¶104); a measurement unit configured to measure an object based on the light reception signal output from the at least one light receiving element having received the reflected light (¶4, L4-9); a monitor circuit configured to generate a monitor signal indicating the amount of light received by the at least one light receiving element based on the light reception signal output from the at least one light receiving element (¶87, L10: “Optionally, sensing unit 106 may include sensor 116 that is agnostic to the laser polarization, and is primarily sensitive to the amount of impinging photons at a certain wavelength range.”) [..1..]. Keilaf generally teaches dynamically adjusting the sensitivity of photodetection elements, but does not detail the specific steps of monitoring and adjusting the photodetection element as recited in the remainder of the claims.
But Inomata teaches [1] an adjustment unit configured to adjust the sensitivity of the at least one light receiving element, based on a difference between a voltage of the monitor signal generated by the monitor circuit based on the light reception signal from the light receiving element having received reference light., and a voltage of the monitor signal generated by the monitor circuit based on the light reception signal from the light receiving element [..2..] (¶7|1: “For this reason, the invention according to claim 1 includes a distance measuring photodetector having a multiplication effect by applying a bias voltage, and a distance measuring light source that emits light toward the measurement object, Based on the time difference between the radiation timing of light directed from the distance measurement light source toward the measurement object and the light reception timing when the reflected light from the measurement object is received by the distance measurement photodetector, the measurement object In the optical distance measuring device for measuring the distance up to, reference light monitoring means for receiving the reference light having a constant intensity with respect to the distance measuring light detector, and the distance measuring light detector when receiving the reference light And a bias voltage correcting means for correcting the bias voltage so that the output becomes a target value.”), the reference light having an intensity fixed to a preset level while the sensitivity is adjusted (¶10|6: “The intensity of the light emitted from the light source is adjusted to be constant, [so] the detection output of the ranging light detector does not change with [a] change in the intensity of the light emitted from the ranging light source.”)
It 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 to combine Keilaf and Inomata because adjusting the sensitivity of a photodetection element is necessary to accommodate for varying intensities of received light as well as for stabilizing the sensitivity of photodetection element due to ambient light, heat, and other factors.
Keilaf and Inomata don’t explicitly teach the remaining limitations.
But Ohishi teaches [2] a light reception element from which the reference light is blocked (Fig. 6 showing light receiving element 7, receiving reference signal pulse 12 separate from receiving reflected light pulse 4’. That is the receiving element receives the reference signal separate from (i.e., blocked from) the light reception signal.)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find it obvious to combine Keilaf and Inomata with Ohishi because separating the reference and reflected signals allows for saving the step of separating the signals before calculating their individual intensities.
As for Claim 2, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches further comprising: a detection unit configured to detect, based on the monitor signal, a noise component contained in the light reception signal (¶234 L17: “For example, if a noise producing object (such as a vehicle tail light, license plate, etc.) is determined to be located at a certain distance from LIDAR system 100, then amplification parameter values may be reduced during a time window when light reflections from the noise producing object are expected to be received at sensor 116, for example. As a result, blinding effects caused by the noise producing object may be reduced.”)
As for Claim 3, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the at least one light receiving element includes a plurality of light receiving elements (¶104 L1: “Sensor 116 includes a plurality of detection elements 402 for detecting photons of a photonic pulse reflected back from field of view 120.”)
As for Claim 4, which depends on Claim 2, Keilaf teaches wherein the at least one light receiving element includes a plurality of light receiving elements (¶104 L1: “Sensor 116 includes a plurality of detection elements 402 for detecting photons of a photonic pulse reflected back from field of view 120.”)
As for Claim 5, which depends on Claim 1, Inomata teaches wherein the difference is calculated by subtracting (i) the voltage of the monitor signal generated by the monitor circuit based on the light reception signal from the light receiving element [..1..] from (ii) the voltage of the monitor signal generated by the monitor circuit based on the light reception signal from the light receiving element having received reference light (¶7|1: “For this reason, the invention according to claim 1 includes a distance measuring photodetector having a multiplication effect by applying a bias voltage, and a distance measuring light source that emits light toward the measurement object, Based on the time difference between the radiation timing of light directed from the distance measurement light source toward the measurement object and the light reception timing when the reflected light from the measurement object is received by the distance measurement photodetector, the measurement object In the optical distance measuring device for measuring the distance up to, reference light monitoring means for receiving the reference light having a constant intensity with respect to the distance measuring light detector, and the distance measuring light detector when receiving the reference light And a bias voltage correcting means for correcting the bias voltage so that the output becomes a target value.”) Keilaf and Inomata don’t explicitly the remaining element.
But Ohishi teaches [1] a light reception element from which the reference light is blocked (Fig. 6 showing light receiving element 7, receiving reference signal pulse 12 separate from receiving reflected light pulse 4’. That is the receiving element receives the reference signal separate from (i.e., blocked from) the light reception signal.)
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find it obvious to combine Keilaf and Inomata with Ohishi because separating the reference and reflected signals allows for saving the step of separating the signals before calculating their individual intensities.
As for Claim 6, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the monitor circuit is configured to measure an amount of DC light received by the at least one light receiving element, the DC light having an intensity that varies by a smaller amount per unit time than an intensity of the pulsed light (¶251|1: “In this example, LIDAR system 100 may detect illuminated tail lights 1014 on the vehicle 1006. As a source of ambient light [i.e., DC light], tail lights 1014 may create unwanted interference. To reduce the noise resulting from tail lights 1014, processor 118 may reduce the amplification level within a time window corresponding to the expected range of flight times expected for light traveling from LIDAR system 100 to the tail lights and back.”)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2 Jun 2026 relate to newly amended claims and are not addressed in this section; the rejections above, however, address the latest version of the claims in detail.
Conclusion
Applicants should direct any inquiry concerning this or earlier communications to CLINT THATCHER at phone 571.270.3588. Examiner is normally available Mon-Fri, 9am to 5:30pm ET and generally keeps a daily 2:30pm timeslot open for interviews.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, Examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao, can be reached at (571) 270-3603.
Though not relied on, the Office considers the additional prior art listed in the Notice of Reference Cited form (PTO-892) pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
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/Clint Thatcher/
Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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