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 .
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11, 14, 27-29, 31-33, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gagne et al. (2022/0091242).
Regarding claim 1, Gagne discloses a lidar device, comprising: a laser source (101) configured to emit a transmit beam; an optical scanner (102), comprising at least one lens (305, 307, 317, 318), configured to transmit a first portion of the transmit beam (302) towards a target (320) and receive a receive beam (321, 322) reflected by the target; a transmission medium (307) configured to provide a propagation path for the transmit beam and the receive beam; and a target detection module (314 or the system as shown in Fig. 1) configured to determine a range and/or a velocity of the target (note par. 51) based on the receive beam and a second portion (309, 324) of the transmit beam reflected at a media-air interface (note par. 61 and 62) defined at an end of the transmission medium where the first portion of the transmit beam is launched into air towards the at least one lens of the optical scanner.
Regarding claim 2, Gagne discloses the second portion of the transmit beam is used as a local oscillator (LO) signal to determine the range and/or the velocity of the target (note par. 3, 61 and 62).
Regarding claim 3, Gagne discloses a mixer configured to mix the receive beam and the second portion of the transmit beam to generate a mixed signal having a beat frequency (par. 3).
Regarding claim 4, Gagne discloses the range and/or the velocity of the target is determined from the beat frequency (note par. 3, 51, 53).
Regarding claim 5, Gagne discloses the target detection module is configured to determine a reflectivity of the target based on the receive beam and the second portion of the transmit beam (note par. 12).
Regarding claim 6, Gagne discloses a configuration of the media-air interface is adjustable to control at least one characteristic of the second portion of the transmit beam (note 307 in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 7, Gagne discloses the at least one characteristic of the second portion of the transmit beam comprises an intensity of the second portion of the transmit beam (note 309 in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 8, Gagne discloses the configuration of the media-air interface corresponds to a configuration of the transmission medium (note par. 61 and 62).
Regarding claim 9, Gagne discloses the media-air interface comprises an angled endface of the transmission medium (note 307 in Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 10, Gagne discloses the media-air interface comprises an angled endface of a connector coupled to the transmission medium (note 307 in Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 11, Gagne discloses the media-air interface comprises a coating applied to the transmission medium (note par. 61 and 62).
Regarding claims 14, 27-29, and 31-33 see similar rejections as set forth above.
Regarding claim 38, Gagne discloses each lidar device is configured to provide navigation and/or mapping for the vehicle and is disposed in an interior of the vehicle and/or on an exterior of the vehicle (note par. 44).
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) 12 and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gagne et al. (2022/0091242).
Regarding claims 12 and 33, Gagne does not disclose that the media-air interface comprises a grating integrated within the transmission medium. Instead, Gagne teaches that the optical window 307 can be any conventional optical window so long it transmits and partially reflects a beam of light. The examiner take Official Notice that using grating transmission medium as a light transmission and partial reflection medium is well known in the art. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the well known grating transmission medium as the optical window 307 in Gagne to perform the well known functions as claimed.
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.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/MICHAEL LEE/ Primary Examiner,
Art Unit 2422