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 .
Detailed Action
This office Action is in response to an application filed on 06/14/2023 is a 371 of PCT/EP2021/086401 12/17/2021, in which claims 16-30 are pending and are being examined.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C § 119(a)-(d). Claimed foreign priority date for application GERMANY 10 2020 134 194.6 12/18/2020. The certified copy has been filed on 06/14/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
This information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/14/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Examiner’s Note
Claims 16-20 refer to "A LIDAR System”, Claims 21-29 refer to " A LIDAR System”, and Claim 30 refers to " A LIDAR System”. Claims 16-20 and 30 are similarly rejected in light of rejection of claims 21-29, any obvious combination of the rejection of claims 21-29, or the differences are obvious to the ordinary skill in the art.
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 21-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Philipp (US 20200072950 A1 A1) in view of Amor et al. (US 20200003879 A1), hereinafter Amor.
Regarding claim 21, Philipp discloses a LIDAR system comprising: a light detection system comprising (Abstract): a first optical component configured to: receive polarized light from a field of view of the LIDAR system, and convert a polarization of the received light (Fig. 2, [0031]); and a light deflection device configured to deflect light output by the first optical component in accordance with a polarization of light output by the first optical component (Fig. 2, [0031]).
Philipp discloses all the elements of claim 1 but Philipp does not appear to explicitly disclose in the cited section type of polarization.
However, Amor from the same or similar endeavor teaches type of polarization ([0009]-[0011]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Philipp to incorporate the teachings of Amor to improve signal to noise ratio (Amor, [0001]). Similar reasoning/motivation of modification can be applied/extended to the other related/dependent claims.
Regarding claim 22, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to claim 21, wherein the polarized light received from the field of view of the LIDAR system comprises a first portion having a first polarization of a second type and a second portion having a second polarization of the second type (Philipp, Fig. 2, Amor, [0009]-[0011]).
Regarding claim 23, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to The LIDAR system according to wherein the first polarization of the second type is a first linear polarization aligned along a first direction and the second polarization of the second type is a second linear polarization aligned along a second direction, perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein the first optical component is configured to convert the first linear polarization to a first circular polarization with a first handedness, and the second linear polarization to a second circular polarization with a second handedness opposite the first handedness (Philipp, Fig. 2, Amor, [0009]-[0011]).
Regarding claim 24, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to claim 21, wherein the first optical component comprises a quarter-wave plate (Philipp, Fig. 2, [0031], Amor, [0009]-[0011]).
Regarding claim 25, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to claim 21, wherein the light deflection device comprises a liquid crystal polarization grating (Philipp, Fig. 2, [0031], Amor, [0009]-[0011]).
Regarding claim 26, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to The LIDAR system according to wherein the light detection system further comprises an optical arrangement configured to receive the light deflected by the light deflection device, and wherein the optical arrangement comprises: a second optical component configured to convert a type of the polarization of the deflected light from the first type to the second type, and a third optical component configured to absorb or reflect a second portion of the deflected light having a second polarization of the second type (Philipp, Fig. 2, [0031], Amor, [0009]-[0011]).
Regarding claim 27, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to claim 21, wherein the light detection system further comprises a fourth optical component arranged optically upstream of the first optical component, the fourth optical component being configured to absorb or reflect a second portion of the received light having a second polarization of a second type (Philipp, Fig. 2, [0031], Amor, [0009]-[0011], Fig. 1).
Claims 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Philipp in view of Amor further in view of Thayer et al. (US 20190018143 A1), hereinafter Thayer.
Regarding claim 28, Philipp in view of Amor disclose in the cited section the LIDAR system according to claim 21, wherein the light detection system further comprises an optical component configured to: receive the light from the field of view, change a first direction into which a first linear polarization of a first portion of the received light is aligned to a second direction, and change a second direction into which a second linear polarization of a second portion of the received light is aligned to the first direction (Philipp, Fig. 2, [0031], Amor, [0009]-[0011], Fig. 1).
Philipp in view of Amor discloses all the elements of claim 28 but they do not appear to explicitly disclose in the cited section a switchable optical component.
However, Thayer from the same or similar endeavor teaches a switchable optical component ([0248]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Philipp in view of Amor to incorporate the teachings of Thayer to improve resolution of pulses (Thayer, Abstract). Similar reasoning/motivation of modification can be applied/extended to the other related/dependent claims.
Regarding claim 29, Philipp in view of Amor discloses the LIDAR system according to claim 28, wherein the switchable optical component comprises a switchable half-wave plate (Philipp, Fig. 2, [0031], Amor, [0009]-[0011], Fig. 1, Thayer, [0248]).
Regarding claim 16-20, 30, See Examiner’s Note.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD J RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7190. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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/Mohammad J Rahman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2487