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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 2 and 4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Koechner (U.S. Patent # 4,788,436).
In Re claim 1, ‘436 teaches a plastic wavelength shifting fiber comprising: a core (scintillator) containing a fluorescent agent having a peak of a fluorescence spectrum in a wavelength range of 430 to 550 nm (col. 7, lines 13 – 38); and a cladding (col. 7, lines 39 – 41) covering an outer peripheral surface of the core and having a refractive index lower than that of the core (col. 8, lines 46 – 47), wherein the number of carbonyl bonds in the fluorescent agent is zero (‘436 does not teach carbonyl bonds thus the number of carbonyl bond is zero, furthermore the claim recites the agents that do not contain carbonyl bonds, of which ‘436 teaches, thus meeting the claimed limitation), and the fluorescent agent is a bisstyryl-benzene-based compound or a bisvinylcarbazole-benzene-based compound (col. 7, lines 30 – 38).
In Re claim 4, ‘436 teaches wherein an outer diameter of the plastic wavelength shifting fiber is 0.1 to 3.0 mm (col. 8, lines 4 – 5).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koechner (U.S. Patent # 4,788,436) in view of HIRONAKA (JPH08248276A).
In Re claim 2, ‘436 teaches the fiber of claim 1 and that green and red emitting fluorescent materials are also available for such wavelength shifting, but is expressly silent to wherein a range of a peak wavelength of a fluorescence spectrum of the fluorescent agent is 450 to 550 nm.
‘276 teaches to use a variant of a bisstyryl-benzene-based compound to achieve blue and green wavelengths, which meets the claimed 450 – 550nm wavelengths (pages 5 and 6 of translation).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘436 to use the compounds as taught by ‘276 to fluoresce at 450nm to 550nm as the fluorescent material to create the green wavelength as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAD SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1294. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at 1-571-272-2397. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAD H SMITH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874