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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9, 10, 12, 22, 23, 25 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Referring to claim 9 and 22, the equation is t_1+Δt1 is unclear. The claim fails to define what the variable t1 is. Note this variable is defined in claim 8 however claim 9 depends on claim 6.
Referring to claims 9 and 22 the claim continues to include the equation distance=(t_max-t0)×C/2 speed of light. It is unclear if “speed of light” is merely a definition of the variable C or if there is a 2*speed of light in the denominator of the equation.
Referring to claim 10 and 23, the claims include the equation distance=(t_max-t0)×C/2 speed of light. It is unclear if “speed of light” is merely a definition of the variable C or if there is a 2*speed of light in the denominator of the equation.
The term “strong light” and “weak light” in claim 12 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “strong light” and “weak light” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear if the light is compared to a threshold that determines if the light is strong or weak and how that threshold is set.
The term “strong light” and “weak light” in claim 25 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “strong light” and “weak light” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear if the light is compared to a threshold that determines if the light is strong or weak and how that threshold is set.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 16, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pacala (20190011567).
Referring to claims 1, 16, and 29, Pacala shows A 3D image sensor ranging system, comprising:
at least one light-emitting unit array (see figure 3 Ref 310), each of the light-emitting unit array comprising at least one light-emitting unit (see figure 3 note the individual elements 302), configured to emit light to a target scenario (see figure 3 Ref 310 and 312);
at least one photosensitive unit array (see figure 3 Ref 320), each of the photosensitive unit array comprising at least one photosensitive unit (see figure 3 Ref 308), configured to receive at least a part of light emitted by the light-emitting unit and reflected by the target scenario (see figure 3 note the reflected light 318), and generate a sensing tensor based on received light (see figures 18-19 also see paragraph 182-183 note the scanning that locates a target in the field of view); and
at least one computing component (see figure 1 Ref 122), configured to calculate at least one of a distance between the light-emitting unit and the target scenario (paragraph 80) or a light intensity of the reflected light of the emitted light (see paragraph 80 note the time or intensity histogram), wherein the distance and the light intensity correspond to an angle of the emitted light (see figure 18-20 note the scanning that acquires distance to targes based on the angle of the solid state scanning lidar also see paragraph 181-186 for a description of the scanning of the emitter array and detector array through the field of regard), based on the sensing tensor generated by the at least one photosensitive unit (note the tensor data is associated with what elements are activated and the angle those elements are set to scan as shown in the figures 18-20).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8, 11, 13-15, 17-21, 24, and 26-28 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUKE D RATCLIFFE whose telephone number is (571)272-3110. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Isam Alsomiri can be reached at 571-272-6970. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LUKE D RATCLIFFE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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