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 .
Summary
This action is responsive to the arguments and remarks filed on 03/02/2026. Applicant has submitted Claims 1-15 for examination.
Examiner finds the following: 1) Claims 1-15 are rejected; 2) no claims objected to; and 3) no claims allowable.
Foreign Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant' s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of Application No. EP22171178.1, filed on 05/02/2022, has been filed in this matter.
Request for Continued Examination
Receipt is acknowledged of a request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) and a submission, filed on 03/02/2026.
Response to Arguments and Remarks
Examiner respectfully acknowledges Applicant’s arguments, remarks, and amendments. Examiner appreciates the interview conducted on 01/26/2026, where the parties largely agree on the operation of the claimed invention.
Applicant' s arguments with respect to claims 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.
Regarding the amendments and remarks about pump splitter, Examiner is not persuaded.
Applicant argues that the pump splitter as disclosed and claimed cannot be anticipated by the optical switch disclosed by Steel (US20190025095). Specifically, Applicant asserts the following limitation is not disclosed:
… an optical pump splitter configured to receive the pump signal and split the pump signal in a number N of channels, each channel comprising an optical fiber or a connector arranged for connecting an optical fiber; …
Further, Applicant indicates areas in the specification that indicate advantages over traditional optical switches, which Examiner appreciates.
However, based on Examiner’s review of the specification and Steel, Examiner does not understand the optical switch of Steel to be in the same category as the traditional optical switches compared against in the specification. Most specifically, both in the specification and in the arguments and remarks, Applicant indicates that optical switches don’t “divide or split the light, but instead directs all of the light in one direction at a first time, and then in another direction at a second time” (Arguments and Remarks, P5, Last Paragraph).
As discussed by Steel, [0045] (emphasis added):
The optical switch may be controlled by the one or more management units 7 which are arranged to generate a switch control signal 23 to cause the switch 22 to simultaneously couple a plurality of the interrogators each to a different one of the sensing optical fibres, and to change which interrogator is coupled to which sensing optical fibre from time to time as desired.
Additionally, in Steel [0089] (emphasis added):
For each interrogator switch element, selectable interconnections are provided to each sensing fibre switch element, and therefore also for each sensing fibre switch element, selectable interconnections are provided to each interrogator switch element, such that the optical switch can selectively and simultaneously couple each of a plurality of the interrogators to each of a plurality of the sensing optical fibres, in a one interrogator to one sensing optical fibre mode. Either all of the interrogators, or all of the sensing optical fibres (whichever is fewer in number) can be connected at the same time, if required.
As disclosed by Steel, Steel receives the signal and is able to send it to selected fibers, and, most importantly, can simultaneously send the signal down multiple fibers at once. At minimum that puts Steel outside of the more traditional optical switches discussed in the specification. Steel can switch on and off the signals to specific fibers based on the control signal 23, the function of the claimed pump splitter. As such, Examiner is not convinced and maintains the prior rejection.
To aid in future discussions, Examiner notes that there may be some conflation between optical switches as discussed by Applicant and Steel’s ability to switch on and off fibers, which are acting as switches of the optical lines.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claims 1-3 and 5-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steel (US20190025095A1) in view of Huang (US 20210172729 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Steel discloses:
A device for distributed sensing (Steel, FIG. 1, [0043], distributed optical fibre sensor 2) comprising:
a pump generator configured to generate an optical pump signal (Steel, FIG. 2, [0051], “probe light source 12 for generating probe light pulses of suitable timing, shape and wavelength”); …
… a controller configured to control the pump splitter (Steel, FIG. 1, [0045], management units 7);
an optical receiver configured to receive a backscattered signal from the optical fiber or from the connector of each channel (Steel, FIG. 2, [0051], “detector 14 for detecting probe light resulting from the probe light pulses being backscattered within a connected one of the sensing optical fibres 10a-10d”), wherein:
the optical pump splitter comprises a gating system comprising a gate for each channel among the plurality of channels (Steel, FIG. 2, [0052], “The optical switch 22 is arranged to couple each probe light pulse into a selected one of the sensing optical fibres 10a-10d”), each gate associated to a given channel being configured to have:
an open state for which the pump signal is allowed to go from the pump generator to the optical fiber or the connector of the associated channel, and
a closed state for which the pump signal is not allowed to go from the pump generator to the optical fiber or the connector of the associated channel (Steel, FIG. 1, [0043], “The sensor comprises a plurality of interrogator units 5a-5d which are optically coupled to the plurality of sensing optical fibres 10a-10d via an optical switch 22 which is preferably arranged to selectively couple any one of the interrogators to any one of the sensing optical fibres. In this way, probe light pulses from any one of the interrogators are directed into a correspondingly coupled sensing optical fibre, and backscattered probe light from that sensing optical fibre is directed back to the coupled interrogator, to thereby effect the sensing function through the properties of the backscatter of the probe light.” Examiner notes that the coupled state would be the claimed open state and that the decoupled state would be the claimed closed state).
Steel discloses the above, but does not explicitly disclose:
… an optical pump splitter configured to receive the pump signal and split the pump signal into a plurality of channels by dividing the signal into multiple pump signals for at least two or more of the plurality of channels, each channel comprising an optical fiber or a connector arranged for connecting an optical fiber; …
Examiner notes that previously this component was mapped to Steel, however, the division of the signals is not as clear as Examiner would want and thus relies on a new references.
However, Huang, in a similar field of endeavor (REAL-TIME OVERHEAD POWER LINE SAG MONITORING), discloses:
… an optical pump splitter configured to receive the pump signal and split the pump signal into a plurality of channels by dividing the signal into multiple pump signals for at least two or more of the plurality of channels (Huang, FIG. 3, [0019], “at least one polarization beam splitter (PBS) 121”), each channel comprising an optical fiber or a connector arranged for connecting an optical fiber (Huang, FIG. 3, [0021], “A coupler 135 shown in FIG. 3 splits the light through the main interferometer 131 into a reference path 137 and a signal path 139. The signal path 139 has a fiber coupler or circulator 143 whose one arm has a fiber under test (FUT) 145 (i.e., the optical fiber associated with power line 101 under inspection”); …
It would have been obvious to PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Steel with the splitter of Huang. PHOSITA would have known about the uses of optical splitters as disclosed by Huang and how to use them to modify Steel. PHOSITA would have been motivated to do this as a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (See MPEP § 2143 (I)(A)), specifically the use of optical splitters as means to split and separate signals.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein the pump signal is a pulsed pump signal (Steel, FIG. 2, [0051], “probe light source 12 for generating probe light pulses of suitable timing, shape and wavelength”), and the controller is configured to control that each gate is in its open state for a longer time than a duration of the pulsed pump signal in order to allow the pulsed pump signal to fully pass through the gate in its open state (Steel, FIG. 1, [0043], “The sensor comprises a plurality of interrogator units 5a-5d which are optically coupled to the plurality of sensing optical fibres 10a-10d via an optical switch 22 which is preferably arranged to selectively couple any one of the interrogators to any one of the sensing optical fibres. In this way, probe light pulses from any one of the interrogators are directed into a correspondingly coupled sensing optical fibre, and backscattered probe light from that sensing optical fibre is directed back to the coupled interrogator, to thereby effect the sensing function through the properties of the backscatter of the probe light”).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein the controller is configured to avoid injecting the pump signal in at least two channels at the same time (Steel, FIG. 2, [0052], sensing optical fibres 10a-10d. Examiner notes that for Steel to function, the coupling would inherently fully control the signals such that fibers not intended for the signal are decoupled and fibers intended for the signal are coupled).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein the backscattered signal comprises one or more of a Rayleigh backscattered signal, a Brillouin backscattered signal, or a Raman backscattered signal (Steel, [0055], “the sensing optical fibres may be interrogated using techniques known in the prior art based on Rayleigh backscatter, coherent Rayleigh noise, Raman scattering, and Brillouin scattering”).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein each channel comprises an optical fiber configured to monitor one or more a cable, a pipe, a branch or a string of a star network (Steel, FIG. 1, [0050], “Each sensing optical fibre 10a-10d may be coupled to the interrogator 5 by a length of down lead section 9 of the sensing optical fibre, which is not used for sensing the environment. This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 by different lengths of optical fibre before the respective cable 11a-11d is entered, but note that a down lead section 9 of a sensing optical fibre could also or instead be considered as a part of the sensing optical fibre which is housed within the respective fibre optical cable.” Examiner notes that fibers 10a-10d represent a star network in FIG. 1).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 6 and further discloses:
… wherein at least one of the channels is configured for monitoring one or more of cables, pipes, branches or strings departing in several different directions from a central position of the star network, the optical fiber of the at least one channel going back and forth with respect to the central position (Steel, FIG. 1, [0050], “Each sensing optical fibre 10a-10d may be coupled to the interrogator 5 by a length of down lead section 9 of the sensing optical fibre, which is not used for sensing the environment. This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 by different lengths of optical fibre before the respective cable 11a-11d is entered, but note that a down lead section 9 of a sensing optical fibre could also or instead be considered as a part of the sensing optical fibre which is housed within the respective fibre optical cable.” Examiner notes that fibers 10a-10d represent a star network in FIG. 1).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein each channel comprises an optical fiber configured to monitor at least one of a cable, a pipe, a branch or a string of at least one among a pipeline network, a transport network, a telecommunication network, an information network, or an electrical network (Steel, FIG. 1, [0050], “Each sensing optical fibre 10a-10d may be coupled to the interrogator 5 by a length of down lead section 9 of the sensing optical fibre, which is not used for sensing the environment. This is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 by different lengths of optical fibre before the respective cable 11a-11d is entered, but note that a down lead section 9 of a sensing optical fibre could also or instead be considered as a part of the sensing optical fibre which is housed within the respective fibre optical cable.” Examiner notes that fibers 10a-10d represent a star network in FIG. 1).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein the optical receiver comprises a detector shared for all the channels (Steel, FIG. 2, [0054], “Each detector 14 contains one or more detector elements 36 to detect backscattered light from the probe light pulses in the sensing optical fibres 10a-10d”).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 and further discloses:
… wherein the controller is configured to control at least two gates to be in the open state at a same time (Steel, FIG. 1, [0045], “The optical switch may be controlled by the one or more management units 7 which are arranged to generate a switch control signal 23 to cause the switch 22 to simultaneously couple a plurality of the interrogators each to a different one of the sensing optical fibres, and to change which interrogator is coupled to which sensing optical fibre from time to time as desired”).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1 but does not explicitly disclose:
A wind farm comprising a device according to claim 1.
Based on information and belief, Examiner understands that the operation of this apparatus is not patentably different whether it was in use in a wind farm or not, and, as such, does not give this limitation patentable weight.
Regarding Claim 12, Steel discloses:
A method for distributed sensing (Steel, FIG. 1, [0043], distributed optical fibre sensor 2) comprising:
generating, by a pump generator, an optical pump signal (Steel, FIG. 2, [0051], “probe light source 12 for generating probe light pulses of suitable timing, shape and wavelength”); …
… receiving, by an optical receiver, a backscattered signal from the optical fiber or from the connector of each channel (Steel, FIG. 1, [0045], management units 7), wherein:
the splitting is implemented with a gating system comprising a gate for each channel among the plurality of channels (Steel, FIG. 2, [0052], “The optical switch 22 is arranged to couple each probe light pulse into a selected one of the sensing optical fibres 10a-10d”), each gate associated to a channel of the plurality of channels and having:
an open state for which the pump signal is allowed to go from the pump generator to the optical fiber or the connector of the associated channel, and
a closed state for which the pump signal is not allowed to go from the pump generator to the optical fiber or the connector of the associated channel (Steel, FIG. 1, [0043], “The sensor comprises a plurality of interrogator units 5a-5d which are optically coupled to the plurality of sensing optical fibres 10a-10d via an optical switch 22 which is preferably arranged to selectively couple any one of the interrogators to any one of the sensing optical fibres. In this way, probe light pulses from any one of the interrogators are directed into a correspondingly coupled sensing optical fibre, and backscattered probe light from that sensing optical fibre is directed back to the coupled interrogator, to thereby effect the sensing function through the properties of the backscatter of the probe light.” Examiner notes that the coupled state would be the claimed open state and that the decoupled state would be the claimed closed state).
Steel discloses the above, but does not explicitly disclose:
… splitting, by an optical pump splitter, the optical pump signal into a plurality of channels by dividing the signal into multiple pump signals for at least two or more of the plurality of channels, each channel comprising an optical fiber or a connector arranged for connecting an optical fiber; …
Examiner notes that previously this component was mapped to Steel, however, the division of the signals is not as clear as Examiner would want and thus relies on a new references.
However, Huang, in a similar field of endeavor (REAL-TIME OVERHEAD POWER LINE SAG MONITORING), discloses:
… splitting, by an optical pump splitter, the optical pump signal into a plurality of channels by dividing the signal into multiple pump signals for at least two or more of the plurality of channels (Huang, FIG. 3, [0019], “at least one polarization beam splitter (PBS) 121”), each channel comprising an optical fiber or a connector arranged for connecting an optical fiber (Huang, FIG. 3, [0021], “A coupler 135 shown in FIG. 3 splits the light through the main interferometer 131 into a reference path 137 and a signal path 139. The signal path 139 has a fiber coupler or circulator 143 whose one arm has a fiber under test (FUT) 145 (i.e., the optical fiber associated with power line 101 under inspection”); …
It would have been obvious to PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Steel with the splitter of Huang. PHOSITA would have known about the uses of optical splitters as disclosed by Huang and how to use them to modify Steel. PHOSITA would have been motivated to do this as a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (See MPEP § 2143 (I)(A)), specifically the use of optical splitters as means to split and separate signals.
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 12 and further discloses:
… wherein the pump signal is a pulsed pump signal (Steel, FIG. 2, [0051], “probe light source 12 for generating probe light pulses of suitable timing, shape and wavelength”), and each gate is in its open state for a longer time than a duration of the pulsed pump signal in order to allow the pulsed pump signal to fully pass through the gate in its open state (Steel, FIG. 1, [0043], “The sensor comprises a plurality of interrogator units 5a-5d which are optically coupled to the plurality of sensing optical fibres 10a-10d via an optical switch 22 which is preferably arranged to selectively couple any one of the interrogators to any one of the sensing optical fibres. In this way, probe light pulses from any one of the interrogators are directed into a correspondingly coupled sensing optical fibre, and backscattered probe light from that sensing optical fibre is directed back to the coupled interrogator, to thereby effect the sensing function through the properties of the backscatter of the probe light”).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 12 and further discloses:
… wherein the splitting avoids injecting the pump signal in at least two channels at a same time (Steel, FIG. 2, [0052], sensing optical fibres 10a-10d. Examiner notes that for Steel to function, the coupling would inherently fully control the signals such that fibers not intended for the signal are decoupled and fibers intended for the signal are coupled).
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steel (US20190025095A1), in view of Huang (US 20210172729 A1), and in further view of Akkaya (US20130292555A1).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 1, and Huang futher discloses:
… wherein the optical receiver comprises, for each channel, a circulator (Huang, FIG. 3, [0021], fiber coupler or circulator 143), configured for:
directing the pump signal from the gate of this channel in its open state to the optical fiber or the connector of this channel but not to the optical receiver (Huang, FIG. 3. [0021], signal path 139), …
The combination of Steel and Huang but does not explicitly disclose:
… directing the backscattered signal from the optical fiber or the connector of this channel to the optical receiver but not to the gate of this channel.
However, Akkaya, in a similar field of endeavor (optical apparatus and methods utilizing sensors, more particularly sensors operating in the reflection mode), discloses:
… directing the backscattered signal from the optical fiber or the connector of this channel to the optical receiver but not to the gate of this channel (Akkaya, FIG. 15, [0069], “They are directed by the optical circulator 140(1) and the optical coupler 130(1) to the reflective sensing element 200(1),” and “The reflected portion from the sensing element 200(2) is directed by the optical coupler 130(2) back to the optical circulator 140(2)” showing that circulator 140 directs incoming probe light to its respective sensing element 200).
It would have been obvious to PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Steel and Huang with the circulator of Akkaya. PHOSITA would have known about the uses of circulators as disclosed by Akkaya and how to use them to modify the combination of Steel and Huang. PHOSITA would have been motivated to do this as a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (See MPEP § 2143 (I)(A)), specifically the use of circulators to control and direct optical signals.
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Steel and Huang discloses Claim 12, and Huang futher discloses:
… wherein the optical receiver comprises, for each channel, a circulator (Huang, FIG. 3, [0021], fiber coupler or circulator 143), configured for:
directing the pump signal from the gate of this channel in its open state to the optical fiber or the connector of this channel but not to the optical receiver (Huang, FIG. 3. [0021], signal path 139), …
The combination of Steel and Huang but does not explicitly disclose:
… directing the backscattered signal from the optical fiber or the connector of this channel to the optical receiver but not to the gate of this channel.
However, Akkaya, in a similar field of endeavor (optical apparatus and methods utilizing sensors, more particularly sensors operating in the reflection mode), discloses:
… directing the backscattered signal from the optical fiber or the connector of this channel to the optical receiver but not to the gate of this channel (Akkaya, FIG. 15, [0069], “They are directed by the optical circulator 140(1) and the optical coupler 130(1) to the reflective sensing element 200(1),” and “The reflected portion from the sensing element 200(2) is directed by the optical coupler 130(2) back to the optical circulator 140(2)” showing that circulator 140 directs incoming probe light to its respective sensing element 200).
It would have been obvious to PHOSITA before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Steel and Huang with the circulator of Akkaya. PHOSITA would have known about the uses of circulators as disclosed by Akkaya and how to use them to modify the combination of Steel and Huang. PHOSITA would have been motivated to do this as a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (See MPEP § 2143 (I)(A)), specifically the use of circulators to control and direct optical signals.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAD A REVERMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0079. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kara Geisel can be reached at (571) 272-2416. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAD ANDREW REVERMAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2877
/Kara E. Geisel/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877