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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I (i.e., claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 05/07/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 11-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
For fee calculating purposes, Applicant's claim 10 was initially determined to be a dependent claim because of its reference to claim 1 (MPEP §608.01(n) II.). However, claim 10’s reference to claim 1 simply functions as a cross reference. The reference to claim 1is not phrased so as the system of claim 10 further limits the device of claim 1. Instead, claim 10 is phrased as: claim 10 is drawn to a system that incorporates the limitations recited in device claim 1.
While a dependent claim is required to make an express reference to a prior claim from which it depends (35 U.S.C. §112 (d)/4th paragraph), it does not follow that reference to another/prior claim indicates the claim is intended to be a dependent claim.
Therefore, Applicant is required to cancel the claim, or amend the claim to place the claim in proper dependent form, or rewrite, in unequivocal terms, the claim in independent form.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 are allowed.
Claims 1-9 are allowable because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest a device having all the combinations of elements recited in and required by independent claim 1, particularly including, among other things, the following:
In claim 1, one magnet configured to locally generate a magnetic field gradient between the first and second quantum dots, such that the first and second quantum dots respectively have first and second resonance frequencies which are different from one another, wherein the magnet comprises at least one first magnetic domain and one second magnetic domain distributed along the longitudinal direction and separated by at least one domain wall, said first and second magnetic domains respectively have a first magnetisation and a second magnetisation of opposite directions in the longitudinal direction, so as to locally generate said magnetic field gradient between the first and second quantum dots.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner SURESH MEMULA whose telephone number is (571)272-8046, and any inquiry for a formal Applicant initiated interview must be requested via a PTOL-413A form and faxed to the Examiner's personal fax phone number: (571) 273-8046. Furthermore, Applicant is invited to contact the Examiner via email (suresh.memula@uspto.gov) on the condition the communication is pursuant to and in accordance with MPEP §502.03 and §713.01. The Examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday: 9am-6pm. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Jack Chiang, can be reached on 571-272-7483. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned (i.e., central fax phone number) 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SURESH MEMULA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2851