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 without traverse of Group I, claims 1-25, in the reply filed on May 9, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 26-27 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on May 9, 2026.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 9-11, 13, 17-22, and 24-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Doneen et al. (US Patent No. 4,906,837, from hereinafter “Doneen”).
Regarding claims 1, 9-11, 13, 17-22, and 24-25, Doneen teaches a multi-channel waveguide optical sensor. Doneen teaches an optical sensor for sensing a target, the optical sensor comprising: an input optical conduit, an output optical conduit, and an optical field generator optically coupled to the input optical conduit and the output optical conduit; the input optical conduit to receive an input light and to guide the input light towards the optical field generator; the optical field generator to: receive the input light from the input optical conduit; generate based on the input light an optical field extending at least partially outside of the optical field generator to interact with the target to generate an altered light, the target positioned outside the optical field generator; and guide the altered light to the output optical conduit; and the output optical conduit to receive the altered light from the optical field generator when it is taught An optical sensor for monitoring the motion and/or position of a moving element. One preferred embodiment of the optical sensor (50) includes a soda lime silicate glass substrate (52) in which a plurality of transmit waveguide channels (54), (56), and (58) are formed by an ion diffusion process. The waveguide conveys light pulses to a plurality of read ports (60), (62), and (64) through which the pulses are emitted to illuminate reflective areas formed on the surface of an adjacent moving element (59). Pulses of light reflected back from the reflective areas re-enter the read ports, propagating in the opposite direction through combination transmit/receive portions of the optical waveguide channels (72), (74), and (76), combining in a common receive waveguide channel (78). The reflected pulses are conveyed through a receive optical fiber (80) to a fiber-optic receiver (170), where they are converted to electrical pulses, which are decoded to provide an indication of the speed and/or position of the moving element (see Figure 2, abstract).
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.
Claim(s) 2-8 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doneen in view of Hanley et al. (USPGPUB 20100016845, from hereinafter “Hanley”).
Regarding claims 2-8 and 23, Doneen fails to teach the particulars of the capillary tubes.
Hanley teaches in Figure 4, wherein the optical field generator comprises a capillary having an outer surface and a capillary tube, the capillary having a first end optically coupled to the input optical conduit and a second end opposite the first end, the second end optically coupled to the output optical conduit, the capillary to generate the optical field extending outside of the outer surface of the capillary (see Figures 3-4, paragraphs 26-31).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the capillaries as described so that the light is able to be guided efficiently in environmental testing.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 14-16 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 LISA M CAPUTO whose telephone number is (571)272-2388. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5 EST.
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/LISA M CAPUTO/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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