DETAILED ACTION
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 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 –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
Claims 1-23 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102b as being anticipated by Cheng et al. (USPN 6,735,458-cited by the Applicant).
Cheng et al. discloses a self-calibrating optical imaging system comprising a set of detectors positioned in a circular arrangement; and first and second light sources linearly positioned on a bisecting line of a circle of the circular arrangement, wherein a first detector included in the set of detectors is a first distance from the first light source, a second detector included in the set of detectors is a second distance from the second light source, and the first distance and the second distance are equal (figure 1D, the detectors arranged on the circle and colored in red as shown in the figure below).
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The first detector is nearest to the first light source relative to all other detectors in the set of detectors, and a second detector is nearest to the second light source relative to the all other detectors in the set of detectors wherein the first detector is farthest from the second light source relative to the all other detectors in the set of detectors and is a third distance from the second light source, the second detector is farthest from the first light source relative to the all other detectors in the set of detectors and is a fourth distance from the first light source, and the third distance and the fourth distance are equal (figure 1D, the detectors arranged on the circle and colored in red as shown in the figure). Source-to-detector distances for the first light source and the second light source to all of the detectors in the set of detectors are unique with the exception of the first and the second distances and with the exception of the fourth and the fifth distances (Figure 1D) wherein the source-to-detector distances include at least fourteen unique distances. The set of detectors includes eight detectors wherein the first detector is next nearest to the first light source relative to all other detectors in the set of detectors, and a second detector is next nearest to the second light source relative to the all other detectors in the set of detectors. See the entire document.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-23 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 16-39 of U.S. Patent No. 9,186,112. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the copending application and the patent application are both directed towards providing plurality of detector and light sources on the face of the sensor head in specific distances from each other, and processor calculating the correction due to a variation between the first and second light sources using information from the first and second detectors and not from the third detector.
Claims 1-23 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-50 of U.S. Patent No. 11,890,095. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the copending application and the patent application are both directed towards providing plurality of detector and light sources on the face of the sensor head in specific distances from each other, and processor calculating the correction due to a variation between the first and second light sources using information from the first and second detectors and not from the third detector.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARJAN FARDANESH whose telephone number is (571)270-5508. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-17:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacqueline Cheng can be reached on (571)272-5596. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARJAN FARDANESH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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