DETAILED ACTION
Notice to Applicant
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Applicant's election with traverse of Group 1 claims 1-7 in the reply filed on 11/10/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that claims 1 and 8 are related as combination and sub combination, thus the restriction is improper. Applicant’s Remarks are found persuasive and thus the restriction requirement has been withdrawn. Accordingly, claims 1-19 have been examined herewith.
Claims 1-19 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 3, 12, and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The following changes should be made to avoid potential 112 issues therein:
On line 1 of claims 2 and 12 respectively, change “a first” to --the first--.
On line 1 of claims 3 and 13 respectively, change “a second” to --the second--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Tantawi et al. US 2023/0335878.
As per claims 1-4, Tantawi et al. discloses in Fig. 5 a radio-frequency (RF) waveguide comprising:
as per claim 1, a pair of parallel rectangular waveguides including a first waveguide and a second waveguide (e.g. rectangular waveguide devices 210 and 220 respectfully that are disposed parallel on top of one another); and a mode converter (Paragraph 37, circular waveguides P4, P4’, and P3; The rectangular waveguides 210 and 220 are single mode waveguides and the circular waveguides support at least two TE modes, thus the circular waveguides are necessarily “mode converters” that convert the single mode to at least two TE modes.) coupled to respective ends of the pair of parallel rectangular waveguides (The waveguides P4, P4’, and P3 are coupled to respective right ends of the waveguides 210 and 220.), the mode converter comprising two coaxial cylinders (The waveguides P4, P4’ and P3 are circular in shape (i.e. “cylindrical”) and are coaxially aligned about a vertical axis thereof.);
as per claim 2, wherein the first waveguide of the pair of parallel rectangular waveguides is configured to feed microwaves from an RF source into the mode converter (Paragraph 42; Power is input at port P1 of waveguide 210, where the power is inherently provided to the circular waveguides by an “RF source” as well-known in the art.);
as per claim 3, wherein the second waveguide of the pair of rectangular waveguides is coupled to an RF load (Port P2’ is an output port for the waveguide 220, where the power within the waveguide is outputted to an external circuit (i.e. “RF load”).); and
as per claim 4, wherein the mode converter is configured to transform a radiation pattern into a rotating TE-11 coaxial mode between the two coaxial cylinders (Paragraph 39; TE10 mode (i.e. “a radiation pattern”) propagates within the waveguides 210 and 220 and the circular waveguides P4, P4’, and P3’ transform the TE10 mode to TE11 mode within the circular waveguides.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 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.
Claims 8-18 are allowed.
As per claim 8, the closest prior art Tantawi et al. discloses an apparatus comprising all of the limitations recited therein EXCEPT an electron source and an accelerator including all of the limitations recited therein.
As per claim 18, the closest prior art Tantawi et al. discloses a method comprising all of the limitations recited therein EXCEPT generating an axial magnetic field in an RF cavity with a first magnet surrounding the RF cavity; emitting a beam of electrons into the RF cavity; and accelerating the beam of electrons axially entering the RF cavity with non-linear cyclotron resonance acceleration.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAKESH PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0961. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren-Baltzell can be reached at 571-272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RAKESH B PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843