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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 3/18/2026 was accepted and entered. Accordingly, claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6-7, and 9-16 has/have been amended. Claim(s) 2 and 8 has/have been cancelled. Claim(s) 11-16 has/have been newly added. Thus, claims 1, 3-7, and 9-16 are currently pending in this application.
In view of the amendment, the previous rejection under 35 USC 112 has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the previous rejections under 35 USC 102 and 103 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.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the configuration of the side of the infrared sensor that detects infrared radiation to face the side of the processor that obtains the signal from the infrared sensor must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 3-7, and 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. While there is original support for the infrared sensor and the computation and control processor to be stacked ([0008]) there is not original support for the configuration of the side of the infrared sensor that detects infrared radiation to face the side of the processor that obtains the signal from the infrared sensor.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tofighi et al. (US 20220167865) teaches an infrared module comprising: an infrared sensor (see 102) that detects infrared radiation emitted from an object (skin tissue) being measured; a computation and control processor (see 110/PC) comprising a temperature measurement unit (see connection with thermistor Therm 1) that obtains a signal from the infrared sensor (see connection 102 data line to controller from sensor 132/134 and 150, in Fig. 7) and measures a temperature of its own (paragraph 0084), the computation and control processor obtaining a temperature signal from the temperature measurement unit (see data line shown in Fig. 7 from 150 to 110) and performing a computation (see programming of 110 and for example PWM adjustments made each temperature measurement iteration paragraph 0103); and a heating element (150) that regulates a temperature of the infrared sensor by generating heat (power supplied to heating element), wherein the infrared sensor and the computation and control processor are stacked (see vertical arrangement shown in Fig. 7).
Wang et al. (US 20210364359) teaches the use of a substrate (11) comprising a terminal (127) for conducting a current to the heating element (123), wherein the heating element is wiring disposed on a surface (see for example Fig. 3) of the substrate in contact with the second surface, and the substrate having the heating element is packaged together with the infrared sensor and the computation and control processor.
Kusaka et al. (US 2011/0073588) teaches having an infrared sensor and a control circuit in a stacked configuration (Fig. 1).
Boieriu et al. (US 2003/0102432) teaches an infrared array of detectors connected to an integrated circuit (Abstract; claim 10; Figure 14).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Carolyn Fin whose telephone number is (571)270-1286. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uzma Alam can be reached at 571-272-3995. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CAROLYN FIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2884
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