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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 11/20/2023 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by JP-H0897000 (Yasuyuki).
For claim 1, Yasuyuki teaches a method for efficient production of multiple high-brightness FEL beamlines using only one electron beam (fig. 1), comprising:
a group of serially arranged FEL oscillators arranged side-by-side along a line (fig. 1, 9; see translation 14th-16th line after [0004]); and passing electron bunches from an accelerator (fig. 1, 1; 1st-2nd line after [0003] and 1st-2nd line after [0004] of translation) through all of said FEL oscillators to generate one FEL beamline in each of the FEL oscillators (fig. 1, oscillators 9).
For claim 2, Yasuyuki inherently teaches said group of serially arranged FEL oscillators boosting the electron beam current by a factor of the number of FEL oscillators and leading to multiple times higher photon flux/average brightness (this limitation is a function of the ring configuration in Yasuyuki similar to the ring configure of the instant application; see instant specification [0020]).
For claim 3, Yasuyuki teaches said group of serially arranged FEL oscillators arranged in a closed ring (fig. 1); and said electron bunches from an accelerator passing through all FEL oscillators one time to generate an FEL beamline at each of said FEL oscillators (fig. 1, 9; see translation 14th-16th line after [0004]; in one trip around the ring, the electron bunches pass through all the FEL oscillators one time).
For claim 4, Yasuyuki teaches boosting the electron beam current by a factor of the number of serially arranged FEL oscillators (inherent in the device of fig. 1 due to serial configuration of oscillators rather than a parallel arrangement); and multiplying the amount of bunch recirculation in the ring and leading to multiple times higher photon flux/average brightness (fig. 1, from ring configuration; 1st and 2nd line on page 5 of translation).
For claim 5, Yasuyuki teaches combining electron bunch recirculation in the ring (fig. 1, ring) with reuse of the electron beam for energy recovery linac (ERL) (fig. 1, 6; abstract) for enhanced FEL production (1st and 2nd line on page 5 of translation).
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over JP-H0897000 (Yasuyuki) in view of US 2018/0241172 (Ruth).
For claim 6, Yasuyuki does not explicitly state said ring photon source includes a plurality of incoherent synchrotron radiation (SR) beamlines. However, Ruth teaches a similar device (fig. 5) wherein the resonator (fig. 5, 504, 506, 508, and 510) is configured to generate incoherent as well as coherent radiation ([0038]) in order to produce a high power FEL beam (abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the resonator of Ruth which produces incoherent radiation as a simple substitution for the different oscillators of Yasuyuki as the substituted components and their functions were known in the art and the substitution would have yielded predictable results. In the present case, the substituted component provides an alternative oscillator in order to produce a high power FEL. See MPEP 2143 I.B.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 6,636,534 teaches a series of oscillators in a FEL device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael W Carter whose telephone number is (571)270-1872. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9:00-5:30.
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/Michael Carter/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828
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