DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/04/2024 was filed and considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
(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 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sanghera et al., US 2010/0271719 A1.
Claim 1 is anticipated by Sanghera et al. figures 1-5 and accompanying text which discloses a Risley prism assembly (RPA) 2 comprising:
. a first prism element 10
. a second prism element 20
. each of the first and second prism elements 10, 20 having an angular orientation about a common central rotation axis that is variable by causing respective first and second Risley prism assembly motors (RPA motors)(rotors 33, 37) to rotate the first and second prism elements about the central rotation axis 6
. wherein light entering the RPA along the central rotation axis and passing through both of the first and second prism elements 10, 20 is refracted away from the central rotation axis 6 at a maximum refraction angle γmax when an angular orientation difference Δθ between the angular orientation θ1 of the first prism element 10 and the angular orientation θ2 of the second prism element 20 is zero (fig. 3) and at a minimum refraction angle γmin when Δθ = 1800 (fig. 4)
. a controller 30
It is noted that the functional of the controller (e.g., apply an iterative root finding method of false position (MFP), direct the first and second RPA motors to adjust the angular orientations of the first and second prism elements) recites a one-step process which does not further limit the structure of the device claims. Therefore, this limitation has not been given patentable weight.
Re claim 2, wherein γmin = 0 (fig. 4).
Re claims 3-6 and 8-9, those claims recite the one-step process limitation(s) of the controller functional that does not further limit the structure of the device claims and those limitation(s) have not been given patentable weight.
Re claim 7, wherein the RPA is achromatic ([0022]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter
Claims 10 recites a computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising instructions configured for processing scanning instructions for an optical assembly which is not a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter (four statutory categories).
Conclusion
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/DUNG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871