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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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(s) 1, 5 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rotgaizer (US 8,155,527) in view of Wang (GB 12201510) and Tsubota. (JP H07146375)
With respect to claim 1, Rotgaizer teaches a spatial optical communication system comprising: a plurality of optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses capable of constituting a mesh spatial optical communication network (FSO system); and at least a first processor, a second processor and a communication network installed between the first processor and the second processor. (col. 5, lines 7-65, Figs. 1, 5a)
Rotgaizer does not explicitly teach wherein the first processor is configured to carry out a control process of measuring, with use of a reception signal of each of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, a quality of spatial optical communication of each of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, wherein the second processor is configured to carry out an acquisition process of acquiring the quality of spatial optical communication via the communication network from the first processor, an analysis process of inferring, on the basis of the quality of the spatial optical communication, a rain state of an air environment in at least one portion of an area in which the spatial optical communication network is formed, and an estimate process of estimating, on the basis of the rain state, a rainfall distribution in the area in which the spatial optical communication network is formed.
Wang teaches a processor which is configured to carry out a control process of measuring, with use of a reception signal of optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, a quality of optical communication of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses and an analysis process of inferring, on the basis of the quality of the optical communication, a rain state of an air environment of the apparatuses. (Abstract, pages 6-7)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Rotgaizer to include inferring a rain state in the area of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, as taught by Wang, in order to collect information about the rain state at these locations.
Tsubota teaches a processor configured to carry out an acquisition process of acquiring rainfall data and an estimate process of estimating, on the basis of the rain state, a rainfall distribution in an area. (Abstract)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the system of Rotgaizer to use rainfall data and a processor to calculate a rainfall distribution, as taught by Tsubota, in order to estimate the rainfall at a particular location.
With respect to claim 5, Rotgaizer, as modified by Wang and Tsubota, teaches wherein the quality of the spatial optical communication is at least one selected from the group consisting of a reception level of the reception signal and a bit error rate of the reception signal,
With respect to claim 8, Rotgaizer teaches an analysis apparatus comprising at least a first processor and a second processor, the first processor configured to carry out: an acquisition process of acquiring reception signals of a plurality of optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses capable of constituting a mesh spatial optical communication network.
Rotgaizer does not teach a control process of measuring, with use of a reception signal of each of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, a quality of spatial optical communication of each of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses; the second processor configured to carry out an acquisition process of acquiring the quality of spatial optical communication via the communication network from the first processor, and an analysis process of inferring, on the basis of the quality of the spatial optical communication, a rain state of an air environment in at least one portion of an area in which the spatial optical communication network is formed, or an estimate process of estimating, on the basis of the rain state, a rainfall distribution in the area in which the spatial optical communication network is formed.
Wang teaches a processor which is configured to carry out a control process of measuring, with use of a reception signal of optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, a quality of optical communication of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses and an analysis process of inferring, on the basis of the quality of the optical communication, a rain state of an air environment of the apparatuses. (Abstract, pages 6-7)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Rotgaizer to include inferring a rain state in the area of the optical transmitting and receiving apparatuses, as taught by Wang, in order to collect information about the rain state at these locations.
Tsubota teaches a processor configured to carry out an acquisition process of acquiring rainfall data and an estimate process of estimating, on the basis of the rain state, a rainfall distribution in an area. (Abstract)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the apparatus of Rotgaizer to use rainfall data and a processor to calculate a rainfall distribution, as taught by Tsubota, in order to estimate the rainfall at a particular location.
With respect to claim 9, Rotgaizer, as modified by Wang and Tsubota, teaches a non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to operate as an analysis apparatus according to claim 8, the program causing the computer to carry out the acquisition process and the analysis process.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed April 16, 2026 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.
Conclusion
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.
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/JILL E CULLER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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