CTNF 18/541,743 CTNF 100148 DETAILED ACTION This is the first office action on the merits. Claims 1-7 are currently pending. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/15/2023 and 2/2/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Specification 07-29 AIA The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: On page 15 line 17: “are a 203” should be “area 203”. On page 16 line 13: “po in t spread fu nc tion” should be “point spread function” On page 16 line 14: “Figure 2 ” should be “Figure 2” Appropriate correction is required. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim s 1 and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities: there is an unclosed parenthesis in the limitation “the first receiving area is configured from a first sequence (of pixels along a plurality of rows…” . Appropriate correction is required. Claims 2-4 are objected to due to dependency. 07-29-01 AIA Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: “(ii) a pixel of a row lies in a directly adjacent column as a a pixel” should be “(ii) a pixel of a row lies in a directly adjacent column as a pixel” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-3 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota et al., US 20210302551 A1 (“Kubota”) in view of Ueno et al., US 20220268896 A1 (“Ueno”) . Regarding claim 1, Kubota discloses a method for detecting defocusing of a LiDAR sensor, comprising the following steps: emitting primary light in the form of a laser line into a field of view of the LiDAR sensor using at least one laser emitter unit of a transmitting unit of the LiDAR sensor to scan the field of view (Fig. 1, light source 15, mirror 24, Paragraph [0033]); receiving secondary light reflected and/or scattered in the field of view by an object using a matrix-shaped detector unit of a receiving unit (Fig. 1-2, light detector 33, Paragraph [0056]), wherein the matrix- shaped detector unit includes a first receiving area and a second receiving area which differs from the first receiving area (Fig. 14, region AR, regions TR1, TR2, Paragraph [0121]); determining a distance between the LiDAR sensor and an object in the field of view of the LiDAR sensor based on secondary light received in the first receiving area using an evaluation unit (Fig. 1, distance measurement processor 37, Paragraph [0057]); and ascertaining information about an extent of defocusing based on secondary light received in the second receiving area using an evaluation unit (Fig. 15: short-distance case, Fig. 17, Paragraph [0140]-[0141]: light detected in TDC region TR exceeds a threshold TH1 and is processed by distance measurement processor 37); wherein: the first receiving area is determined by calibrating the matrix-shaped detector unit (Fig. 5,light-receiving region DR, Paragraph [0086]), the first receiving area and the second receiving area are activated separately from one another to receive the secondary light (Fig. 14, ADC region AR, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]), the second receiving area is activated during individual scans of a plurality of consecutive scans (Fig. 14, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]), the first receiving area is configured from a first sequence (of pixels along a plurality of rows of the matrix-shaped detector unit (Fig. 14, ADC region AR, Paragraph [0123]: AR set to 3x3 pixels), […], and the second receiving area is configured from a pattern of pixels along the plurality of rows of the matrix-shaped detector unit (Fig. 14, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]), wherein the pattern includes exactly one pixel in each row (Fig. 14, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]: TR1 and TR2 set to 1x3 pixels), […]. Kubota does not teach: (1) wherein the first sequence includes exactly one pixel in each row and (2) wherein the pattern partially overlaps the first sequence, and a number of pixels of the pattern disposed outside the first receiving area is greater than a number of pixels of the pattern that overlap the first sequence. However, Ueno teaches an optical distance measurement apparatus that determines if a scanning deviation occurs by using two detecting regions on a matrix-shaped detector. The light reception area AR2 is composed of exactly one pixel in each row for an area of 1x7 pixels. The light reception area AR1 is composed of 3x9 pixels and overlaps the area AR2 with more pixels outside of the region AR2 than a number of pixels that overlap the region AR2 (Fig. 16, light reception area AR1 and AR2, Paragraph [0103]). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kubota’s ADC region to have exactly one pixel in each row and Kubota’s TDC regions to overlap the ADC region, both of which are disclosed by Ueno. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce measurement error, as suggested by Ueno (Paragraph [0104]). Regarding claim 2, Kubota, as modified in view of Ueno, disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the first sequence is further configured such that: (i) a pixel of a row lies in a same column as a pixel of a directly adjacent row of the matrix- shaped detector unit (Ueno, Fig. 16, light reception area AR2, Paragraph [0103]) and/or (ii) a pixel of a row lies in a directly adjacent column as a a pixel of a directly adjacent row of the matrix-shaped detector unit. Regarding claim 3, Kubota, as modified in view of Ueno, disclose the method according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the ascertained information about an extent of defocusing to a control unit of a vehicle, the control unit being configured to control a driving function of the vehicle (Fig. 1, image processor 40, Paragraph [0052]: measurement from short-distance object causing defocusing is sent to control program of vehicle). Regarding claim 5, Kubota discloses a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program for detecting defocusing of a LiDAR sensor (Fig. 1, controller 11, Paragraph [0034]), the computer program, when executed by a computer, causing the computer to perform the following steps: emitting primary light in the form of a laser line into a field of view of the LiDAR sensor using at least one laser emitter unit of a transmitting unit of the LiDAR sensor to scan the field of view (Fig. 1, light source 15, mirror 24, Paragraph [0033]); receiving secondary light reflected and/or scattered in the field of view by an object using a matrix-shaped detector unit of a receiving unit, wherein the matrix- shaped detector unit includes a first receiving area and a second receiving area which differs from the first receiving area (Fig. 14, region AR, regions TR1, TR2, Paragraph [0121]); determining a distance between the LiDAR sensor and an object in the field of view of the LiDAR sensor based on secondary light received in the first receiving area using an evaluation unit (Fig. 1, distance measurement processor 37, Paragraph [0057]); and ascertaining information about an extent of defocusing based on secondary light received in the second receiving area using an evaluation unit (Fig. 15: short-distance case, Fig. 17, Paragraph [0140]-[0141]: light detected in TDC region TR exceeds a threshold TH1 and is processed by distance measurement processor 37); wherein: the first receiving area is determined by calibrating the matrix-shaped detector unit (Fig. 5,light-receiving region DR, Paragraph [0086]), the first receiving area and the second receiving area are activated separately from one another to receive the secondary light (Fig. 14, ADC region AR, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]), the second receiving area is activated during individual scans of a plurality of consecutive scans (Fig. 14, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]), the first receiving area is configured from a first sequence (of pixels along a plurality of rows of the matrix-shaped detector unit (Fig. 14, ADC region AR, Paragraph [0123]: AR set to 3x3 pixels), […], and the second receiving area is configured from a pattern of pixels along the plurality of rows of the matrix-shaped detector unit (Fig. 14, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]), wherein the pattern includes exactly one pixel in each row (Fig. 14, TDC regions TR1 and TR2, Paragraph [0123]: TR1 and TR2 set to 1x3 pixels), and […]. Kubota does not teach: (1) wherein the first sequence includes exactly one pixel in each row and (2) wherein the pattern partially overlaps the first sequence, and a number of pixels of the pattern disposed outside the first receiving area is greater than a number of pixels of the pattern that overlap the first sequence. However, Ueno teaches an optical distance measurement apparatus that determines if a scanning deviation occurs by using two detecting regions on a matrix-shaped detector. The light reception area AR2 is composed of exactly one pixel in each row for an area of 1x7 pixels. The light reception area AR1 is composed of 3x9 pixels and overlaps the area AR2 with more pixels outside of the region AR2 than a number of pixels that overlap the region AR2 (Fig. 16, light reception area AR1 and AR2, Paragraph [0103]). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kubota’s ADC region to have exactly one pixel in each row and Kubota’s TDC regions to overlap the ADC region, both of which are disclosed by Ueno. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce measurement error, as suggested by Ueno (Paragraph [0104]). Claim 6 is an apparatus claim corresponding to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kubota in view of Ueno in further view of Kudla et al., US 20210223374 A1 (“Kudla”) . Regarding claim 4, Kubota, as modified in view of Ueno, discloses the method according to claim 1. Kubota, as modified in view of Ueno, does not teach: further comprising: actuating a cleaning device of the LiDAR sensor based on the extent of defocusing exceeding a specified threshold value. However, Kudla teaches a sensor module that detects dirt formation on a window structure. The sensor module includes a cleaning device that consists of a plurality of nozzles that dispense fluid on the window (Fig. 3, nozzles 32, Paragraph [0068]). The nozzles are dispensed based on a determination that dirt is on the window, which requires the backscattered light to exceed a threshold amplitude (Paragraph [0068], [0082]). It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kubota’s distance measuring device by adding cleaning nozzles to remove dirt from the window, both of which are disclosed by Kudla. An object attached to a window, taught by Kudla, is analogous to a short distance object taught by Kubota. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to prevent the build-up of dirt on the sensor, thereby improving the operation of the sensor, as suggested by Kudla (Paragraph [0003]). Claim 7 is an apparatus claim corresponding to method claim 4. Claim 7 is rejected for the same reasons . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kubota et al., US 20210293957 A1 teaches a light detector with two receiving areas that determine an amount of defocusing. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5405. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5:30 pm ET. 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, Yuqing Xiao can be reached at (571) 270-3603. 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. /RACHEL NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645 /YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 2 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 3 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 4 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 5 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 6 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 7 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 8 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/541,743 Page 9 Art Unit: 3645
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