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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 07/02/2026 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.
Official Notice
Examiner provided reference with explicitly teaches the amended limitation. The rest of the claims either taught by provided art or obvious over rejection presented in the prior office action.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by D0 CN 110836724 A.
Regarding claims 1, 11 D0 teaches
1. (Currently Amended) An optical device comprising: a plurality of radiation-emitting elements provided on a substrate(page 6 “Some embodiments may use back-side emitting VCSEL array. For the optical element is directly integrated in the VCSEL substrate, the VCSEL may be a back side emitter, light propagation in the desired direction to allow micro-lens integrated.”); and a microlens arranged on the substrate such that a beam of radiation emitted by each of the plurality of radiation-emitting elements propagates through the same microlens.(page 5 “In one modification, the microlens may be shared by two or more VCSEL source. This may be provided by a plurality of VCSEL source arranged channels.”)
2, 12 (Previously Presented) The optical device of claim 1, wherein the microlens is configured to deflect the beam of radiation emitted by each of the plurality of radiation- emitting elements at a different angle relative to the substrate. (implicit as they are positioned at different position with respect to microlens center)
3. (Previously Presented) The optical device of claim 1, wherein each radiation-emitting element of the plurality of radiation-emitting elements is disposed at a different offset relative to a center of the microlens. (implicit as they are positioned at different position with respect to microlens center)
4. (Previously Presented) The optical device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of radiation-emitting elements comprises vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) formed or mounted on the substrate. (page 5, 6)
5. (Previously Presented) The optical device of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of microlenses arranged on the substrate, each microlens having a corresponding plurality of radiation-emitting elements arranged on the substrate such that a beam of radiation emitted by each radiation-emitting element propagates through a corresponding microlens. (page 5, 6)
8. The optical device of claim 5, wherein each microlens is formed over the corresponding plurality of radiation-emitting elements. (page 5)
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(s) 6-10,13-16 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D0 CN 110836724 A in view of official notice.
Regarding claims 6-10,13-16 if D0 does not teach the at least Official Noitce teaches
The limitation as presented in Non-Final rejection presented prior.
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D0 with in order to provide array of the sources for lidar array which can illuminate plurality of FOV simultaneously.
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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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.
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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