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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 6/24/26 is acknowledged.
Drawings
Figures 1-4 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. These drawings are reused from many prior applications to does not related to the new subject matter of this application. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 and 25-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Any claims not specifically addressed are rejected because they include the indefinite language of a parent claim.
Claim 1 states “transmission and receipt of optical communications beams functionality”. This phrase mixes tense and plurals making the statement unclear. The specification just repeats this phrase without explanation to what this could mean. Seems like “beams” could simply be “beam” or maybe communications could be singular? Further, it is unclear to what “associated” refers to in “associated with one of the plurality of segments”.
Claim 2 recites one or more of the full array transceivers, but claim 1 only provides for “a full array transceiver”. The specification backs up there being a single full array transceiver, not one or more of them. If there are more, the drawings do not show more than one, which would be necessary.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 and 25-37 could be allowed, as allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
These claims could be allowable over the prior art of record because the latter, either alone or in combination, does not disclose nor render obvious an optical communications terminal with a optical phased array integrated chip having a plurality of phase shifters arranged in a plurality of segments each corresponding to a switch, an additional phase shifter (not in the segments) and one or more splitters, wherein a full array transceiver configured to allow for transmission and reception with the plurality of segments and a plurality of segment transceivers each [associated – depending on definition] with one of the segments,
in combination with the rest of the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references teach phased arrays with a number of transceivers, but none teach the full array and segment transceivers associated with the claimed segments as claimed: US 2013/0260844, US 8712255, US 9191057, US 10623115, US 2020/0363590, US 11095389, US 11190291, US 11218220, US 11239935, US 11296812, US 11740336, US 11997436, US 12126383, US 2025/0168536, US 12332387.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LEPISTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1946. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM EST M-F.
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/RYAN A LEPISTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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