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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
This office acknowledges receipt of the following item(s) from the applicant:
Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 18 March 2024. The references have been considered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: there are spacing issues with some of the words in the claim. Line 1 reads “systemcomprising” and should read “system comprising” and in line 3 it reads “independentwaveforms” and should read “independent waveforms”, in line 9 it reads “toreceive” and should read “to receive”. Appropriate correction is required.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,448,754. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because all of the limitations of the current claim are identical to the originally claim 1 of ‘754 prior to amendments being made. The current claim is the broader version of the patented claim, see comparison below.
Claim 1 of the current application reads: A radar imaging systemcomprising: a signal generator configured to generate a first plurality of independentwaveforms; a signal conversion module configured to convert the first plurality of independent waveforms into a first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals; a transmitter array comprising a first plurality of transmitter antennas configured to transmit the first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals toward a field of view; a receiver array comprising a second plurality of receiver antennas configured toreceive a second plurality of receive radar signals, the second plurality of receive radar signals representing responses to the first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals from the field of view; a virtual antenna formation module configured to process the second plurality of receive radar signals to recover one or more signal attributes of the first plurality of independent waveforms from the second plurality of receive radar signals, the one or more signal attributes corresponding to responses to at least a portion of the field of view; an imaging module configured to provide a representation of one or more areas of interest in the field of view using the one or more signal attributes of the first plurality of independent waveforms recovered from the second plurality of receive radar signals and to render one or more image attributes of the one or more areas of interest using the representation of the one or more areas of interest, the one or more image attributes based, at least in part, on motion relative to the field of view.
Claim 1 of ‘754 reads: A radar imaging system comprising: a signal generator configured to generate a first plurality of independent waveforms, wherein the signal generator is configured to perform: a time shift on one or more master signals to generate the first plurality of independent waveforms; a phase shift on the one or more master signals to generate the first plurality of independent waveforms; a code division on the one or more master signals to generate the first plurality of independent waveforms; a frequency shift on the one or more master signals to generate the first plurality of independent waveforms; or a combination thereof; a signal conversion module configured to convert the first plurality of independent waveforms into a first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals; a transmitter array comprising a first plurality of transmitter antennas configured to transmit the first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals toward a field of view; a receiver array comprising a second plurality of receiver antennas configured to receive a second plurality of receive radar signals, the second plurality of receive radar signals representing responses to the first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals from the field of view; a virtual antenna formation module configured to process the second plurality of receive radar signals to recover one or more signal attributes of the first plurality of independent waveforms from the second plurality of receive radar signals, the one or more signal attributes corresponding to responses to at least a portion of the field of view; an imaging module configured to provide a representation of one or more areas of interest in the field of view using the one or more signal attributes of the first plurality of independent waveforms recovered from the second plurality of receive radar signals and to render one or more image attributes of the one or more areas of interest using the representation of the one or more areas of interest, the one or more image attributes based, at least in part, on motion relative to the field of view.
The bolded portions of ‘754 are identical to the claimed limitations of the current applicant and therefore are rejected as Double Patenting.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Reynolds et al. (Reynolds, WO 2018/147929).
Referring to Claim 1, Reynolds teaches a signal generator (implicit for the device) configured to generate a first plurality of independent waveforms ([078]); a signal conversion module (Fig. 1 #116; [059] and [076]) configured to convert the first plurality of independent waveforms into a first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals; a transmitter array (Fig. 1 #106, 108 and 112; [046], [056] and [058]) comprising a first plurality of transmitter antennas configured to transmit the first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals toward a field of view; a receiver array (Fig. 1 #106, 108 and 110; [056] and [077]) comprising a second plurality of receiver antennas configured to receive a second plurality of receive radar signals, the second plurality of receive radar signals representing responses to the first plurality of independent transmitted radar signals from the field of view; a virtual antenna formation module (Fig. 1 #124 and Fig. 2 #200; [066], [068-069], [077-078] and [0115]) configured to process the second plurality of receive radar signals to recover one or more signal attributes of the first plurality of independent waveforms from the second plurality of receive radar signals, the one or more signal attributes corresponding to responses to at least a portion of the field of view; an imaging module (Fig. 1 and 5 #500; [0131]) configured to provide a representation of one or more areas of interest in the field of view using the one or more signal attributes of the first plurality of independent waveforms recovered from the second plurality of receive radar signals and to render one or more image attributes of the one or more areas of interest using the representation of the one or more areas of interest, the one or more image attributes based, at least in part, on motion relative to the field of view; [021], [047], [070] and [0133].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WHITNEY T MOORE whose telephone number is (571)270-3338. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 7am-4pm.
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, Jack Keith can be reached at (571) 272-6878. 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.
/WHITNEY MOORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646