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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending, claims 9-11 and 18-20 have been withdrawn from consideration, and claims 1-8 and 12-17 are currently under consideration for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Invention 1 and Species 1, readable on claims 1-8 and 12-17, in the reply filed on 04/16/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim Objections
Claims 16-17 are objected to because of the following informalities: change “of claim X” to “of claim X,” (i.e., add a comma). Appropriate correction is required.
Note to Applicant(s)
Claim 13 and 15 are duplicates of one another.
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) 1-3, 8, and 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seibel (US 2009/0137893).
Regarding claim 1, Seibel discloses a fiberscope for stereoscopic imaging (figure 4; one or more tools…[0062] | scanning fiber endoscope [0064]), the fiberscope comprising: at least one wavefront manipulator (102 and 106, figure 4) which, for creating a sample beam (light signals…[0062]), is configured to pre-shape a wavefront of light from a light source (102, figure 4) such that the pre-shaped light is focusable on an object point in an object region (see figure 7) and raster-deflectable to a multiplicity of object points (raster scan [0065]); an illumination fiber (one or more fibers [0062]; scan illuminator A and/or B, figure 7) for supplying a pre-shaped sample beam to the object region ([0062]); a detector fiber (optical fiber 1 and/or 2; figure 5) for supplying scattered light at least one of reflected and scattered at a respective object point to a detector (108, figure 5) configured to capture the scattered light and being connected to a computer unit (computer 118, figure 5); wherein: i) the wavefront manipulator further is configured to create at least one of temporally separated sample beams (asynchronous [0070]) and spectrally separated sample beams (different wavebands [0062]), which make a fixed stereo angle with each other (used to produce a stereo view [0013]), or ii) the wavefront manipulator (see light sources 102 and 106, figure 5 | more than two light sources), the illumination fiber (see two 104 to scan illuminators 1-2, figure 5) and the detector fiber (optical fibers 1-2, figure 5) are each provided twice, with the wavefront manipulators further being configured to create at least one of the temporally separated sample beams (asynchronous [0070]) and the spectrally separated sample beams (different wavebands [0062]); and, the computer unit being configured to form the stereoscopic image from at least one of the captured temporally separated scattered light and the captured spectrally separated scattered light (used to produce a stereo view [0013]).
Regarding claim 2, Seibel discloses a fiberscope (figure 4; one or more tools…[0062] | scanning fiber endoscope [0064]) for stereoscopic imaging (used to produce a stereo view [0013]), the fiberscope comprising: at least one wavefront manipulator (102 and 106, figure 4) which, for creating a sample beam (light signals…[0062]), is configured to pre-shape a wavefront of light from a light source (102, figure 4) such that the pre-shaped light is focusable on an object point in an object region (see figure 7) and raster-deflectable to a multiplicity of object points (raster scan [0065]); an illumination fiber (one or more fibers [0062]; scan illuminator A and/or B, figure 7) for supplying a pre-shaped sample beam to the object region ([0062]); at least two detector fibers (optical fiber 1 and 2; figure 5) for supplying scattered light at least one of reflected and scattered at a corresponding object point to a corresponding detector (108, figure 5) configured to capture the scattered light and being connected to a computer unit (computer 118, figure 5); and, the computer unit being configured to compose the stereoscopic image from the captured scattered light (used to produce a stereo view [0013]).
Regarding claim 3, Seibel further discloses the at least two detector fibers (optical fibers 1-2, figure 5) have a fixed lateral spacing from one another (system…at the distal ends of one or more tools | interpreted there can be two optical fibers fixed at the distal end of one tool/fiberscope).
Regarding claim 8, Seibel further discloses the at least two detector fibers are arranged such that a same detection region is observable (see figure 7).
Regarding claim 12, Seibel further discloses the light source is provided twice (see light sources 102, figure 5).
Regarding claim 13, Seibel further discloses at least two of the illumination fiber (see 104 and scan illuminator 1-2, figure 5) and the at least two detector fibers (optical fibers 1-2, figure 5) are arranged immediately adjacent to one another (system…at the distal ends of one or more tools [0062] | interpreted the illumination fibers and the detector fibers are arranged adjacent to one another since they can all be located at the distal end of one tool).
Regarding claim 14, Seibel further discloses the illumination fiber and the detector fiber are arranged immediately adjacent to each other (system…at the distal ends of one or more tools [0062] | interpreted the illumination fibers and the detector fibers are arranged adjacent to one another since they can all be located at the distal end of one tool).
Regarding claim 15, Seibel further discloses at least two of the illumination fiber (see 104 and scan illuminator 1-2, figure 5) and the at least two detector fibers (optical fibers 1-2, figure 5) are arranged immediately adjacent to each other (system…at the distal ends of one or more tools [0062] | interpreted the illumination fibers and the detector fibers are arranged adjacent to one another since they can all be located at the distal end of one tool).
Regarding claim 16, Seibel further discloses a display apparatus (28, figure 5) for displaying the stereoscopic image (used to produce a stereo view [0013]).
Regarding claim 17, Seibel further discloses a display apparatus (28, figure 5) for displaying the stereoscopic image (used to produce a stereo view [0013]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seibel (US 2009/0137893) as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Dehghani (US 2022/0377217).
Regarding claim 4, Seibel discloses all of the features in the current invention as shown above in claim 3. Seibel is silent regarding the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies between 50 µm and 500 µm.
Dehghani teaches a stereoscopic camera where a first lens may be adjacent to a second lens ([0226]). The first and second lenses may be separated by a distance, where the distance may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The distance may be least 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]). The distance may be at most 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]).
It would have been obvious to modify the fiberscope to have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers be the various distances taught by Dehghani ([0226]). Doing so would provide a distance that may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The modified fiberscope would have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies between 50 µm and 500 µm (see options in [0226]).
Regarding claim 5, Seibel discloses all of the features in the current invention as shown above in claim 3. Seibel is silent regarding the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies between 100 µm and 400 µm.
Dehghani teaches a stereoscopic camera where a first lens may be adjacent to a second lens ([0226]). The first and second lenses may be separated by a distance, where the distance may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The distance may be least 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]). The distance may be at most 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]).
It would have been obvious to modify the fiberscope to have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers be the various distances taught by Dehghani ([0226]). Doing so would provide a distance that may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The modified fiberscope would have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies between 100 µm and 400 µm (see options in [0226] | maximum distance can be below 400 µm).
Regarding claim 6, Seibel discloses all of the features in the current invention as shown above in claim 3. Seibel is silent regarding the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies between 150 µm and 300 µm.
Dehghani teaches a stereoscopic camera where a first lens may be adjacent to a second lens ([0226]). The first and second lenses may be separated by a distance, where the distance may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The distance may be least 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]). The distance may be at most 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]).
It would have been obvious to modify the fiberscope to have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers be the various distances taught by Dehghani ([0226]). Doing so would provide a distance that may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The modified fiberscope would have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies between 150 µm and 300 µm (see options in [0226] | the distance can be between 150 and 300 µm).
Regarding claim 7, Seibel discloses all of the features in the current invention as shown above in claim 3. Seibel is silent regarding the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers is 200 µm.
Dehghani teaches a stereoscopic camera where a first lens may be adjacent to a second lens ([0226]). The first and second lenses may be separated by a distance, where the distance may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The distance may be least 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]). The distance may be at most 0.1 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 5 µm, 10 µm, 50 µm, 100 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 50 mm, or more ([0226]).
It would have been obvious to modify the fiberscope to have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers be the various distances taught by Dehghani ([0226]). Doing so would provide a distance that may be indicative of a measurable depth of the stereoscopic camera ([0226]). The modified fiberscope would have the fixed lateral spacing between the at least two detector fibers lies is 200 µm (see options in [0226] | the distance can be 200 µm).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Wang (US 2018/0164574) has two illumination fibers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAMELA F WU whose telephone number is (571)272-9851. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-4 PM.
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PAMELA F. WU
Examiner
Art Unit 3795
June 12, 2026
/RYAN N HENDERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3795
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