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 .
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 1-4, 6-7, 9-14, 16, 18-25 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.
Claims 1 and 24 claim a “light source configured to generate source light having a source light spectrum” and a plasmonic nano-antenna, “wherein a combination of the light source and the plasmonic nano-antenna is configured to encode an optical communication signal into the emitted light exhibiting the spectral signature.” This introduces ambiguity into what the structure of the light source is and how it can be so configured. Generally light sources include LEDs, lasers, etc. How can a LED be configured to encode an optical communication signal into the emitted light exhibiting the spectral signature? Must not some other structures be recited in order to accomplish this?
Further confusion about claims 1 and 24 is the distinction between the transducing functionality of the plasmonic nano-antenna with the bio-functionalized element joined thereto and the optical communication signal. Would receiving source light and determining that emitted light that has shifted by an amount associated with the presence of the biomarker be sufficient to satisfy the “encoding an optical communication signal into the emitted light exhibiting the spectral signature?” Or must there be something more? For purposes of examination, Examiner understands the claim to require more than only monitoring for a change in the emitted light.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9-14, 16, 18-25 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Independent claims 1 and 24 recite or similarly recite, inter alia,
a light source at a first communication node, the light source configured to generate source light having a source light spectrum, and the first communication node configured to be implanted into a living being; and
a plasmonic nano-antenna at the first communication node, the plasmonic nano-antenna optically coupled to the light source and configured to receive the source light and to emit light exhibiting a spectral signature of the plasmonic nano-antenna,
wherein the first communication node is configured to send an optical communication signal to a second communication node that is physically separated from the first communication node by using the emitted light exhibiting the spectral signature of the plasmonic nano-antenna.
The closest references found during Examiner’s search of the prior art were US 2015/0247797 A1 to Oberg, US 2021/0121065 A1 to Jornet et al., US 2017/0238804 A1 to Hartley, and US 2016/0069810 A1 to Walavalkar et al. None of these references, however, anticipate or render obvious the invention of claims 1 and 24, including, inter alia,
a light source at a first communication node, the light source configured to generate source light having a source light spectrum, and the first communication node configured to be implanted into a living being; and
a plasmonic nano-antenna at the first communication node, the plasmonic nano-antenna optically coupled to the light source and configured to receive the source light and to emit light exhibiting a spectral signature of the plasmonic nano-antenna,
wherein the first communication node is configured to send an optical communication signal to a second communication node that is physically separated from the first communication node by using the emitted light exhibiting the spectral signature of the plasmonic nano-antenna.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eric Messersmith whose telephone number is (571)270-7081. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 830am-5pm.
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/ERIC J MESSERSMITH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791
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