DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the communications dated 10/03/2024.
Claims 31-50 are pending in this application.
Claims 1-30 have been cancelled.
Acknowledges
2. Receipt is acknowledged of the following items from the Applicant.
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 04/15/2024. The references cited on the PTOL 1449 form have been considered.
Applicant is requested to cite any relevant prior art if being aware on form PTO-1449 in accordance with the guidelines set for in M.P.E.P. 609.
Foreign Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Specification
4. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112:
(a) IN GENERAL.— The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
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(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.
6. Claims 31-49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 31, lines 4-5, recites limitation(s) “wherein the second substrate is transparent at least in part and/or at least for a bandwidth of wavelengths”, which is/are vague and not clearly defined. It is not clear whether the substrate is transparent at a specific structural part/region or transparent to light of particular bandwidths.
Furthermore, it remains ambiguous exactly which part of the substrate is transparent, to which level the substrate is transparent, and/or for which bandwidth of wavelengths the substrate is transparent.
In addition, the terms “and/or” (in claim 1 as well as in many other dependent claims of claim 1) is/are indefinite because they are unclear whether the claimed features to be alternative options or if they can be combined. Such terms create ambiguity regarding what is actually claimed. Such “and/or” terms make the claim(s)
indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
That is, claim 31 does not particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor(s) regards as the Applicant’s invention. Claim 31 is therefore indefinite.
Claims 32-49 depend upon claim 31. Claims 32-49 are therefore indefinite as well.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
8. Claims 31-36, and 39-50 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Helie et al. (US 2013/0344302)
Regarding claim 31, Helie discloses an enclosure, comprising:
at least a first substrate 24 and a second substrate 22 (see figs. 1A-1F; see also paras. 0002, 0008-0009, 0126), the first substrate 24 and the second substrate 22 being arranged next to each other in such a way that an inner surface of the first substrate is adjacent to an inner surface of the second substrate (at interface 30), wherein the second substrate 22 is transparent at least in part and/or at least for a bandwidth of wavelengths (paras. 0069, 0071-0073); and
at least one laser weld zone 42-46 containing an information pattern 42 in the enclosure, the information pattern 42 of the at least one laser weld zone extending from within the first substrate 24 to within the second substrate 22 and permanently joining the first substrate 24 to the second substrate 22 (Note: the weld line pattern 42 itself is an information pattern, from which information such as the weld line dimension, surface smoothness, direction, consistency of the weld bead width, height, shape, penetration depth of the joint, cracks, porosity, undercut, incomplete fusion, etc., can be read and obtained).
Regarding claim 32, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein the first substrate 24 comprises an outer surface (side surface or top/bottom surface, with respect to the interface 30) and the second substrate 22 comprises an outer surface, and wherein the at least one laser weld zone 42-46 comprises a first separation spacing to the outer surface of the first substrate and a second separation spacing to the outer surface of the second substrate. See fig. 1F.
Regarding claim 33, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein the at least one laser weld zone 42-46 is a portion of the first substrate 24 and/or the second substrate 22 having a refractive index that differs from a refractive index of a non-welded portion of the first substrate and/or the second substrate (such difference is due to the structural change of the welded portion compared to the non-welded portion). See fig. 1F.
Regarding claim 34, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein the information pattern 42 is designed to comprise at least one of the following:
a unique identifier (consistency of the weld beard width, height, shape, or penetration depth of the joint, etc.);
numbers or letters;
a binary readable information pattern;
line length modulation (the weld line itself inherently contains a structural and/or geometrical modulation);
barcode form or encoding;
line width modulation (inherently contained in a weld line);
music sheet modulation;
Quick Readout code; or
morse code signal.
Regarding claim 35, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein information stored in the information pattern is user-readable and/or the information stored in the information pattern is designed to be readable by a handheld device (a laser scanner, current scanner, ultrasonic devices, etc.).
Regarding claim 36, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein information stored in the information pattern is designed to be read out and stored in a database (this is inherently a matter of keeping the date or information of a weld zone for later use).
Regarding claim 39, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, further comprising a function zone (the weld zone 44, for holding and protecting devices like diodes, photovoltaic cells, power devices, etc., paras. 0132-0141) that is circumferentially enclosed in the enclosure.
Regarding claim 40, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 39, wherein the at least one laser weld zone and/or at least one laser weld line is designed such to hermetically seal the function zone in the enclosure. See fig. 1F. See also paras. 0132-0141.
Regarding claim 41, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 40, wherein the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line comprises a series of laser dots 40 in a sequence. See fig. 1D, fig. 1E, and paras. 0076, 0100, 0101, 0126.
Regarding claim 42, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 40, wherein the at least one laser weld zone 42 is arranged around the function zone 44 and/or the at least one laser weld zone is arranged such that it comprises a third separation spacing to a circumferential rim of the enclosure. See fig. 1F.
Regarding claim 43, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 39, wherein the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line circumferences the function zone in a distance, the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line comprising a height defined in a direction perpendicular to its connecting plane, wherein the distance corresponds to the height. See fig. 1F, and paras. 0132-0141
Regarding claim 44, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 39, wherein the function zone is arranged on an inner side of the first substrate and/or the second substrate; and/or the function zone comprises at least one cavity. See fig. 1F.
Regarding claim 45, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 44, wherein at least one functional component is arranged in the at least one cavity; and/or a fluid is encapsulated in the at least one cavity.
Regarding claim 46, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein at least one laser weld line 42 directly binds the first substrate 24 and the second substrate 22 to each other by a direct laser-induced welding process; and/or the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line extends from within the first substrate to within the second substrate and permanently joins the first substrate to the second substrate. See fig. 1F, and paras. 0067-0076.
Regarding claim 47, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein at least one of the following is satisfied:
the at least one laser weld zone and/or at least one laser weld line comprises a mixture of material of the first substrate and the second substrate;
in the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line, material from the first substrate is mixed into the second substrate and/or material from the second substrate is mixed into the first substrate; or
in the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line, a convection zone is present where material from the first substrate is mixed with material from the second substrate.
See paras. 0067-0076.
Regarding claim 48, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, wherein the at least one laser weld zone and/or at least one laser weld line comprises a height HL in a direction perpendicular to its connecting plane and the at least one laser weld zone and/or the at least one laser weld line is situated with a height HL1 inside the first substrate and with a height HL2 inside the second substrate that is equal to HL - HL1.
See figs. 1A-1F, and paras. 0067-0076.
Regarding claim 49, Helie discloses a method of providing the enclosure of claim 31, the method comprising:
providing a first substrate 24 having an inner surface and an outer surface and a second substrate 22 having an inner surface and an outer surface;
aligning the first substrate 24 with the inner surface at the inner surface of the second substrate 22 (to form an interface surface 30); and
laser welding the first substrate to the second substrate by introducing at least one laser weld zone in the enclosure, wherein the at least laser weld zone is welded 3333such that an information pattern 42 is provided, wherein an information is stored in the information pattern, wherein the at least one laser weld zone comprises a first separation spacing to the outer surface of the first substrate and a second separation spacing to the outer surface of the second substrate so that the at least one laser weld zone is fully enclosed inside the enclosure. See fig. 1A-1F, and also the rejection of claim 31.
Regarding claim 50, Helie discloses an enclosure, comprising:
at least a first substrate (22, 24, or 22 & 44 as a whole) having an outer surface (left side surface, see figs. 1A-1F);
a second outer surface (right side surface); and
at least one laser weld zone 42-46 containing an information pattern 42 in the enclosure, wherein the at least one laser weld zone 42-46 comprises a first separation spacing to the outer surface of the first substrate and a second separation spacing to the second outer surface so that the at least one laser weld zone is fully enclosed inside the enclosure (see fig. 1F).
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 103
9. 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 of this title, 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.
10. Claim 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Helie et al. (US 2013/034432) in view of Robitschko et al. (US 6,087,612).
Regarding claim 37, Helie discloses the enclosure of claim 31, comprising all claimed limitations, as discussed above, except for wherein information in the at least one laser weld zone is encoded in the information pattern.
Robitschko discloses a product comprising a first body part 2 and a second body part 3, a weld zone containing an information pattern and comprising rows of spot welds 1 joining the first body part 2 to the second body part 3, wherein information in the weld zone is encoded in the information pattern. See col. 1, lines 8 – 67, and col. 2, lines 24-56.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Helie so that the information in the weld zone being encoded in the information pattern, as that taught by Robitschko, for identification purpose, and/or for theft prevention purpose. See col. 1, lines 8-48 of Robitschko.
Conclusion
11. A shortened statutory period for response to this action is set to expire 3 (three) months and 0 (zero) day from the day of this letter. Failure to respond within the period for response will cause the application to become abandoned (see M.P.E.P 710.02(b)).
A shortened time for reply may be extended up to the maximum six-month period (35 U.S.C. 133). An extension of time fee is normally required to be paid if the reply period is extended. The amount of the fee is dependent upon the length of the extension. Extensions of time are generally not available after an application has been allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dao H. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-1791. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Loke, can be reached on (571)272-1657. The fax numbers for all communication(s) is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is (571)272-1633.
/DAO H NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818 July 20, 2026
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