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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on June 25, 2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of the Preliminary Amendment filed on May 15, 2024. Accordingly, claims 1-16 are cancelled, and newly added claims 17-32 are currently pending in the application.
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 17-32 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.
There are two separate requirements set forth in the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
(A) the claims must set forth the subject matter that applicants regard as their invention; and
(B) the claims must particularly point out and distinctly define the metes and bounds of the subject matter that will be protected by the patent grant.
With regard to claim 17, it is unclear that the recitation, “(and typically also with one another)”, which is included in a parentheses () in lines 8-9, is a claimed limitation.
With regard to claims 18-32, these claims are rejected at least by virtue of their dependencies directly and/or indirectly from the base claim.
The essential purpose of patent examination is to determine whether or not the claims are precise, clear, correct, and unambiguous to ensure that the scope of the claims is clear so the public is informed of the boundaries of what constitutes infringement of the patent. Therefore, the uncertainties of claim scope should be removed as much as possible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 17-25 and 27-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (NPL: “Noncontact Measurement of Complex Permittivity and Thickness by Using Planar Resonators”).
Yang et al. teaches a noncontact measurement technique to determine the complex permittivity and thickness of a material under test (MUT) comprising:
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With regard to claim 17, a method for characterizing at least one region to be investigated (sensing area) within a medium to be characterized (material under test MUT) (Abstract), the method comprising at least the following steps: contactlessly inductively coupling a probe (FIG. 11, detection probe), simultaneously, to a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) which are arranged so as to have different resonance frequencies (resonance frequencies fL, fM, fH) from one another, said transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) together forming a multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor), which is located in the vicinity of said investigated region (sensing area) but without requiring contact with said investigated region (sensing area), the transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) of which interact with the region to be investigated (sensing area); measuring the variation in impedance of said multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) by means of a reader (FIG. 11, N5234A PNA-L microwave network analyzer) that interacts with said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe); processing said measurement of variation in impedance, comprising a spectral analysis according to frequency, so as to determine a plurality of individual impedances measured for a plurality of measurement frequencies; and processing one or more of said individual impedances in order to extract one or more electrical properties of said investigated region (sensing area) (For more details, please read: Abstract; FIG. 10; from the last paragraph of the right column at page 247 to the last paragraph of the right column at page 249; section V. NUMERAL ANALYSIS FOR EXTRACTION OF PERMITTIVITY AND THICKNESS; section VI. COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE; and section VII. MEASUREMENTS AND DISCUSSION).
With regard to claim 18, the individual impedances of multiple different resonance frequencies (resonance frequencies fL, fM, fH), or the respective electrical properties extracted therefrom, are combined to provide a characterization of the region to be investigated (sensing area) in portions that are located at different distances from the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) (For more details, please read: section II. THEORY OF MICROWAVE SENSOR MEASUREMENT).
With regard to claim 19, the individual impedances of multiple different resonance frequencies (resonance frequencies fL, fM, fH), or the respective electrical properties extracted therefrom, are combined to provide a more accurate characterization of the same portion of the region to be investigated (sensing area) (For more details, please read: section I. INTRODUCTION).
With regard to claim 20, the method is used to produce a plurality of characterizations at different times, so as to provide monitoring over time of a region to be investigated (sensing area) including at least one material or object (material under test MUT) undergoing change (For more details, please read: section I. INTRODUCTION).
With regard to claim 21, the method implements one or more multifrequency resonators (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) which are integrated or implanted into an object (material under test MUT) or system so as to characterize a region to be investigated (sensing area), said region to be investigated (sensing area) including a material belonging to said object (material under test MUT), and/or a material in contact with or in the vicinity of said object (material under test MUT), and/or an interface between said materials (FIG. 11; and section I. INTRODUCTION: the last paragraph in the right column at page 247 continued to the next page 248), and said method being implemented so as to obtain a plurality of time-distributed characterizations for said region to be investigated (sensing area) and thereby provide monitoring over time of a change in the region to be investigated (sensing area) (For more details, please read: section I. INTRODUCTION and section VII-A. Measurement Setup).
With regard to claim 22, a system (FIG. 11, measurement platform) for contactlessly characterizing at least one region referred to as an investigated region (sensing area) within a medium to be characterized (material under test MUT), the system (FIG. 11, measurement platform) comprising: at least one transmission-line resonator (resonator rings), which is intended to be arranged in the vicinity of said investigated region (sensing area), but without requiring contact with said investigated region (sensing area), a probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) arranged so as to: on the one hand, be coupled via inductive coupling to said resonator (resonator rings) by means of an inductive loop circuit, and on the other hand, to interact with at least one reader (FIG. 11, N5234A PNA-L microwave network analyzer); wherein said resonator (resonator rings) comprises a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings), which are arranged so as to have different resonance frequencies (resonance frequencies fL, fM, fH) from one another and thereby form a multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor), the transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) of which interact with the region to be investigated (sensing area), and wherein said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) is arranged so as to interact with all of said multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) said reader (FIG. 11, N5234A PNA-L microwave network analyzer) being arranged so as to interact with said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) (For more details, please read: Abstract; from the last paragraph of the right column at page 247 to the last paragraph of the right column at page 249; section V. NUMERAL ANALYSIS FOR EXTRACTION OF PERMITTIVITY AND THICKNESS; section VI. COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE; and section VII. MEASUREMENTS AND DISCUSSION).
With regard to claim 23, the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) comprises a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) which are separate and not connected to one another, and which are each formed by at least one conductive track produced on a two-dimensional dielectric substrate along an almost-closed path (FIG. 1).
With regard to claim 24, all or some of the transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) of the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) each form an almost-closed path with a single turn, typically a single-turn circular split ring (FIG. 1).
With regard to claim 25, the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) comprises a plurality of conductive tracks (FIG. 1, slot lines or resonator rings) of almost-closed shape which are enclosed inside one another (FIG. 1).
With regard to claim 27, the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) comprises a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) which are separate and not connected to one another (FIG. 1), and which are formed by conductive tracks (FIG. 1, slot lines or resonator rings) each produced along an “almost-closed” path, in a coplanar manner or on the same two-dimensional insulating substrate (FIG. 1).
With regard to claim 28, the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) comprises a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) which are separate and not connected to one another (FIG. 1), and which are each formed by a conductive track (FIG. 1, slot lines or resonator rings) produced on the same two-dimensional insulating substrate, each along a single-turn “almost-closed” path: and wherein said transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) are arranged inside one another, and in particular concentrically with respect to one another (FIG. 1).
With regard to claim 29, a transmission-line resonator device (FIG. 11, measurement platform), of the type capable of communicating via inductive coupling with an inductive loop probe in order to be excited by said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe), so as to interact with said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe), wherein said device (FIG. 11, measurement platform) comprises a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) of almost-closed shape which are enclosed inside one another (FIG. 1 in view of FIG. 11), in particular concentric circles, and which are arranged so as to form, together, a multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) suitable for being implemented within a system as claimed in claim 22.
With regard to claim 30, each transmission line (slot lines or resonator rings) forms a single turn (FIG. 1).
With regard to claim 31, a system (FIG. 11, measurement platform) comprising an object (material under test MUT), said system or object (material under test MUT) comprising at least one transmission-line resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor), which resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) comprises a plurality of transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) which are arranged so as to have different resonance frequencies (resonance frequencies fL, fM, fH) from one another and thereby form a multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor), the transmission lines (slot lines or resonator rings) of which interact with the region to be investigated (sensing area), said multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) being arranged so as to form an inductive coupling with an inductive loop probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) so as to interact with said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) in order to form therewith a system (FIG. 11, measurement platform) as claimed in claim 22 that is arranged so as to characterize a region to be investigated (sensing area) within a medium to be characterized (material under test MUT), said region to be investigated (sensing area) including a material belonging to said object (material under test MUT), and/or a material in contact with or in the vicinity of said object (material under test MUT), and/or an interface between said materials (For more details, please read: Abstract; FIG. 10; from the last paragraph of the right column at page 247 to the last paragraph of the right column at page 249; section V. NUMERAL ANALYSIS FOR EXTRACTION OF PERMITTIVITY AND THICKNESS; section VI. COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE; and section VII. MEASUREMENTS AND DISCUSSION).
With regard to claim 32, the system (FIG. 11, measurement platform) comprises at least one probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) arranged so as to be able to communicate with the multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) via inductive coupling, and wherein said multifrequency resonator (FIG. 1, resonator rings such as triple-squared SC-TCSRR sensor) and said probe (FIG. 11, detection probe) are arranged so as to form said system (FIG. 11, measurement platform) to characterize a region to be investigated (sensing area) within a medium to be characterized (material under test MUT) (For more details, please read: Abstract; FIG. 10; from the last paragraph of the right column at page 247 to the last paragraph of the right column at page 249; section V. NUMERAL ANALYSIS FOR EXTRACTION OF PERMITTIVITY AND THICKNESS; section VI. COMPLEX PERMITTIVITY MEASUREMENT PROCEDURE; and section VII. MEASUREMENTS AND DISCUSSION).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 26 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicants’ attention is invited to the followings whose inventions disclose similar devices.
Groger et al. (US 5,514337 A) teaches a chemical sensor using eddy current or resonant electromagnetic circuit detection.
Blumich et al. (US 7,095,230 B2) teaches a NMR probe for material analysis.
Izumi (US 2005/0159681 A1) teaches an impedance based muscular strength measuring device.
Heasman et al. (US 2023/0285748 A1) teaches an electrical techniques for biomarker detection in a cochlea.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOAI-AN D. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-2170. The examiner can normally be reached MON-THURS (7:00 AM - 5:00 PM).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, LEE E. RODAK can be reached at 571-270-5628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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HOAI-AN D. NGUYEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2858
/HOAI-AN D. NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858