DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-5, 10-11 are currently pending. Claims 10-11 are hereby withdrawn, and claims 1-5 have been considered on their merits, as discussed below.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species A in the reply filed on 07/22/2025 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)). Claims 10-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species B, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 4 describes the invention in reference to an object that is variable, i.e., the length of an irradiation target. Therefore, whether a device falls within the scope of the claim cannot be ascertained until the device is used on an irradiation target. Consequently, the claim is indefinite. See 2173.05(b).
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2010/0186284 to Hyde et al. (“Hyde”).
Regarding claim 1, Hyde discloses an irradiation device comprising: a detection section (10, 12) that detects an insect which is an irradiation target (¶ [0022]); an identification section (16) that identifies position information of a specific part of the irradiation target based on a three-dimensional image which has been obtained by the detection section and which makes it possible to recognize the irradiation target (¶¶ [0022], [0024]); and an irradiation section (18, 28) that, based on the position information, irradiates the irradiation target with shooting laser light having a beam diameter of 1 mm to 10 mm, while the specific part of the irradiation target is targeted (¶¶ [0027], [0076]).
Regarding claim 2, Hyde discloses wherein the specific part is at least one selected from the group consisting of a part on a side on which legs at a thoracic part of the insect is positioned and a part on a side on which a mouth at a head part of the insect is positioned (¶ [0029], see also ¶¶ [0006]-[0009]).
Regarding claim 3, Hyde discloses wherein the specific part is a part at which a reproductive organ of the insect is positioned (¶ [0029] “impairing fertility,” see also ¶¶ [0006]-[0009]).
Regarding claim 4, Hyde discloses wherein the irradiation section (18, 28) irradiates the irradiation target with the shooting laser light (via 28) that has a beam diameter which is smaller, at a position of the irradiation target, than an entire length of the irradiation target (¶¶ [0027], [0076]).
Regarding claim 5, Hyde discloses wherein: the irradiation section (18, 28) irradiates a predetermined range with scanning laser light (via 18); and the irradiation device comprises a light reception section that receives reflected light of the scanning laser light and generates a light reception signal which allows the detection section to detect the irradiation target (¶ [0022]).
Conclusion
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/MARISA V CONLON/Examiner, Art Unit 3643