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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-13 in the reply filed on June 30, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 14-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on June 30, 2026.
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) 1-6 and 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Caliga (U.S. Patent No. 11843420). Caliga teaches an atom radio apparatus comprising: a compartment (110/402/606/2822) enclosing a gas of atoms in one or more excited states, wherein the gas of atoms is configured to receive and/or transmit an electromagnetic radio signal (figs. 1, 28); a conduit (arrows between vapor cell and laser system, fig. 28) coupled to the compartment and configured to transport electromagnetic, optical, or electronic signals to and/or from the gas of atoms; a front-end (122) coupled to the conduit and configured to generate and transmit an input electromagnetic, optical, or electronic signal to and/or receive an output electromagnetic, optical, or electronic signal from the gas of atoms; a controller configured to adjust a parameter of the electromagnetic, optical, or electronic signal in the front-end sent to or received from the gas of atoms (col. 16, line 65 through col 17, line 13); a signal processor (2810) connected to the front-end (laser, fig. 28) and configured to process electromagnetic, optical, or electronic input and output signals to and from the front-end (col. 16, lines 55-56, “orchestrates laser, RF, and detection signals during tuning and detection”); and a user interface (col. 20, lines 6-8 “the tuner in the controller reads user settings and chooses an appropriate Rydberg state pair”) and computer (2818) configured to control or monitor control signals, input signals, or output signals from the signal processor, controller, front-end, conduit, compartment, or the gas of atoms.
Regarding claims 2-3, fig. 1 shows the input signal 120 are a plurality of electromagnetic signals.
Regarding claim 4, fig. 1 shows the input signal 120 are a plurality of electromagnetic signals. Figs. 4 and 36 shows the signal is a modulated signal.
Regarding claim 5, fig. 25, col. 16, lines 36-46 teach fiber optics cable.
Regarding claim 6, the front-end comprises at least one of a photonic circuit, a light source, a frequency-stabilized laser, an isolator, a modulator, an amplifier, a frequency doubler, DC electronics, RF electronics, an atomic gas cell, a signal generator, a voltage-controlled oscillator, optics, a frequency comb, or a light detector. See also col. 18, lines 43-67.
Regarding claim 8, fig. 3, col. 19, lines 22-23, as well as claims 1 and 5 teach the input signal generated by the front-end and transmitted to the gas of atoms comprises a local oscillator (LO) signal.
Regarding claim 9, fig. 1 shows that the signals in the conduit from the atoms comprise an atomic response of the gas of atoms to one or more electromagnetic radio signals or electromagnetic waves. See also 307 in fig. 3.
Regarding claim 10, col. 19, lines 22-23, as well as claims 1 and 5 teach the input signal generated by the front-end and transmitted to the gas of atoms comprises a local oscillator (LO) signal.
Regarding claim 11, the electromagnetic radio signal received and/or transmitted by the gas of atoms has a frequency of 10Mhz-40Ghz which is within the claimed range of from static field (DC) to terahertz (THz).
Regarding claim 12, an electromagnetic radio signal is received and/or transmitted by the gas of atoms. See fig. 1 for example.
Regarding claim 13, the transmitted electromagnetic radio signal from the gas of atoms comprises: at least a local oscillator (LO) reference field and/or an optical field.
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.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Caliga (U.S. Patent No. 11843420) in view of Gan (JP2011-526744). Caliga teaches the salient features of the claimed invention except for the light detector comprises a silicon photodetector. Gan teaches in the description as well as claim 5 that it was known to use silicon photodetectors in quantum state resonance detectors. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to utilize the features of Gan for the purpose of utilizing low cost readily available materials.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yonika (U.S. Publication No. 20250251435) is directed to a Quantum based Rydberg RF receiver.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY whose telephone number is (571)272-2122. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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