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.
Claim 13 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites the phrase: “wherein a radius of a circular path of the intensity distribution around the presumed position of the emitter is adapted, wherein a plurality of emission signals are determined from respective light emissions, the light emissions being assigned to different radii of the path”. It is unclear what is meant by the term “adapted”. For examination, this phrase will be treated as: “wherein a plurality of emission signals are determined from respective light emissions, the light emissions being assigned to different radii of a circular path of the intensity distribution around the presumed position of the emitter”.
Claim 16 inherits the deficiencies of Claim 13.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 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.
(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.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Balzarotti et al., U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2019/0235220 A1.
Regarding Claim 19, Balzarotti discloses: A light microscope for localizing or tracking an emitter in a sample comprising (the Office notes that the term “comprising” is an open-ended transitional phrase which permits additional elements or features):
illumination optics configured to illuminate the sample with an intensity distribution of illumination light comprising a local intensity minimum, wherein the illumination light affects light emissions of the emitter (in microscope 1, excitation light 8 from light source 2 is directed onto a sample 6 [emitter] with an intensity distribution 19 which has a central zero point 20 and regions of increasing intensity 22, 21 which adjoin or delimit the zero point 20 on both sides in each of the spatial dimensions, wherein luminescence light 12 may be emitted from the sample 6 [e.g., from a molecule 24 within sample 6]; paragraphs [0044]-[0046], [0131]-[0133] and FIGS. 1-3 of Balzarotti);
a scanner which is configured to displace the intensity distribution on a path around a presumed position of the emitter (the intensity increasing regions 22 adjoining the zero point 20 of the intensity distribution 19 of the excitation light 3 are shifted within the sample 6 by means of a scanner 10, e.g., on a circular arc 25 around a limited local area 23 in the sample 6 in which a molecule 24 [emitter] is presumably located; paragraphs [0131], [0133] and FIGS. 1-3, 6 of Balzarotti);
a detection device configured to detect light emissions of the emitter in a time-resolved manner in a measurement time interval to obtain an emission signal (luminescence light 12 from the sample 6 is coupled out of the beam path of the excitation light, and imaged onto a camera 14, wherein positions of the zero point may particularly be successively shifted into the preliminary local area depending on rates or intervals in time at which the photons of the luminescence light are registered for each of the positions; paragraphs [0060], [0078]-[0085], [0131] and FIGS. 1, 3, 6 of Balzarotti); and
a computing unit configured to estimate a position of the emitter in the sample based on a temporal modulation of the emission signal caused by the displacement of the intensity distribution on the path (executing a loop, e.g., loop 33, whereby a position of molecule 24 in the sample 6 is deduced 32 from the intensities of the luminescence light 12 registered for different positions, e.g., using routine 336, and may be depending on the rates or the intervals in time at which the photons of the luminescence light 12 have been registered for the different positions; paragraphs [0136], [0137], [0141], [0151], [0152] and FIGS. 5, 8, 15, 16 of Balzarotti).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 20 are allowable. Claims 13 and 16 would be allowable assuming satisfactory resolution of the 35 USC 112(b) rejection explained above.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
With respect to Claim 1, although the prior art discloses various methods, including:
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The prior art does not appear to disclose or suggest the above combination of features further comprising:
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With respect to Claims 2-18 and 20, these claims each depend from Claim 1, and are therefore allowable for at least the reasons stated above.
Examiner Note – Consider Entirety of Reference
Although various text and figures of the cited reference have been specifically cited in this Office Action to show disclosures and teachings which correspond to specific claim language, Applicant is advised to consider the complete disclosure of the reference, including portions which have not been specifically cited by the Examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN S DUNNING whose telephone number is 571-272-4879. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 10:30AM to 7:00PM Eastern Time Zone. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, BUMSUK WON can be reached at 571-272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN S DUNNING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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