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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments to Claims 21-24, 27, 35, 39 in the submission filed 8/18/2026 are acknowledged and accepted.
The substitute specification filed 8/18/2026 has been entered because it conforms to 37 CFR 1.125(b) and (c).
Election/Restrictions
Applicants’ election with traverse of Invention II (Claim 25) in the reply filed on 8/18/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that several of the inventions are not mutually exclusive, and several of the inventions are capable of use together. This is not found persuasive. With respect to the first argument, each of the inventions recited in the restriction requirement in the Office Action dated 8/18/2026 include mutually exclusive subject matter which is not found in the other inventions. The mutually exclusive subject matter for each invention is listed in the listing of invention. It is not relevant that these inventions are capable of use together since these inventions are not claimed as such. Additionally, Applicants’ assertion that Group III is a special case of Group II is not persuasive, since the subject matter of Group II does not actually include the subject matter of Group III. With respect to the second argument, it is noted that the showing of distinct related products requires a showing that the inventions as claimed are either not capable of use together or can have a materially different design, mode of operation, function, or effect. Both are not required to be shown. In the instant case, it has been shown that each of Inventions I-XI have a materially different design, function, and/or effect. For instance, the design, effect, and/or function of Invention I is totally different from the design, effect, and/or function of Inventions II-XI. This can be shown for each of the remaining inventions.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 22-24, 26, 28-41 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 8/18/2026.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (e) and 120.
Drawings
The originally filed drawings were received on 7/16/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
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 § 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.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ehbets et al. (U.S. Patent No. 6545808), of record.
Ehbets et al. discloses an optical element (See for example Abstract; Figures 1-13) comprising a substrate (See for example 17 in Figure 4) having a top surface (See surface of element 17 on which element 25 is attached in Figure 4); an intermediate layer (See for example 25 in Figure 4) formed over the top surface of the substrate, the intermediate layer having a refractive index nI (See for example col 9, line 60-col. 1, line 15, wherein the intermediate layer may be made of MgF2 or CaF2), a topmost layer (See for example 21 in Figure 4) formed over the intermediate layer and having a refractive index nT (See for example col 9, line 60-col. 1, line 15, wherein the topmost layer may be made of SiO2) where nT ≠ nI, and a contiguous multitude of recessed (See for example regions near 23 in Figure 4) and non-recessed areal regions (See for example regions similar to varying sized protrusions near 21 in Figure 4), wherein the intermediate and topmost layers are substantially transparent over an operational wavelength range that includes a design wavelength λo (In the instant case, SiO2, MgF2, and CaF2 are all transparent over the visible and near infrared wavelength ranges, and in particular over the designed Bragg reflection wavelengths near 1550 nm); the areal regions of the multitude are variously sized (In the instant case, the period of the phase mask is Λ, the various protrusions are approximately Λ/2 in Figure 4), and distributed transversely across the optical element (See Figure 4), the multitude of areal regions includes a non-empty subset of areal regions having a largest transverse dimension less than about λo (In the instant case, the Bragg reflection wavelength is given by λB=2neffP, where P is the Bragg grating period and P= Λ/2. Thus, Λ= λB/neff, i.e. the various sized protrusions (approximately Λ/2) are sized = λB/2neff. The various sized protrusions will necessarily be smaller than the Bragg reflection wavelength to be reflected.), each non-recessed areal region of the multitude includes corresponding areal portions of the intermediate and topmost layers (See for example regions similar to varying sized protrusions near 21 in Figure 4); the multitude of areal regions includes a non-empty subset of recessed areal regions (See for example regions near 23 in Figure 4), each recessed areal region of the non-empty subset of recessed areal regions having a depth and a transverse dimension (See for example regions near 23 in Figure 4), wherein the depth of the respective recessed areal region varies based on the transverse dimension of the respective recessed areal region (See for example regions near 23 in Figure 4), and each recessed areal region is substantially filled with a fill medium (In the instant case, the fill medium is either air or vacuum, refractive index approximately 1) that is substantially transparent over the operational wavelength range, the fill medium having a refractive index nF where nF ≠ nI ≠ nT.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 25, 27 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 25 is allowable over the cited art of record for at least the reason that the cited art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest an optical element as generally set forth in Claim 21, 25, the element including, in combination with the features recited in Claims 21, 25, wherein each recessed areal region of the multitude further extends at least partially through the intermediate layer.
Claim 27 is allowable over the cited art of record for at least the reason that the cited art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest an optical element as generally set forth in Claim 21, 27, the element including, in combination with the features recited in Claims 21, 27, the optical element is structurally arranged so as to receive on at least a portion of the contiguous multitude of areal regions an incident optical signal, within the operational wavelength range, and to transmit or reflect at least a portion of the incident optical signal as a phase-transformed optical signal that is transformed substantially according to a specified effective phase transformation function φeff(x, y) that varies as a function of transverse two-dimensional position coordinates x and y across the optical element; the topmost layer has a substantially uniform thickness dT, the intermediate layer has a substantially uniform thickness dI, and the refractive indices nT, nI, and nF, the thicknesses dT and dI, and arrangement of the variously sized and distributed areal regions of the multitude result in the areal regions of the optical element being configured to collectively impart onto the phase-transformed optical signal the effective phase transformation function φeff(x, y).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent No. 11487053 to Greiner et al.- Prior patent document related to the instant application.
U.S. Patent No. 12055738 to Greiner et al.- Prior patent document related to the instant application.
U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2017/0217242 A1 to Lochbihler- Security element for use in value documents, including a grating structure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARNEL C LAVARIAS whose telephone number is (571)272-2315. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:30 AM-7 PM.
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ARNEL C. LAVARIAS
Primary Examiner
Group Art Unit 2872
8/31/2026
/ARNEL C LAVARIAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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