NON-FINAL REJECTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings Objection
The drawings are objected because-
(1) The drawings are objected to because all of the drawings are blurred. The figures 1-14 of PGPub and the originally filed drawings are not readable. All drawings must be made by a process which will give them satisfactory reproduction characteristics. Every line, number, and letter must be durable, clean, black (except for color drawings), sufficiently dense and dark, and uniformly thick and well-defined. The weight of all lines and letters must be heavy enough to permit adequate reproduction. This requirement applies to all lines however fine, to shading, and to lines representing cut surfaces in sectional views. Lines and strokes of different thicknesses may be used in the same drawing where different thicknesses have a different meaning (See MPEP 1.84 (l)).
(2) The drawings are objected to because of the font size of fig.2-3,11-14 being too small. Numbers, letters, and reference characters must measure at least .32 cm. (1/8 inch) in height (see MPEP 1.84(p)).
(3) Solid black shading areas are not permitted, except when used to represent bar graphs or color (see MPEP 1.84(m)).
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 and 23 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 5,9, 13 and 14 replace “a sample” with -- the sample -- as “a sample” is already introduced in line 2.
In claim 16, line 2 replace “a sample” with -- the sample -- as “a sample” is already introduced in Claim 1.
In claim 17, line 2 replace “a sample” with -- the sample -- as “a sample” is already introduced in Claim 1.
In claim 23, line 3 replace “a sample” with -- the sample -- as “a sample” is already introduced in Claim 21.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 21-27 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 21 is rejected as being indefinite as two claims are numbered as “21” where one is in independent form and other one depends from claim 1. Please renumber the claims. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art fails to ascertain from which claim “21” claims 22-27 depend from. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art cannot fully determine the scope of the claimed invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-27 would be allowable if amended to overcome the objections and rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
With regard to Claim 1, the prior arts of the record do not teach or fairly suggest a system for the non-contact Laser-Based Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (LRUS) measurement of a sample, which sample has a plurality of surfaces, including a first surface, said system comprising, in combination with the other recited elements, a spatial light modulator (SLM) that is positioned between the CW laser source and the sample so that the laser beam travels to the SLM and said SLM spatially modulates said beam; imaging optics configured to focus an image onto a first surface of a sample, where said imaging optics are positioned between the SLM and the sample, and wherein the components are arranged so that a laser beam is configured to travel in the following sequence: from the laser source, to the SLM, through the imaging optics and then to a first surface of a sample; a holder for holding a sample; a device for measuring the sample displacement amplitude and phase which is located so that it is aligned with a surface of the sample.
With regard to independent Claim 21, the prior arts of the record do not teach or fairly suggest a non-contact method of Laser-Based Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (LRUS) measurement of a sample, which sample has elastic properties and resonance modes and the resonance modes have corresponding natural frequencies and mode shapes, said mode shapes having anti-nodes, wherein the method comprises, in combination with the other recited steps, d) generating a first image displaying the anti-nodes of the pre-computed mode shape; e) generating a second image comprising a computer-generated holography (CGH) image of the first image; f) using a spatial light modulator (SLM) to impose spatial modulation onto the laser wavefront; g) focusing the beam onto a surface of the sample, wherein the first image induces vibrations at the anti-nodes of the mode shape; h) sequentially changing the temporal modulation excitation frequency; i) measuring the vibrations induced in the sample at the excitation frequency using an instrument, wherein the vibrations are maximized at a resonance frequency, and said instrument produces an output signal; j) finding the frequency at which the output signal is maximized, this frequency being the resonance frequency corresponding to the mode shape; k) changing the mode shape image to that of the next mode to be measured and repeating steps d) to j) to measure the resonance frequency for each mode; and l) after each resonance frequency is detected, estimating the elastic properties of the sample using an inversion algorithm and the model.
Claims 2-21 and 22-27 would be allowed by virtue of their dependence from Claims 1 and 21.
Conclusion
The following prior arts made of record and not relied upon, are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Van Voorst et al. (US 10,330,606 B2) teaches an inspection apparatus for measuring a target structure on a substrate, comprising: an illumination source configured to generate measurement radiation; one or more optical elements configured to focus the measurement radiation onto the target structure, the one or more optical elements comprising at least one optical element configured to receive the measurement radiation at a grazing incidence; and a compensatory optical device configured to spatially modulate a wavefront of the measurement radiation to compensate for a non-uniform manufacturing defect in the one or more optical elements, wherein the illumination source is a high harmonic generation source comprising a high harmonic generation medium and a pump radiation source that emits pump radiation for exciting the high harmonic generation medium, and wherein the compensatory optical device is configured to spatially modulate a wavefront of the pump radiation prior to it exciting the high harmonic generation medium, such that the spatial modulation of the wavefront of the pump radiation causes the spatial modulation of the wavefront of the measurement radiation [Abstract].
Iketaki et al. (US 2004/0227101 A1) teaches a microscope comprising: a spatial phase modulator for spatial phase-modulating, into a predetermined beam shape, a first light to excite a molecule from a ground-state to a first electron excited state or a second light to excite the molecule from the first electron excited state to the second electron excited state with higher energy level, for the sample including the molecule with three electronic states including at least a ground-state; a focusing section for focusing and overlapping a part of these first light and second light; a light detector for detecting light generated from the sample; a wavefront compensator provided in an optical path in the above first light and/or an optical path in the above second light; and a wavefront aberration removal section for removing wavefront aberration caused in the first light and/or the second light by the wavefront compensator [Abstract].
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUMAN NATH whose telephone number is (571)270-1443. The examiner can normally be reached on M to F 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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, JOHN BREENE can be reached on 571-272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUMAN K NATH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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