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.
Claims 1-5, 7-11 is/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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
As to claim 1, in the limitation “wherein said interferometer generates a fixed interference pattern modulated by an amplitude envelope, in which only fringes close to a region in the optical path difference in the two arms of the interferometer is zero, will be visible, when projecting said interference pattern, the magnitudes to be measured between the reference and target mirror, relative piston and the relative inclination in two axes, are decoupled, the three magnitudes measured are extracted based on . . .”.
there are a couple of issues here, one of which exists throughout the specification and claims and does not appear to be addressed, and one of which appears to be part of the amended limitation.
First, the phrase “relative piston” throughout the spec and claims is indefinite. I am guessing that this is supposed to be position, because the specification states measuring the difference in relative height (piston), but I don’t know how “relative piston” would work in the claim given what is being measured and the fact that there are no actual pistons in the application. That really should be “relative position” rather than “relative piston”, as there is no definition of “piston” that fits here that would make that phrase appropriate (given the lack of pistons as mentioned earlier).
The second issue is that the limitation is still idiomatic and unclear overall. What I think the applicant is trying to claim is that when the interferometer generates a fixed interference pattern that is only visible when the optical path difference between the arms in the interferometer is zero the interference pattern, and then the interference pattern is “projected”, and the magnitudes to be measured, which are the relative position and the relative inclination in each of the two axes, are somehow decoupled. But even if I can guess at what the claim likely means, I would not find that limitation definite as there are still too many questions about the language there.
So, in summary, “relative piston” needs to be addressed throughout the specification and the claims, and I would consider the limitation at issue here indefinite even if I can take a stab at what the applicant is trying to claim.
Still the recitation of ‘first output light beam,’ in line 12 appears to be interchangeable to the ‘said first light beam,’ in line 14.
Claims 2-5, 7-11 depend on claim 1.
Conclusion
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/ABDULLAHI NUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2886
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