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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/02/2024 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
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 5 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 5, the limitation “at an angle of about 67.5 degrees” raises clarity issues. It is unclear how this limitation should be interpreted and it is unclear as to what the metes and bounds of the above claim limitations are and would be needed to meet the above claim limitations.
This limitation is unclear because there are no specific ranges which are defined by “about” and it is therefore unclear whether a numerical value just outside this value would read on the limitation or not, and if so, specifically how close the value must be to the given value of “about 67.5 degrees” to read on the limitation.
For the purposes of examination, examiner assumes “at an angle of
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, 3-4, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (US 20170251191 A1), hereinafter Huang.
Regarding independent claim 1, Huang discloses an imaging system (Fig. 1) , comprising:
a beamsplitter (BS; Fig. 1; ¶0060);
a first optical arm (upper arm; Fig. 1), comprising:
a first objective lens (OBJa; Fig. 1; ¶0060),
a first phase plate (BK7/quartz; Fig. 1; ¶0060: “a custom Babinet-Soleil compensator (UVisIR, custom BK7 and quartz blocks and wedges) allows system-level dispersion compensation and independent adjustment of the relative phase between the s- and p-polarizations in the two arms of the interference cavity”), and
a first mirror (Def. Mirror; Fig. 1; ¶0060) arranged to direct emission from the first objective lens (OBJa) through the first phase plate (BK7/quartz) towards the beamsplitter (BS) (Fig. 1);
a second optical arm (lower arm; Fig. 1), comprising:
a second objective lens (OBJb; Fig. 1; ¶0060), wherein the first (OBJa) and second objective lenses (OBJb) are in an opposing relationship (Fig. 1);
a second phase plate (BK7/quartz; Fig. 1; ¶0060), and
a second mirror (Def. Mirror; Fig. 1; ¶0060) arranged to direct emission from the second objective lens (OBJb) through the second phase plate (BK7/quartz) towards the beamsplitter (BS) (Fig. 1); and
one or more detectors (sCMOS; Fig. 1; ¶0060) arranged to receive an image from the beamsplitter (BS) (Fig. 1; ¶0060).
Regarding claim 3, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang further discloses each of the first and second phase plates (BK7/quartz) is positioned between a corresponding one of the first (OBJa) and second objective lenses (OBJb) and the beamsplitter (BS) (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 4, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang further discloses the first (OBJa) and second objective lenses (OBJb) are co-axially aligned in a 4Pi geometry (Fig. 1; ¶0047).
Regarding claim 7, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang further discloses the beamsplitter (BS) is a non-polarizing beamsplitter (Fig. 1; ¶0060).
Regarding claim 8, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang further discloses the beamsplitter (BS) is configured to split unpolarized light at a specific reflection/transmission (R/T) ratio of 50/50 (Fig. 1; ¶0060).
Regarding claim 9, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang further discloses one or more tube lenses (L5; Fig. 1; ¶0060), wherein each of the one or more tube lenses (L5) is positioned between the beamsplitter (BS) and a corresponding one of the one or more detectors (sCMOS) (Fig. 1; ¶0060).
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) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20170251191 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang does not explicitly disclose each of the first and second mirrors (Def. Mirror) is oriented at an angle of about 67.5 degrees (°) relative to a central axis of the corresponding first (OBJa) or second objective lens (OBJb).
However, it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art, In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (C.C.P.A. 1955), see MPEP 2144.05. In this case Huang has all the claimed elements of the imaging system, fulfilling the general conditions of the claim. One would be motivated to have the first and second mirrors oriented at an angle of 67.5 degrees for the purpose of ensuring the light in both arms is aligned to interfere at the beam splitter.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinarily skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the first and second mirrors to be oriented at an angle of 67.5 degrees for the purpose of ensuring the light in both arms is aligned to interfere at the beam splitter.
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20170251191 A1) in view of Kuang et al. (US 20230305280 A1), hereinafter Kuang.
Regarding claim 2, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang does not disclose each of the first and second phase plates is a vortex phase plate.
However, Kuang teaches a similar imaging system comprising an objective lens (2; Fig. 3; ¶0063), a mirror (5; Fig. 3; ¶0063), a phase plate (6; Fig. 3; ¶0063), a beam splitter (9; Fig. 3; ¶0063), and a detector (18; Fig. 3; ¶0063), wherein the phase plate is a vortex phase plate (¶0063).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Huang to incorporate the vortex phase plate as taught by Kuang for the purpose of shaping the beam into a hollow light spot (¶0064 of Kuang).
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20170251191 A1) in view of Hess (US 20160054112 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Huang discloses the imaging system of claim 1, as set forth above. Huang does not disclose each of the first and second mirrors is mounted on a two-axis piezoelectric mirror mount.
However, Hess teaches a similar imaging system comprising first optical arm and a second optical arm (Fig. 2), wherein each arm comprises a first objective lens (230; Fig. 2) and a second objective lens (240; Fig. 2) , a first mirror (234; Fig. 2) and a second mirror (244; Fig. 2), respectively, a beamsplitter (250; Fig. 2), and detectors (265, 275; Fig. 2), wherein each of the first (234) and second mirrors (244) is mounted on a two-axis piezoelectric mirror mount (¶0072).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Huang to incorporate the two-axis piezoelectric mirror mounts as taught by Hess for the purpose of improving precision and accuracy in positioning and calibration (¶0072 of Hess).
Conclusion
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/NATASHA NIGAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2872 June 1st, 2026
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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