CTNF 18/871,758 CTNF 99582 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pittaro et al. US 6222860 in view of Leonardo et al. US 2007/0248436 . Regarding claim 1 , Pittaro teaches a gas sensor (fig. 3a; abstract “The laser system can be employed in a gas monitoring system”) comprising: one gain medium (#50) ; a resonator (#90) which can vary its optical length by varying the physical length of the resonator (col. 4 ln. 57-63) in order to vary the laser wavelength (col. 4 ln. 40-45; varying the optical mode includes wavelength which is a component of the spatial mode) ; a light-receiving device detecting the of laser beams (col. 2 ln. 16-19; optical sensor) , wherein the of laser beam is caused to interfere with a determination-target gas inside the resonator (col. 2 ln. 12-14) . Pittaro fails to explicitly teach having a plurality of resonators which simultaneously generate a plurality of laser beams; however, Pittaro does teach that their apparatus is supported in multi-mode gas analyzers (col. 2 ln. 49-56) . Leonardo teaches a laser apparatus (fig. 1a-1e and 6a-6b) which comprises a gain medium (#102, 602; claim 24) which provides a master optical signal (#103, 603) to a plurality of wavelength-converting optical heads (#107, 607) which provide simultaneous laser beams of varying wavelengths (para. 0044-0049, 0051; “high degree of overlap” which can be adjusted is understood to include simultaneous signals) for the purpose of reducing cost and better power scalability (para. 0078). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a plurality of resonators which simultaneously generate a plurality of laser beams as taught by Leonardo in the gas sensor of Pittaro for the purpose of reducing cost and better power scalability. Regarding claim 2 , Pittaro teaches the detector detecting an absorption of the plurality of laser beams by the determination-target gas based on an output of the light-receiving device to determine type of the determination-target gas (col. 1 ln. 8-col. 2 ln. 48 in particular col. 2 ln. 12-18) . Regarding claim 3 , Pittaro teaches a storage storing reference data (abstract; implicit in gas analyzing system) , wherein the detector compares a result of detection by the light-receiving device to the reference data to determine type or concentration of the determination-target gas (col. 2 ln. 12-18; entire purpose of probing an unknown gas) . Regarding claim 4 , Pittaro fails to teach an optical waveguide causing light emitted from the gain medium to branch into a plurality of light beams, and a lens serving to convert the plurality of light beams into collimated parallel light beams, and providing the collimated light beams to the plurality of resonators respectively. Leonardo teaches an optical waveguide (#104, 604) causing light emitted from the gain medium (#103, 603) to branch into a plurality of light beams (#105, 605) , and a lens (fig. 4 #414) serving to convert the plurality of light beams into collimated parallel light beams (para. 0067-0070) , and providing the collimated light beams to the plurality of resonators respectively (para. 0067-0070) for the purpose of reducing cost and better power scalability (para. 0078). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have an optical waveguide causing light emitted from the gain medium to branch into a plurality of light beams, and a lens serving to convert the plurality of light beams into collimated parallel light beams, and providing the collimated light beams to the plurality of resonators respectively as taught by Leonardo in the gas sensor of Pittaro for the purpose of reducing cost and better power scalability. Regarding claim 5, Pittaro fails to teach a light switch sequentially causing laser beams coming out of the plurality of resonators to be incident on the light-receiving device. Leonardo teaches a light switch sequentially causing laser beams coming out of the plurality of resonators to be incident on the light-receiving device (para. 0049; “The coupling optics…may include optical shutters that allow a user to selectively block all or some of output”) for the purpose of allowing a user to selectively block all or some of output (para. 0049) . Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a light switch sequentially causing laser beams coming out of the plurality of resonators to be incident on the light-receiving device as taught by Leonardo in the gas sensor of Pittaro for the purpose of allowing a user to selectively block all or some of output. Regarding claim 6 , Pittaro teaches varying the refractive index the resonator changes the optical length of the signal (col. 4 ln. 57-58) . Leonardo teaches a plurality of delay units (para. 0051 “The amount of overlap can be adjusted, e.g., by compensating for differences in optical path differences between the beam splitter 104 and the power amplifiers 108.” Ie. Adjusting a delay) for the purpose of making the output signals substantially synchronous (para. 0051) . Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a plurality of delay units provided in the plurality of resonators respectively and having different refractive indices as taught by Leonardo in the gas sensor of Pittaro for the purpose of making the output signals substantially synchronous. Regarding claim 7, Pittaro in view of Leonardo teaches one mirror being shared (Pittaro #30 and Leonardo #102) , but Pittaro in view of Leonardo does not specifically disclose the plurality of semi-transmissive mirrors (Pittaro #330) are integral. However, the fact that the parts are integral is not sufficient by itself to patentably distinguish over an otherwise old device unless there are new or unexpected result (MPEP 2144). Also, making the parts integral would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made because reducing number of parts would decrease the cost of the device and reduce the manufacturing cost and process. Regarding claim 8 , Pittaro teaches a temperature adjustment unit adjusting temperature of the gain medium (col. 4 ln. 46-55) , and a position adjustment unit adjusting positions of mirrors of the plurality of resonators (col. 4 ln. 56-63) . Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Richard Toohey whose telephone number is (703)756-5818. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 7:30am – 5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, the 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, Uzma Alam can be reached on (571)272-2995. The fax number for the organization where this application or processing is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /RICHARD O TOOHEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2884 /UZMA ALAM/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2884 Application/Control Number: 18/871,758 Page 2 Art Unit: 2884 Application/Control Number: 18/871,758 Page 3 Art Unit: 2884 Application/Control Number: 18/871,758 Page 4 Art Unit: 2884 Application/Control Number: 18/871,758 Page 5 Art Unit: 2884 Application/Control Number: 18/871,758 Page 6 Art Unit: 2884 Application/Control Number: 18/871,758 Page 7 Art Unit: 2884
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