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 1-10 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.
Regarding claim 1, the final limitation recites “using appropriate knowledge about an optimal structure depth in the decision.” It has been held recitation of a use without any active, positive steps delimiting how this use is actually practiced is indefinite. See MPEP §2173.05(q). In this instance, no active, positive steps are present to recite how the appropriate knowledge is used to make the decision.
Furthermore, the metes and bounds of what is meant by the modifier “appropriate” in the term “appropriate knowledge” cannot be ascertained.
Appropriate correction and/or clarification is required.
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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Schwab (US 2020/0353742).
Regarding claim 1, Schwab teaches “a method for determining a location-dependent structure depth of a flexo-graphic printing plate or scanning surface, the method comprising: providing a light source (item 19) and irradiating at least a portion of a structured surface of the flexographic printing plate or the scanning surface with light (Figure 4a, paragraph 76); and providing a camera (item 21) configured to generate an image of a structure at the portion of the structured surface or the scanning surface, the camera being a 1D camera or a 2D camera (paragraph 76, Figure 5); causing the light to strike the structure in the portion in a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface (Figure 4a); causing the structure to generate a location-dependent shaded area in a path of the light (Figure 4a); and wherein the light source and the camera are arranged relative to one another to enable the camera to detect the location-dependent shaded area (Figure 4a); and calculating by a computer the location-dependent structure depth from the location-dependent shaded area detected by the camera (paragraphs 77 and 88), classifying the structure depth by a computational classification according to predetermined step heights and computationally examining whether there are regions that fall below or exceed a predetermined step height (paragraph 92: the determination of the presence of a dust particle necessarily requires the depth at the position dust particle to be measured and determined to be higher than the step height of the plate that is expected); and generating a computationally implemented decision whether the flexographic printing plate or the scanning surface is usable (paragraph 92: if a dust particle is detected, implicitly, the plate is determined to be unusable since the dust particle is displayed to a user for removal) and thereby using appropriate knowledge about an optimal structure depth in the decision (the knowledge about an optimal structure depth in this instance is the knowledge that the optimal structure depth is the depth at which the dust particle is touching the plate).” Regarding claim 2, Schwab further teaches “wherein the location-dependent structure depth is a relief depth of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface.” Regarding claim 3, Schwab further teaches “wherein the relief depth is an etched relief depth (paragraph 83).” Regarding claim 4, Schwab further teaches “wherein the relief depth is a lasered relief depth (paragraph 43).” Regarding claim 5, Schwab further teaches “which comprises displaying the relief depth as a topographic image of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface (Figure 5).” Regarding claim 6, Schwab further teaches “which comprises statistically analyzing the relief depth and displaying a result of the analysis (paragraph 91: issuing a warning when a tolerance is exceeded).” Regarding claim 7, Schwab further teaches “wherein the camera is one of a series of a plurality of multiple cameras (paragraph 51).” Regarding claim 8, Schwab further teaches “which comprises additionally determining with the computer a thickness of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface (paragraph 92).” Regarding claim 9, Schwab further teaches “which comprises additionally determining with the computer vacant areas of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface (paragraph 103).” Regarding claim 10, Schwab further teaches “which comprises rotating the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface and detecting a rotation by an encoder (paragraph 108).”
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/04/2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. To the extent that they are applicable to the instant rejection, they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Schwab uses a reference object. While this is true, the embodiment used in the rejection does not use a reference object.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JOSHUA D ZIMMERMAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853