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 .
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 § 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) 1-6, 18, 19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shahmoon et al (WO 2018/116302).
Regarding claims 1 and 18, Shahmoon et al teach (Figs. 1-9D) An optical system and method comprising: a front-end lens (84) configured to receive light from one or more point sources (160); a multimode waveguide ([0041]) that is optically coupled to the front-end lens to receive light from the front-end lens, wherein the light received from the front-end lens is transmitted through the multimode waveguide in one or more modes of the multimode waveguide; and a back-end lens (94) configured to receive light that is output from the multimode waveguide, wherein the back-end lens directs the light to one or more detectable points (with detector 91 via lens 94).
Regarding claim 2, Shahmoon et al teach the front-end lens directs light from two or more point sources ([0089]- multiple laser sources having different wavelength) to the multimode waveguide at different angles relative to a propagation axis of the multimode waveguide such that the light from the two or more point sources is transmitted via two or more different modes, respectively, of the multimode waveguide.
Regarding claim 3, Shahmoon et al teach ([0048]) the multimode waveguide has a non-circular cross-section.
Regarding claim 4, Shahmoon et al teach the cross-section of the multimode waveguide has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 sides.
Regarding claim 5, Shahmoon et al teach light received by the front-end lens from a point source (lasers) and transmitted through the multimode waveguide is directed by the back-end lens to the one or more detectable points.
Regarding claims 6 and 19, Shahmoon et al teach ([0065]) a detector and monitoring one or more condition of the multimode waveguide and the detector is configured to detect light at the one or more detectable points and produce a detection signal; and a processor (170) configured to apply a transfer function to the detection signal to produce a system output comprising information that was transmitted in the light from the one or more point sources, wherein the transfer function (OTF) is determined for the one or more detectable points based on a condition of the multimode waveguide.
Regarding claim 21, Shahmoon et al teach an optical system comprising: a multimode waveguide having a non-circular cross-sectional core ([0048]) for transmission of light; and at least one lens optically coupled with the multimode waveguide, wherein light from one or more point sources (laser) is directed by the at least one lens (84) into the multimode waveguide ([0041]) such that the light is transmitted via the core of the multimode waveguide in one or more modes, and after transmission, the light exiting the multimode waveguide is detected at one or more detectable points.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Swanson et al (US 20210055752).
Regarding claim 1, Swanson et al teach (Figs. 1-13) an optical system comprising: a front-end lens (lens in front of laser source) configured to receive light from one or more point sources (Fig. 6A, 614); a multimode waveguide ([0117]) that is optically coupled to the front-end lens to receive light from the front-end lens, wherein the light received from the front-end lens is transmitted through the multimode waveguide in one or more modes of the multimode waveguide (710); and a back-end lens (distal optics can be lens see [0063]) configured to receive light that is output from the multimode waveguide, wherein the back-end lens directs the light to one or more detectable points (736).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-17, 20, and 22-26 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONY KO whose telephone number is (571)272-1926. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5pm.
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, Georgia Epps can be reached at 571-272-2328. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding 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.
/TONY KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
TK
