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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “wherein the first coupling structure is coupled to the receiver head of the second radar unit” in claim 18 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 16-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 16 recites “wherein upon receipt of the first excited signal or the second excited signal received via the waveguide, a beat signal is generated from which a frequency offset and a phase-noise calculation are determined” which is indefinite for four reasons. First, it is unclear what is “receiving” the first or second excited signal. Second, reciting that “a beat signal is generated” reads like a method step rather than a structural or functional limitation of some element of the radar system, creating confusion as to the patentable weight, if any, of said recitation in the context of an apparatus claim. Third, it is unclear who or what is generating the beat signal, i.e., one of the recited elements of the claim, or some as yet unclaimed element. Fourth, it is unclear who or what is determining the frequency offset and phrase-noise calculation, since none of the previously claimed elements appear to be capable or calculating or determining. Claims 29 and 34 are likewise rejected, and dependent claims 17-28, 30-33, and 35 fail to cure the deficiency.
Claim 28 recites “wherein a redirected portion of a power of the respective radar head comprises less than 10% of a total power of the radar head” which is indefinite because said recitation describes the invention in terms of a particular user. Therefore, whether a device falls within the scope of the claim cannot be ascertained until a particular user engages the device. Consequently, the claim is indefinite. Ex parte Brummer, 12 USPQ2d 1653 (BdPatApp & Inter 1989). Specifically, the percentage of total power that is redirected from the radar head cannot be known, nor does it actually occur, until the radar system is in fact operated in a particular manner. Claim 32 is likewise rejected.
Double Patenting
Claims 16-35 of this application is patentably indistinct from claims 16-35 of Application No. 19/197,827. Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.78(f), when two or more applications filed by the same applicant or assignee contain patentably indistinct claims, elimination of such claims from all but one application may be required in the absence of good and sufficient reason for their retention during pendency in more than one application. Applicant is required to either cancel the patentably indistinct claims from all but one application or maintain a clear line of demarcation between the applications. See MPEP § 822.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-35 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and 101 set forth in this Office action.
Specifically, with regard to claim 16 (independent claims 29 and 34 being substantively similar), Higgins (US 5,481,268 A) discloses a radar system for a vehicle (abstract), the radar system comprising: a first radar unit comprising: a first transmitter head (200) and a first receiver head (300), a first coupling structure coupled to the first transmitter head or the first receiver head (225), and a first waveguide launcher coupled to the first coupling structure (215-217); a second radar unit comprising: a second transmitter head and a second receiver head, a second coupling structure coupled to the second receiver head, and a second waveguide launcher coupled to the second coupling structure (obvious to include a duplicate).
However, the prior art does not appear to teach the combined limitations of the claimed, invention, specifically, a waveguide coupled between the first and second waveguide launchers, wherein the first coupling structure is configured to redirect a portion of a first signal from the first transmitter head or first receiver head in order to excite the first waveguide launcher in order to transmit a first excited signal to the second radar unit via the waveguide, wherein the second coupling structure is configured to redirect a portion of a second signal from the second transmitter head or second receiver head in order to excite the second waveguide launcher in order to transmit a second excited signal to the first radar unit via the waveguide, wherein upon receipt of the first excited signal or the second excited signal received via the waveguide, a beat signal is generated from which a frequency offset and a phase-noise calculation are determined, and wherein the first and second radar units are configured to be synchronized based on the frequency offset and the phase-noise calculation.
Conclusion
The cited references made of record in the contemporaneously filed PTO-892 form and not relied upon in the instant office action are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, and may have one or more of the elements in Applicant’s disclosure and at least claim 16.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADY W FRAZIER whose telephone number is (469)295-9263. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm CT.
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, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at 571-270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADY W FRAZIER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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