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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraph [0123] it appears that ‘Talber distance of the grating 3 and the Talber distance’ should read -Talbot distance of the grating 3 and the Talbot distance-.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 2 ‘a front focal plane’ should read -the front focal plane-. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 4 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, on line 6 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, and on line 8 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 4 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, on line 6 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, and on line 8 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 4 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, on line 6 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, and on line 8 ‘a front plane of a front lens’ should read -the front focal plane of the front lens-, Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 4 ‘a target light source’ should read -the target light source-, on line 10 ‘sensor locate at’ should read -sensor located at-, on line 11 ‘lens coincide with’ should read -lens to coincide with-, and on line 13 ‘locate between’ should read -located between-. Appropriate corrections are required. Claims 14-19 are objected to by virtue of their dependency from claim 13.
Claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 2 ‘sensor locate at’ should read -sensor located at- and on line 13 ‘sensor locate at’ should read -sensor located at-. Appropriate corrections are required. Claim 18 is objected to by virtue of its dependency from claim 17.
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 2 ‘in front the front lens’ should read -in front of the front lens- and on line 7 ‘sensor locate behind the rear focal plane’ should read -sensor located at the rear focal plane-. Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 3 ‘lens coincide with’ should read -lens to coincide with- and on lines 16-17 ‘adjusting the first target between’ should read -adjusting the first target distance between-. Appropriate correction is required.
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 5-7 and 13-19 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.
Claim 5 recites the limitations "the period of the grating" in line 1 and “the numerical aperture of the sample” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 6 recites the limitations "the period of the grating" in line 1 and “the numerical aperture of the sample” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitations "the period of the grating" in line 1 and “the numerical aperture of the sample” in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitations "the guidance of the visible laser" in line 6, “the center of the front lens” in line 9, and “the center of the rear lens” in lines 9 and 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Claims 14-19 are rejected by virtue of their dependency from claim 13.
Claim 16 recites the limitations "the first spatial location" in lines 1 and 2, “the second spatial location” in lines 2 and 3, and “the anterior spatial location” in line 13. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
As for claim 17, on line 6 ‘the spot’ is indefinite, for it is unclear as to which spot is being referred since claim 14 refers to ‘a spot of the target laser (line 4),’ ‘a spot of the visible laser (lines 4-5),’ and ‘the spots (lines 8-9).’
Claim 18 recites the limitations "the attitude of the 4f lens group" in line 6 and “the attitude of the front lens” in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitations "the first spatial location" and “the second spatial location” in line 2, “the distance between the first target distance and the second target distance” in lines 6-7, and “the difference” in line 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
In addition, as for claim 19, ‘the distance’ of -the difference of the distance- in line 17 is indefinite, for it is unclear as to which distance is being referred since claim 19 refers to ‘a first target distance,’ ‘a second target distance’, a ‘distance between the first target distance and the second target distance,’ and ‘a distance between the front lens and the rear lens.’
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 8-12, and 20 are allowed.
Claim 4 would be allowed if a correction to the objection is made.
Claims 5-7 and 13-19 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: please refer to the attached PTO-892. The examiner notes the following: Yang et al. (CN 115585894 A)-using machine translation appears to anticipate the following limitations of claim 1: a wavefront detection system (FIG. 1), comprising: a target light source configured to emit a target laser at a target waveband (FIG. 1: S1 with page 6: paragraph beginning ‘As shown in FIG. 1…,’ lines 3-4: helium-neon laser light source; page 6: last two lines with page 7: line 1: 632.8 nm being the central wavelength of the light source and noting claim 5 of page 8: ‘suitable for different laser wavelengths’); a grating (FIG. 1: S3), a 4f lens group (FIG. 1: S4 and S6) and a camera (FIG. 1: S7; abstract) along a propagation direction of the target laser in sequence (FIG. 1: noting S1 to S3 to S4 to S6 to S7); wherein the 4f lens group comprises a front lens and a rear lens along the propagation direction of the target laser in sequence (FIG. 1: S4 and S6); a rear focal plane of the front lens at the target waveband coincides with a front focal plane of the rear lens at the target waveband (FIG. 1: S4’s rear focal plane coincides with front focal plane of S6 at S5 (see 2f)), wherein an imaging sensor of the camera is configured to sense the target laser (FIG. 1: noting S1’s light propagating to S7; abstract with page 6: full paragraph beginning ‘As shown in FIG. 1…’) and the imaging sensor is set on a rear focal plane of the rear lens at the target waveband (FIG. 1: noting f under S7 and S6; page 6: paragraph beginning ‘As shown in FIG. 1…’ last three lines ‘CCD camera S7 located at the back focal plane..’) wherein the grating is set in front of the front focal plane of the front lens at the target waveband (the output of the grating, four-wavefront transverse cutting stripe, is located at the front focal position and therefore, the grating is just in front of the front focal plane of the front lens: see page 5: step (2) and step (3) with abstract: ‘The wavefront of different positions after adjusting the mixed grating is located on the front focal plane of 4f system…’ and page 2: paragraph beginning ‘4f system …’ line 11: ‘adjusting the wavefront of the mixed grating position behind the 4f system front focal plane…’). However, for Yang the sample is located between the grating and the 4f lens group (page 5: step (3): ‘using the object surface position as the front focal surface position of the 4f imaging system’).
Fax/Telephone Numbers
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Gordon J. Stock, Jr. whose telephone number is (571) 272-2431.
The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
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, Kara Geisel, can be reached at 571-272-2416. 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.
/GORDON J STOCK JR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
Prosecution Insights