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
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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Moy et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2015/0160122, hereafter Moy ‘122).
Claim 20: Moy ‘122 teaches an assembly for performing parameter measurements (abstract) comprising:
a plurality of optical devices (113, 142) wherein each optical device has a face (Figs. 3-4 and 5A, [0045], [0051]);
a mechanical carriage (100) connected to a surface (101) configured to receive a layer of a liquid coating (Figs. 1-4, [0032]), wherein the mechanical carriage is configured to move to and from a state where components (125) apply the liquid coating (Figs. 1-4, [0032]), which corresponds to the claimed operative configuration, which is located at a set distance and orientation with respect to the surface (Figs. 1-4, [0032]), and wherein the mechanical carriage is configured to receive each optical device (Figs. 3-4 and 5A, [0051]);
a removable mechanical alignment feature (113a) retained on a face of each optical device (Figs. 3-4, 5A, [0045]); and
an adjustment feature (113b) configured to adjust an orientation of each optical device within the mechanical carriage to an aligned orientation based on the surface and removable mechanical alignment feature (Fig. 4, [0045]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-19 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to teach or render obvious a method for aligning an optical device with a surface configured to receive a liquid coating, including the steps of increasing a distance between the optical device and the surface, removing the removable mechanical alignment feature, and moving back the optical device and/or the surface to re-establish the selected distance therebetween as to the context of claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sperling (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0005954, hereafter Sperling ‘954) teaches a method for measuring a parameter of a surface with an optical device (abstract, claim 2) comprising locating an alignment feature between a face of the optical device and the surface ([0055]), moving the optical device or surface to establish a selected distance ([0048], [0055], [0112]), and adjusting an orientation of the optical device based on the alignment feature ([0055]). Sperling ‘954 does not teach that the method includes increasing a distance between the optical device and the surface, removing the removable mechanical alignment feature, and moving back the optical device and/or the surface to re-establish the selected distance therebetween.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADFORD M GATES whose telephone number is (571)270-3558. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5.
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/BG/
/SHAMIM AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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