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
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.
Claim 12 is 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 12 recites a limitation "the two or more conductive traces". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, since this limitation was removed from claim 10 by the claim amendment.
For the purpose of examination, the limitations as presented have been searched and considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 6-15, 21-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (2021/0098964) hereinafter ‘964, and further in view of Hiiro (2021/0320476), hereinafter ‘476.
Regarding claim 1, Figs 1, 2 and 5A of ‘964 disclose an optical subassembly, comprising:
1. “a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) device [200];
an optical element [140] disposed above a top surface of the VCSEL device;
a first attachment structure [151]; and
a second attachment structure [155], wherein:
the VCSEL device [200] includes:
an anode contact [282] disposed on the top surface of the VCSEL device;
the optical element [140] includes a first conductive trace [131] and second conductive trace [133] on a bottom surface of the optical element;
the second attachment structure [155] is disposed on the anode contact [282];
and the second attachment structure [155] is configured to electrically or mechanically connect the second conductive trace [133] to the anode contact [282].”
‘964 discloses the optical device as described above, in addition, the reference discloses that the first conductive trace 131 is mechanically connected to the VCSEL 200 through the first attachment structure 151 and that the VCSEL 200 has a bottom cathode contact directly connected to the substrate 110. ‘964 also discloses that the first conductive trace 131 can be electrically connected to the VCSEL through the first attachment structure 151.
‘964 does not disclose:
“a cathode contact disposed on the top surface of the VCSEL device,” such that
“the first attachment structure is disposed on the cathode contact; and
the first attachment structure is configured to electrically or mechanically connect the first conductive trace to the cathode contact.”
However, VCSELs that have both the anode and the cathode on the top surface of the device are well known in the art as evidenced by Fig 1 of ‘476, which discloses a VCSEL 100 with top anode electrode 35 and a top cathode electrode 32.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teachings of ‘476 into the device of ‘964 by using a VCSEL with two top contacts, instead of a VCSEL with a top and a bottom contact, and connecting the top contacts to the conductive traces on the diffuser, since the combination would yield the predictable result of providing electrical connections to the VCSEL and reducing the vertical thickness of the device by eliminating the bottom electrode and electrode pad.
Thus, the claimed invention would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because “all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416, 82 USPQ2d at 1395.
Combination of ‘964 and ‘476 further discloses:
1. “a cathode contact [32 of ‘476] disposed on the top surface of the VCSEL device [100 of ‘476], and
an anode contact [35 of ‘476] disposed on the top surface of the VCSEL device [100 of ‘476];
the first attachment structure [151] is disposed on the cathode contact [32 of ‘476]; the second attachment structure [155] is disposed on the anode contact [35 of ‘476];
the first attachment structure [151] is configured to electrically or mechanically connect the first conductive trace [131] to the cathode contact [32 of ‘476]; and
the second attachment structure [155] is configured to electrically or mechanically connect the second conductive trace [133] to the anode contact [35 of ‘476].”
Regarding claims 2-4, 6, 9, 21-23, combination of ‘964 and ‘476 further discloses:
2. “wherein the optical element [140] comprises a glass material [glass] and is at least one of a diffractive optical element or a diffuser [diffuser].”
3. “wherein a conductive trace [133], of the first conductive trace and the second conductive trace [131, 133] is configured to at least one of:
transmit an electrical signal to or from the VCSEL device; or
prevent transmission of the electrical signal to or from the VCSEL device when at least one of the optical element or the conductive trace are damaged or broken.” See paragraph 0160.
4. “wherein each conductive trace [131, 133] of the first conductive trace and the second conductive trace [131, 133] includes at least one of copper [Cu], nickel, or gold.”
6. “wherein each attachment structure [151,155] of the first attachment structure and the second attachment structure includes at least one of gold [Au] or copper.”
9. “further comprising: one or more sealing structures [120] that form a seal between the optical element [140] and the VCSEL device [200 of ‘964, 100 of ‘476].”
21. “wherein the optical subassembly is disposed on the IC driver chip [110].”
22. “wherein two or more additional attachment structures [153, 157] are configured to electrically connect the first conductive trace and the second conductive trace [131, 133] of the optical element [140] to the IC driver chip [110].”
23. “wherein: the IC driver chip [110] is configured to provide an electrical signal to the VCSEL device [200 of ‘964, 100 of ‘476], and
the electrical signal is to be transmitted from the IC driver chip to the VCSEL device via:
a particular additional attachment structure [153, 157], of the two or more additional attachment structures,
the first conductive trace [131], and the first attachment structure [151].”
Regarding claim 7, ‘964 discloses an optical device as described above, but does not disclose:
7. “wherein each attachment structure, of the first attachment structure and the second attachment structure, is an Au stud, a Cu column, or a Cu pillar.”
However, such attachment structures are well known in the art of semiconductor electronics circuits, as evidenced by APA1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device of ‘964 by using one of Au stud, a Cu column, or a Cu pillar for at least the purpose of providing secure and stable electrical and mechanical connections between the VCSEL and the diffuser plate.
Regarding claim 8, ‘964 discloses an optical device as described above, but does not disclose:
8. “wherein the VCSEL device includes a microlens component that is disposed on the top surface of the VCSEL device.”
However, disposing a microlens on the emission surface of a VCSEL is well known in the art, as evidenced by APA2. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device of ‘964 by combining the VCSEL with a microlens for at least the purpose of collimating the light output by the VCSEL.
Regarding claims 10-15, 24-26, the arguments applied above to the apparatus described with regards to claims 1-4, 6-9, 21-23 are applicable to these claims as well.
Admitted Prior Art
The rejections of claim 7 (Au stud, Cu column, Cu pillar) and claim 8 (VCSEL with a microlens) based on the well-known in the art statements are taken to be admitted prior art (hereinafter APA1 and APA2, respectively) because applicant either failed to traverse the examiner’s assertion of official notice or that the traverse was inadequate, see MPEP 2144.03.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/17/25 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant’s attention is drawn to the references cited on form PTO-892 in the previous office action, which lists other references with similar features as the invention. However, none of them anticipate all the features of the pending claims.
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.
Contact Info
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M. A. GOLUB-MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8602. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MinSun Harvey can be reached on (571) 272-1835. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M. A. Golub-Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828