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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakazato (Publication No.: JP2017191298A) cited by applicant.
Regarding claim 5, Nakazato teaches an optical combiner, comprising a first fiber structure (reference numeral 12 in Figure 5) and a second fiber structure (reference numeral 11 in Figure 5), wherein the first fiber structure and the second fiber structure are composed of the fiber structure according to claim 1, wherein in the first fiber structure, the covering part (reference numeral 20 in Figure 5) and the strand exposed part (reference numeral 12 in Figure 5) have a plurality of the optical fiber strands (reference numeral 16(18) in Figure 5), wherein in the second fiber structure, the covering part (reference numeral 20 in Figure 5) and the strand exposed part (reference numeral 11 in Figure 5) have one optical fiber strand (reference numeral 15(17) in Figure 5) , and wherein an end face of the strand exposed part of the first fiber structure and an end face of the strand exposed part of the second fiber structure are fusion-spliced (reference numeral 19 in Figure 5; “fused” “fusion” throughout the specification).
Regarding claim 7, Nakazato teaches The optical combiner according to claim 5, further comprising: a housing part (reference numeral 21 in Figure 5) housing the first fiber structure and the second fiber structure, a first fixing part (reference numeral 40B in Figure 8) fixing the first fiber structure to the housing part, and a second fixing part (reference numeral 40A in Figure 7) fixing the second fiber structure to the housing part, wherein in the first fiber structure, the first fixing part is adhered to the sealing part (reference numeral 42B in Figure 8), wherein in the second fiber structure, the second fixing part is adhered to the sealing part (reference numeral 42A in Figure 8), and wherein the first fixing part and the second fixing part each have an adhesive strength larger than that of the sealing part with respect to the housing part (e.g. by virtue of the fact that Nakazato’s fixing parts “surrounds the entire outer periphery” as in paragraph 0034, thus a larger portion of the fixing parts are adhered to the housing part).
Regarding claim 8, Nakazato teaches The optical combiner according to claim 5, wherein the sealing part (reference numeral 42B in Figure 6) of the first fiber structure is fixed to the housing part (reference numeral 21, 10 in Figure 6) , and the sealing part (reference numeral 42A in Figure 6) of the second fiber structure is fixed to the housing part (reference numeral 21, 10 in Figure 6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakazato in view of Fujita (JP2017191261A).
Regarding claim Regarding claim 6, Nakazato teaches The optical combiner according to claim 5, but fails to specifically teach that the sealing part has a Young's modulus of 10 MPa or less. However, Fujita teaches that utilization of a sealing part having a Young's modulus of 10 MPa or less is well known in the art (paragraph [0027]). One skilled in the art would have been motivated to utilize a sealing part having a Young's modulus of 10 MPa or less in order to fix a lid portion on a fiber accommodation portion (paragraph [0027] of Fujita). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art to utilize a sealing part having a Young's modulus of 10 MPa in Nakazato as taught by Fujita.
Conclusion
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/AGUSTIN BELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635