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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of species B, subspecies 2 in the reply filed on Dec. 26, 2025 is acknowledged. In the reply, Applicant stated that claims 1, 5-12, and 14-20 read on the elected species and subspecies. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees on the status of claims 1 and 5-14. Independent claims 1 and 9 recite “a combiner configured to receive and combine an input signal and an excitation signal” (emphasis added by Examiner); because the input signal and excitation signal are combined, the excitation light necessarily propagates in a forward direction (as shown in Fig. 2). This configuration corresponds to species A; therefore, independent claims 1 and 9, and claims 5-8 and 10-14 dependent on them correspond to non-elected species A and are withdrawn. In species B, the combiner is configured to receive and combine an output (that is, amplified) signal and an excitation signal, as shown in Fig. 4. Claims 15-20 correspond to species B or are generic and are examined on the merits below.
Drawings
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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 § 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)(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) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cryan (US 2022/0069535, effective filing date Sept. 3, 2020).
Cryan discloses an optical amplification system (see Fig. 3 and para. [0030]) comprising,
An active fiber(erbium doped fiber 340) configured to receive and amplify an initial signal to generate an amplified signal; and
An (integrated) isolator-combiner (isolator wavelength division multiplexer 310) configured to: combine an excitation light and the initial signal to generate the amplified signal (wavelength division multiplexer 325 combines input signal and pump power) ; and isolate noise in the amplified signal (isolator core substantially prevents optical power going back into the source of the input signal thereby reducing noise, para. [0034]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honea et al. (US 2015/0138630) in view of Cryan (US 2022/0069535).
Honea et al. discloses an optical amplification system (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 9), comprising an active fiber (gain fiber 122) configured to receive and amplify an initial signal to generate an amplified signal; and a combiner configured to combine an excitation signal (light from optical pumps 121) and the initial signal to generate the amplified signal. Regarding claim 16, Honea discloses that the excitation signal is coupled to the combiner by backward coupling (pump light counter-propagates through the second fiber segment, in the direction opposite that of the signal light, para. [0130]). Regarding claims 17-18, the excitation light comprises a plurality of lights each from a respective excitation source, specifically six excitation sources, and the combiner comprises a (6+1)x1 pump-signal combiner (Fig. 9 (922) and para. [0093]). Regarding claim 19, the active fiber (122) is doped with Yb (para. [0073]) or another rare earth (para. [0076]). Regarding claim 20, the configuration includes a first active fiber (111) configured to receive an amplify an intimal signal to generate an amplified signal, an isolator (119) to isolate noise in the amplified initial signal to generate an input signal, and a combiner configured to combine an excitation signal (inherent in amplifier). The configuration further comprises a second combiner to receive and combine the input signal and a second excitation signal (optical pump lights 121); a second active fiber (122) configured to receive the input signal and the second excitation signal from the combiner and generate a (further) amplified signal; and an end cap (124) configured to receive the amplified input signal and transmit the amplified signal as an output signal.
The embodiments of an optical amplification system of Fig. 1 and Fig. 9 of Honea do not specifically disclose that the combiner and isolator are an (integrated) isolator-combiner. However, in the same field of endeavor, Cryan teaches an optical amplification system (see Fig. 3 and para. [0030]) comprising,
An active fiber(erbium doped fiber 340) configured to receive and amplify an initial signal to generate an amplified signal; and
An (integrated) isolator-combiner (isolator wavelength division multiplexer 310) configured to: combine an excitation light and the initial signal to generate the amplified signal (wavelength division multiplexer 325 combines input signal and pump power) ; and isolate noise in the amplified signal (isolator core substantially prevents optical power going back into the source of the input signal, para. [0034]).
The integrated isolator-combiner of Cryan includes the function of both an isolator and a pump/signal combiner. The use of the isolator-combiner provides the required functions of pump/signal combination and noise isolation, while being compact, having low cost, and increased reliability (para. [0018]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art, e. g. an optical engineer, before the effective filing date of the application, to replace one or more pairs of adjacent isolators and combiners in the optical amplification system of Honea et al. with the integrated isolator-combiner taught by Cryan.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on Aug. 2, 2022 has been considered by the Examiner.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Anthon et al. disclose an isolator-combiner, Augst et al., DiTeodoro and DiTeodoro et al. disclose multiple stage optical amplifiers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to ERIC L BOLDA whose telephone number is 571-272-8104. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 8:30am to 5pm.
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, YUQING XIAO can be reached on 571-270-3603. 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.
/ERIC L BOLDA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645