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 1, FIG. 3, Claims 21-24 and 26-31 in the reply filed on 10/20/25 is acknowledged.
Claims 25 and 32-40 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/20/25.
Claim Objections
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities: “plurality of light emitters” in the line should be changed to “a plurality of light emitters” in order to improve clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 21-22 and 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by CN 109638644 A (hereafter CN’644, machine translation is provided for citation purposes).
Regarding claim 21, CN’644 discloses an optical device (a swept light source, FIG. 2, see Paragraph 1 bridging pages 5-6) comprising:
a light emitter (a bottom part of the swept light source for emitting light toward a top part of the swept light source, FIG. 2) including a first reflector (a first DBR 13, FIG. 2, see Paragraph 1 bridging pages 5-6) and an active layer (14, FIG. 2, see Paragraph 1 bridging pages 5-6);
a second reflector (a second DBR 23, FIG. 2, where 23 is disposed on an opposite side of 14 from the first DBR 13, see Paragraph 1 bridging pages 5-6) facing the first reflector across the active layer;
an elastic support (a cantilever beam structure 22, FIG. 2, where 23 is disposed on 22, see Paragraph 1 bridging pages 5-6) supporting the second reflector;
a piezoelectric element (a piezoelectric structure 24, FIG. 2, where 24 is disposed on 22, see Paragraph 1 bridging pages 5-6) on the elastic support; and
circuitry (a circuit for providing a drive voltage is implicitly taught since a working voltage or a working current is applied to the piezoelectric structure 24, see Paragraph 3 bridging pages 6-7) configured to output a signal to apply drive voltage to the piezoelectric element to elastically deform the elastic support (deformation of the cantilever beam structure 22 is caused by the piezoelectric film 242 by using converse piezoelectric effect, see Paragraph 3 bridging pages 6-7),
wherein the deformation of the elastic support moves the second reflector relative to the first reflector to oscillate light from the light emitter (the deformation of the cantilever beam structure 22 moves the second DBR 23 relative to the first DBR 13 and light emitted from the light emitter is oscillated between 13/23, see Paragraph 3 bridging pages 6-7).
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Regarding claim 22, CN’644 discloses the first reflector and the active layer form a first substrate (interpreted to be the bottom part of the swept light source including layers 12-14, FIG. 2), and wherein the second reflector, the elastic support, and the piezoelectric element form a second substrate (interpreted to be the top part of the swept light source including layers 22-24, FIG. 2).
Regarding claim 30, CN’644 discloses the deformation of the elastic support changes a distance between the first reflector and the second reflector to change an oscillation wavelength of the light emitted from the light emitter (the deformation of the cantilever beam structure 22 changes the resonant cavity length between 13/23, see Paragraph 4 on page 5).
Regarding claim 31, CN’644 discloses the elastic support includes at least two elastic supports (multiple 221, FIG. 2), and the at least two elastic supports are apart from each other around the second reflector (FIG. 2).
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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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN’644.
Regarding claim 23, CN’644 has disclosed the optical device outlined in the rejection to claim 21 above and further discloses the second reflector, the elastic support, and the piezoelectric element form a second substrate, the second substrate includes a light emitter (FIG. 2) except a plurality of light emitters. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to duplicate the light emitter to form a plurality of light emitters in order to emit various wavelengths, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Claims 24 and 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN’644 in view of FUJISHIMA et al. (US PG Pub 2018/0267293 A1, 10/21/22 IDS).
Regarding claim 24, CN’644 has disclosed the optical device outlined in the rejection to claim 21 above and further discloses the elastic support includes: multiple arm portions (221, FIG. 1) extending adjacent to each other, wherein the piezoelectric element includes multiple piezoelectric elements (24, FIG. 1), and the piezoelectric elements are on the arm portions, respectively except one or more folded portions each connecting ends on the same side of two adjacent arm portions of the arm portions in an extending direction of the arm portions. FUJISHIMA discloses the elastic support includes: multiple arm portions (141/142, FIG. 3, [0025]) extending adjacent to each other; and one or more folded portions (143, FIG. 3, [0025]) each connecting ends on the same side of two adjacent arm portions of the arm portions in an extending direction of the arm portions, wherein the piezoelectric element includes multiple piezoelectric elements (144, FIG. 3, [0026]), and the piezoelectric elements are on the arm portions, respectively. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the elastic support of CN’644 with the elastic support including one or more folded portions each connecting ends on the same side of two adjacent arm portions of the arm portions in an extending direction of the arm portions as taught by FUJISHIMA in order to obtain multiple-value control where the movable component is stopped at any desired displacement level is also desired ([0030] of FUJISHIMA).
Regarding claim 26, CN’644, as modified, discloses the piezoelectric elements are displaced from each other in the extending direction of the arms (FIG. 3 of FUJISHIMA).
Regarding claim 27, CN’644, as modified, discloses the arm portions include displacement defining portions (17, FIG. 3, [0026] of FUJISHIMA), and the displacement defining portions are elastically undeformable in response to application of drive voltage to the piezoelectric elements.
Regarding claim 28, CN’644, as modified, discloses the displacement defining portions are without the piezoelectric elements (FIG. 3 of FUJISHIMA).
Regarding claim 29, CN’644, as modified, discloses the displacement defining portions include the piezoelectric element, to which drive voltage is not applied (FIG. 3 of FUJISHIMA).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cable et al. (US PG Pub 2016/0028207 A1) and Spoonhower et al. (US PG Pub 2004/0076198 A1) disclose a MEMS-VCSEL similar to the claimed invention (See FIG. 7 of Cable and FIG. 4a of Spoonhower).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUANDA ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1439. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MINSUN HARVEY can be reached at (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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/YUANDA ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828