DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant has amended independent claims 1 and 13 to recite a first and second photocurable resin and wherein the first and second resins are cured products of the same photocurable resin composition. It is again noted that no specific material composition is claimed. The language defining a first and second resin implies that they are different. Therefore, it is unclear how there can be a first and second resin, when they are subsequently identified as being the same composition. In an effort to advance prosecution, Examiner will interpret these limitations to mean that the core and a “leg” comprises a photocurable resin. The claims do not require this “leg” to be a protrusion and therefore, Examiner notes that any multi-layer optical interconnect would possibly anticipate this part of the claim.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. As noted in the Response to Arguments above, the language defining a first and second resin implies that they are different. Therefore, it is unclear how there can be a first and second resin, when they are subsequently identified as being the same composition. Remaining claims that depend upon these are rejected by virtue of dependency.
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 (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 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) 1-7, 9-14 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2002-62459 to Sugiyama et al. (Applicant IDS Foreign Reference #1) in view of US 2009/0214157 to Okubo et al. and further in view of US 2006/0078248 to Sasaki et al.
Sugiyama discloses in the abstract and figures 1-2, an optical circuit board to be mounted with an optical component, comprising:
An optical waveguide plate (12) comprising a base member having optical transparency, an optical waveguide (131; figure 1) comprising a lower cladding layer (132) located on an upper surface of the base member (133), a core made of a resin (translated paragraphs 3-5), an upper and lower cladding layer (132) and a “leg” (161) on a lower surface of the base member; and
A wiring board, fitting and electrodes connected to the optical component (translated paragraph 14);
The leg of the waveguide plate is fitted into a fitting portion of the wiring board (figure 12);
A gap is present between a lower surface of the waveguide plate and the upper surface of the wiring board (figures 10 and 12 show this gap).
As to claim 2, the legs have a pointed taper.
Claims 11-12 relate to method claims that recite the providing and general forming of the above structure.
However, Sugiyama fails to explicitly disclose a photocured core and leg material that are the same. Sugiyama discloses a silicone resin and it is noted that UV-curable resins are common in the art.
As to claims 2-7 and 9-10, these claims recite rearrangement of components, standard opto-electronic mounting means (solder balls) or connector attachment means.
Okubo discloses such a common material described in paragraphs 54 and 90 to be photosensitive acrylic for core production. Further, paragraph 97 describes the support grooves (which correspond to the claimed legs) to be of the same material as the core.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use the material taught by Okubo in Sugiyama as an engineering design choice for a material suited for its intended use to optimize manufacturing.
Sugiyama in view of Okubo fails to explicitly disclose certain electrode, connector or arrangement of components. Rearrangement is known in the art and it appears Applicant’s inventive concept relates to the “legs” that protrude and mount a waveguide plate rather than the particulars of what is disposed on the circuit board.
Sasaki discloses such common electrodes, solder connections, socket pins and connectors for fibers (abstract, paragraph 45, figures 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to first shape the positioning and alignment structures in Sugiyama in view of Okubo and use the same materials to optimize manufacturing and use the structural arrangement and rearrangement of opto-electronic components of a photoelectric wiring board to optimize size and production output of a package.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2019/0285804 (solder bumps 170 shown as commonly known).
US 2001/0055447 (alignment protrusions; figure 1)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eric K Wong whose telephone number is (571)272-2363. The examiner can normally be reached M-Tu, Th-F 8A-6P.
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ERIC K. WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2874
/Eric Wong/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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