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 .
Response to Amendment
The Examiner acknowledges and accepts the newly added claim 7 in the amendment filed on 10/30/25.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-6 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Petersen et al. (US PG Pub 2007/0291812 A1) in view of KIM (US PG Pub 2016/0056608 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Petersen discloses a laser light source device (Fig. 2) comprising:
a first light emitter (a first emitter 124 of 101, Figs. 1a-1b, [0057]) that emits a first laser beam (200, Fig. 2, [0062]);
a second light emitter (a second emitter 124 of 101, Figs. 1a-1b, [0057]) that emits a second laser beam (200, Fig. 2, [0062]);
an optical element (213, Fig. 2, [0062]) that converges the first laser beam and the second laser beam;
a wavelength dispersing element (230, Fig. 2, [0020] and [0062]) on which the first laser beam and the second laser beam that have exited from the optical element are incident (in a beam path 203, Fig. 2, [0065]), the wavelength dispersing element causing an optical axis of the first laser beam and an optical axis of the second laser beam to coincide with one another (the first and second laser beams in the beam path 203 are combined by 230 and form a combined beam 231, Fig. 2), and then transmitting the first laser beam and the second laser beam (the combined beam 231 is transmitted by 230 toward 232, Fig. 2); and
a partially reflecting mirror (232, FIG. 2, [0062]) that returns a portion of the first laser beam and a portion of the second laser beam that have exited from the wavelength dispersing element by reflection, and transmits a remaining portion of the first laser beam and a remaining portion of the second laser beam that have exited from the wavelength dispersing element (“The mirror 232 is partly reflecting and partly transmitting causing a part of the first-order diffracted component 231 to be output from the laser system as an output beam 233,” [0064]).
Petersen does not disclose a reflectance of the partially reflecting mirror is wavelength-dependent.
KIM discloses an external resonator type laser package (FIG. 18, [0098]) comprising a light feedback partial reflection mirror (550, FIG. 18, [0099]) that is wavelength dependent, wherein “This wavelength-dependent light feedback partial reflection mirror 550 is manufactured in such a way to partially reflect with respect to a specific wavelength in the multiple wavelengths which have passed through the wavelength tunable filter 330, thus providing transmission characteristics with respect to the remaining wavelengths.” ([0101])
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the partially reflecting mirror of Petersen with the wavelength dependent partially reflecting mirror as taught by KIM in order to obtain wavelength dependent optical feedback and provide transmission characteristics with respect to the remaining wavelengths ([0101] of KIM).
Regarding claim 2, Petersen discloses the reflectance has a wavelength-dependency that equalizes optical feedback efficiency of the first light emitter and of the second light emitter (“since the reflected light is again diffracted by the grating 230 into the laser diode, the contributions from each emitter are diffracted back into the same emitter,” [0065]).
Regarding claim 3, Petersen discloses the wavelength dispersing element is a diffraction grating ([0020]).
Regarding claim 4, Petersen discloses a laser element (101, Figs. 1a-1b, [0057]) that includes the first light emitter and the second light emitter (124, Figs. 1a-1b).
Regarding claim 6, Petersen discloses a laser processing apparatus (material processing, [0120]) comprising: the laser light source device according to claim 1.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Petersen et al. and KIM as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Whitmore et al. (US PG Pub 2020/0176954 A1).
Regarding claim 5, the combination has disclosed the laser light source device outlined in the rejection to claim 1 above except a first laser element that includes the first light emitter; and a second laser element that includes the second light emitter. Whitmore discloses a similar laser light source device (810, Fig. 8A, [0171]) comprising a first laser element (816A, Fig. 8A, [0172]) that includes a first light emitter (818 of 816A, Fig. 8A, [0171]); and a second laser element (816B, Fig. 8A, [0172]) that includes a second light emitter (818 of 816B, Fig. 8A, [0171]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the laser light source device of the combination with a first laser element including the first light emitter and a second laser element including the second light emitter as taught by Whitmore in order to maximize the power of the combined output.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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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/YUANDA ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828