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 .
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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/27/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Amended claim 1 is illustrated in fig. 5 with the pump fiber laser including gain fiber 56 and cavity mirrors 54 and 16. The amended claim also appears to be illustrated in fig. 7 as further defined by fig. 8; this pump fiber laser includes the pump gain fiber 80 detailed in fig. 8 and the pump cavity defined by the ring structure and mirror 16.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
New matter:
Claims 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 5 and 6 require a circulator (due to the dependency from claim 4) and the remaining pump energy to be absorbed. However, in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 with circulator 76, the remaining pump energy is amplified by amplifier 74 rather than being absorbed.
Claims 7-10 require a wavelength division multiplexer between the fiber laser and the pump source. However, the fiber laser in the embodiments claimed in claim 1 illustrated in fig. 5 and 7 have the fiber laser (12) within the pump source cavity (defined by mirrors 54 and 16 in fig. 6; and the ring structure and mirror 16 in fig. 7). It is therefore not possible and the specification does not teach a WDM between the fiber laser and the pump source.
Enablement:
Claims 5-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claims contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
For claim 5-10, the specification does not enable the new matter of claims 5-10 discussed above.
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, 3-10 and 12-28 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.
Claim 1 and claims 3-10 and 12-28 due to their dependency recite “the fiber laser” in line 19 of claim 1. It is unclear whether this refers to the fiber laser of line 2 or the pump source’s fiber laser of line 18-20. It is assumed to refer to the fiber laser of the pump source. Therefore, “a fiber laser” at line 18 will be interpreted as a “a pump fiber laser” and the fiber laser at the end of line 19 will be interpreted as “the pump fiber laser.”
Claim 12 and 13-17, due to their dependency, recite the limitation "the pump fiber laser" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. However, the interpretation of claim 1 above would provide proper antecedent basis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-4 and 12-28 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. In order to overcome the rejection, “a fiber laser” at line 18 of claim 1 could be rewritten as a “a pump fiber laser” and “the fiber laser” at the end of line 19 could be rewritten as “the pump fiber laser.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael W Carter whose telephone number is (571)270-1872. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9:00-5:30.
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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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/Michael Carter/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828
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