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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on February 09, 2023 and August 22, 2025 are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on February 09, 2023. These drawings are acceptable.
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 person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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) 1-6, 8-10, 12, 14-16, and 19-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsuzaki (JP2021110828, received with English translation as part of the IDS received February 09, 2023, hereinafter referred to as “Matsuzaki”). Matsuzaki anticipates claims:
1. An optical fiber support structure (see figure 6, the laser transmission cable 30 is interpreted as the optical fiber support structure) comprising:
a first portion (first housing 31 is interpreted as the first portion) configured to support an optical fiber (optical fiber 21, including exposed wire portion 22, is interpreted as the optical fiber) including a core wire (the exposed wire portion 22 is interpreted as the core wire) and a covering surrounding the core wire (the coating on the exposed wire portion 22, shown in the figure 6 by numeral 21, see paragraph 0024, is interpreted as the covering), the core wire including a core and a cladding (see paragraph 0024);
a second portion (the second housing 32 is interpreted as the second portion) attached to the first portion (see figure 6); and
a relaxing portion (end cap 33 is interpreted as the relaxing portion, see figure 6, paragraph 0024, and see the instant specification, page 10, second to last sentence of the first paragraph, which indicates the similar end cap 13 of the instant application is an example of a relaxing portion) that is connected to an end portion (see figure 6, the exposed wire portion 22 at the end cap 33 is interpreted as the end portion) of the core wire and that is positioned between the first portion and the second portion (see figure 6, the end cap 33/relaxing portion is axially aligned with the optical fiber and is between the outer planes of the first portion and second portion, and is moveable along the axial direction as shown in figure 6 and is therefore interpreted as being positioned between the first portion and second portion), the relaxing portion having a light receiving surface (the surface labeled X is interpreted as the light receiving surface) configured to receive light input from a space (the light sources 10 are interpreted as the space), an area of the light receiving surface being larger than an area of the end portion of the core wire (see figure 6).
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2. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is in contact with or attached to each of the first portion and the second portion (see figure 6, the relaxing portion is in thermal contact with all the elements of the device).
3. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is supported by the first portion at one or more positions and the second portion at one or more positions, and is supported by both of the first portion and the second portion at three or more positions in total (see figure 6, the entirety of the relaxing portion can be said to be supported by the entirety of both of the first and second portions, and is therefore supported by the first, second and both the first and second portions at a near infinite number of positions).
4. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 3, wherein the relaxing portion is supported by the first portion at two or more positions and the second portion at two or more positions (see figure 6, the entirety of the relaxing portion can be said to be supported by the entirety of both of the first and second portions, and is therefore supported by the first, second and both the first and second portions at a near infinite number of positions).
5. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is attached to one of the first portion and the second portion (see figure 6, the relaxing portion is directly attached to the second portion), and a gap is provided between the relaxing portion and a remaining one of the first portion and the second portion (see figure 6, there’s a gap between the relaxing portion and the first portion).
6. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 5, wherein the gap is configured to be secured at -20 [°C] or higher and 120 [°C] or lower (the gap is empty space and is therefore interpreted as being configured to be secured at any temperature).
8. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the second portion is provided with an opening (see figure 6, there’s a through-hole opening axially through the entire second portion) through which a connecting portion between the end portion of the core wire and the relaxing portion is exposed to a side (see figure 6, the left side of the structure is interpreted as the side opposite to the first portion) opposite to the first portion.
9. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 8, wherein the opening is a through-hole (see figure 6).
10. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 8, wherein the opening is a cutout (see figure 6, the axial opening is interpreted as a cutout).
12. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is a transparent material (quartz, see paragraph 0033, which is silica-based glass material, the same material as the instant application end cap) having a transmittance of 99% or more with respect to the light input to the light receiving surface (this limitation is a performance limitation of the claimed structures; the patentability of an apparatus depends only on the claimed structural limitations; since the prior art structures are substantially identical to that of the claimed invention, the claimed properties or functions are presumed to be inherent - the burden is on the applicant to show that this device does not possess, and is not capable of these functional characteristics. See MPEP 2112.01.).
14. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is made of a silica-based glass material (quartz, see paragraph 0033, which is silica-based glass material).
15. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the end portion of the core wire and the relaxing portion are fusion-bonded to each other (see paragraph 0030).
16. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is supported by at least one of the first portion and the second portion via an adhesive (see paragraph 0029, the end cap 33 is attached to the inside of the second portion 32 by a silicone resin adhesive).
19. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the relaxing portion is supported by at least one of the first portion and the second portion via an adhesive (see paragraph 0029), and the at least one of the first portion and the second portion includes a first covering portion (all the portions of the first and second portion are interpreted as the first covering portion) configured to cover the adhesive on a side opposite to the end portion of the core wire with respect to the light receiving surface (see figure 6, the adhesive is being covered by the first covering portion on the side opposite to the end portion of the core with respect to the light receiving surface).
20. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the first portion includes a second covering portion (the entirety of the first portion is also interpreted as a second covering portion) configured to cover a portion away from a light receiving region of the light receiving surface (see figure 6 – the first portion that includes the second covering portion covers a near infinite number of portions away from the light receiving surface meeting the requirements of the limitation).
21. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, further comprising a fixture (adjustment mechanism 36, including holder 36a, rod 36b and spring 36c, is interpreted as the fixture) configured to fix the first portion and the second portion (see figure 6 and paragraph 0048).
22. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portion are coupled to each other via a snap-fit mechanism (see figure 6 and paragraph 0048, the slope portion 32d and the adjustment mechanism 36, including holder 36a, rod 36b and spring 36c are interpreted as snap-fit as the spring creates a biasing force that allows a snap when fit together).
23. The optical fiber support structure according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber includes a stripped end portion (22) in which the covering (included at portion 21) is removed in a predetermined section from the end portion of the core wire such that the core wire is exposed, and the optical fiber support structure further comprises a treatment material (rod 36b is interpreted as treatment material) that is housed in a housing chamber (the chamber housing the rod 36b is interpreted as the housing chamber) provided in the first portion to be present around the stripped end portion (see figure 6), the treatment material being configured to transmit or scatter light leaked from the stripped end portion (see figure 6, as a physical structure it can scatter light leaked from the stripped end portion).
24. A semiconductor laser module comprising: the optical fiber support structure according to claim 1 (see claim 1 above); a semiconductor laser element (see paragraph 0019, light source 10, a solid-state laser, is interpreted as the semiconductor laser element); and an optical system (the optical fibers 11 are interpreted as the optical system) configured to guide a laser beam output from the semiconductor laser element to the relaxing portion and couple the laser beam to the end portion of the core wire via the relaxing portion (see figures 1 and 6).
25. The semiconductor laser module according to claim 24, comprising a plurality of semiconductor laser elements as the semiconductor laser element, wherein the optical system is configured to guide the laser beams output from the plurality of semiconductor laser elements to the relaxing portion and couple the laser beams to the end portion of the core wire via the relaxing portion (see figures 1 and 6).
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) 7, 11, 13, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuzaki.
With respect to claims 7, 11, 13 and 17, Matsuzaki discloses the limitations of claims 1, 5 and 16 as previously stated. Matsuzaki is silent to the limitations:
wherein the gap is greater than or equal to 0.05 [mm] and less than or equal to 0.6 [mm] at -20 [°C];
wherein the second portion is made of an invar material that shrinks more than a normal temperature at a temperature higher than the normal temperature;
wherein the relaxing portion is made of a material having a same refractive index as a refractive index of the core of the core wire;
wherein an elastic modulus of the adhesive in a cured state is smaller than an elastic modulus of the at least one of the first portion and the second portion;
wherein the adhesive is an organic adhesive.
These differences amount to nothing more than selecting desirable or optimum ranges for values of variables or selecting specific known materials as the elements. Therefore, motivated by a desire to best utilize the teachings and device disclosed in Matsuzaki for a given situation, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify or select values of variables or materials in Matsuzaki such that wherein the gap is greater than or equal to 0.05 [mm] and less than or equal to 0.6 [mm] at -20 [°C]; wherein the second portion is made of an invar material that shrinks more than a normal temperature at a temperature higher than the normal temperature; wherein the relaxing portion is made of a material having a same refractive index as a refractive index of the core of the core wire; wherein an elastic modulus of the adhesive in a cured state is smaller than an elastic modulus of the at least one of the first portion and the second portion; wherein the adhesive is an organic adhesive, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art and since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice (see both In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416; and In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ishige et al. (US Patent 10,061,092); Reeves-Hall et al. (US Patent 9,614,344); and Brekke et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2010/0027569) are each relevant and directed to laser modules and coupling of laser light with optical fibers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M BEDTELYON whose telephone number is (571)270-1290. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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/John Bedtelyon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874