CTFR 18/250,416 CTFR 81373 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. DETAILED ACTION Election/Restrictions Newly amended claims 2, 3 and 11 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: claims 2 and 11 disclose a limitation “each driving element of the plurality of driving elements is under the corresponding light-emitting element”. This limitation is directed to the 3 rd embodiment (Figs 13-15). However, the original claims were directed to the 1 st and 2 nd modifications of the 1 st embodiment (Figs 5-8), which do not include this feature. Claim 3 is dependent on claim 2. Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claim 2, 3 and 11 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03. Specification 06-11 AIA The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. Claim Objections Claim 1 is objected to because of the following: the limitation “the at least two groups of light-emitting elements comprises ” should be replaced with “the at least two groups of light-emitting elements comprise ”. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1, 4, 7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Schleuning et al. (2022/0137230), hereinafter ‘230 . Regarding claim 1, Figs 5F, 7 and 8E of ‘230 disclose a semiconductor laser driving apparatus, comprising: 1. “a vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser [550,730] having a plurality of light-emitting elements [512,732] divided into at least two groups of light-emitting elements, wherein the at least two groups of light-emitting elements comprises a first group of light-emitting elements [top two rows of emitters in Fig 8E] and a second group of light-emitting elements [bottom two rows of emitters in Fig 8E]; and at least two laser diode drivers [top and bottom DRIVERS/SWITCHES in Fig 8E, 704] around the vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser, wherein a first laser diode driver [top DRIVERS/SWITCHES in Fig 8E] of the at least two laser diode drivers includes a first plurality of driving elements [top transistors] connected to the first group of light-emitting elements [top two rows of emitters in Fig 8E] from a first peripheral surface [top in plan view] of the vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser, the first laser diode driver is configured to control the first group of light-emitting elements to emit light, a second laser diode driver [bottom DRIVERS/SWITCHES in Fig 8E] of the at least two laser diode drivers includes a second plurality of driving elements [bottom transistors] connected to the second group of light-emitting elements [bottom two rows of emitters in Fig 8E] from a second peripheral surface [bottom in plan view] of the vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser, and the second laser diode driver is configured to control the second group of light-emitting elements to emit light.” 4. “wherein the first laser diode driver [top DRIVERS/SWITCHES in Fig 8E] is configured to drive the first group of light-emitting elements [top two rows of emitters in Fig 8E] by a charge charged in at least one first capacitor [top capacitors, 515, 742] connected to a power supply line [CHARGER V DRIVER ] in a chargeable manner, and the second laser diode driver [bottom DRIVERS/SWITCHES in Fig 8E] is configured to drive the second group of light-emitting elements [bottom two rows of emitters in Fig 8E] by a charge charged in at least one second capacitor [bottom capacitors, 515, 742] connected to the power supply line [CHARGER V DRIVER ] in a chargeable manner.” 7. “wherein the first laser diode driver [704] has a circuit surface [top] in one of a substrate or a fan out wafer level package (FOWLP) [760,702], in a state in which the first laser diode driver faces toward a mounting surface [bottom] of the vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser [730].” 10. “a light detection and ranging (LIDAR), comprising …” same arguments as applied to claim 1 above are applicable here, no additional structure is disclosed that would differentiate the claimed invention from the prior art . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 5, 6, 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘230 as applied to claim s 1 and 7 above, and further in view of Budd et al. (2011/0044367) found in IDS, hereinafter ‘367 . Regarding claims 5, 6, 8 and 9, Figs 5F, 7 and 8E of ‘230 disclose a semiconductor laser driving apparatus as described above, but do not disclose: a micro lens array on the VCSEL output surface, a connection electrode including a solder bump, a heat dissipation member in the substrate, and an external terminal of a ball grid array (BGA) on the substrate. However, these are common features that are well known in the art to be used with lasers, as evidenced by Fig 5 of ‘367: 5. “wherein the vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser [22] includes a surface [top] having a micro lens array (MLA) [34].” 6. “wherein the vertical cavity surface semiconductor laser [22] has a connection electrode including one of an Au bump, a solder bump [C4], or a Cu pillar bump.” 8. “wherein a heat dissipation member [68] is in one of the substrate [60] or the FOWLP.” 9. “wherein the one of the substrate [60] or the FOWLP includes an external terminal of a land grid array (LGA) or a ball grid array (BGA) [76].” It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teachings of ‘367 into the device of ‘230 by using the elements described above, since the combination would yield the predictable result of collimating the output light, reducing overheating and providing electrical connections to other elements. Thus, the claimed invention would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because “all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art. KSR, 550 U.S. at 416, 82 USPQ2d at 1395. Pertinent Art 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Applicant’s attention is drawn to the references cited on form PTO-892 in the previous office action which lists other references with similar features as the invention . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-11, filed on 3/23/26, have been considered but they are moot because of the new grounds of rejection. Conclusion 07-40 AIA Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL . See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Contact Info Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M. A. GOLUB-MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8602. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MinSun Harvey can be reached on (571) 272-1835. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /M. A. Golub-Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828 Application/Control Number: 18/250,416 Page 2 Art Unit: 2828 Application/Control Number: 18/250,416 Page 3 Art Unit: 2828 Application/Control Number: 18/250,416 Page 4 Art Unit: 2828 Application/Control Number: 18/250,416 Page 5 Art Unit: 2828 Application/Control Number: 18/250,416 Page 6 Art Unit: 2828
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