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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Specification
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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of the embodiment of Figs 7-10 in the reply filed on 6/12/26 is acknowledged. Applicant indicated that claims 1-4, 6-10 read on the elected embodiment.
Accordingly, claims 5, 11-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected embodiment, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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.
Claims 1-4, 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
1) Claim 1 discloses a limitation:
“at least one laser;
a plurality of EA modulators to which an output of the laser is connected on an input side …
a temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of the laser…
a selection control circuitry configured to switch an EA modulator to operate …”.
There is a lack of antecedent basis for the limitation “the laser”, since more than one laser is disclosed in the claim.
There is a lack of antecedent basis for the limitation “an EA modulator”, since a plurality of EA modulators is already disclosed in the claim.
Also, in the case of a single laser, the connections between the laser and the modulators are not clear, the laser can be connected to each modulator in series or in parallel, the laser can be connected to only one modulator.
In the case of a plurality of lasers, the connections between a plurality of lasers and the plurality of modulators are not clear, every laser can be connected to every modulator, or each laser can be combined and the output connected to the modulators in series.
Furthermore, claim 1 does not disclose whether the additional lasers of the “at least one laser” operate at the same temperature or at different temperatures from each other, as required by the invention. Having a plurality of lasers all operating at the same temperature would defeat the purpose of the invention.
In order to overcome this rejection, claim 1 should be amended to recite:
“a laser;
a plurality of EA modulators to which an output of the laser is connected on an input side of each EA modulator…
a temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of the laser…
a selection control circuitry configured to switch one of the plurality of EA modulators to operate”.
2) Claim 6 discloses a limitation:
“further comprising: a plurality of the lasers with oscillation wavelengths different from each other”
However, claim 1 already discloses “at least one laser” making it not clear if there is a separate plurality of lasers that operate at the same temperature as each other.
In order to overcome this rejection, claim 6 should be rewritten as an independent claim.
Claim 6 discloses a limitation:
“the selection control circuitry switches a laser to operate among the plurality of lasers in accordance with the detected temperature.”
There is a lack of antecedent basis for the limitation “a laser”, since a plurality of lasers is already disclosed in the claim.
In order to overcome this rejection, claim 6 should be rewritten as:
“the selection control circuitry switches one of the plurality of lasers to operate in accordance with the detected temperature.”
3) Claim 8 discloses a limitation:
“a range in which the absorption peak wavelength of the first EA modulator changes in the first temperature range at least partially overlaps a range in which the absorption peak wavelength of the second EA modulator changes in the second temperature range.”
This limitation is confusing, a first and a second temperature ranges are already disclosed by the claim, making it unclear to what parameter “a range” is referring. Also, the limitation “at least partially overlaps” can be interpreted as “completely overlaps”, making the claim indefinite.
The remainder of the claims are rejected for their dependence on claims 1 and 6. For the purpose of examination, the limitations as presented have been searched and considered.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saga (JP 2005-142230) found in IDS, hereinafter ‘230, and further in view of Uchiyama et al. (JP 2020-109800) found in IDS, hereinafter ‘800.
Regarding claim 1, Figs 3-4 of ‘230 disclose an optical semiconductor device comprising:
1. “at least one laser [110];
a plurality of EA modulators [121,122] to which an output of the laser [110] is connected on an input side [left side] and which have absorption peak wavelengths different from each other [the modulators are optimized for different temperatures];
a temperature detector [not shown] configured to detect a temperature of the laser or the plurality of EA modulators; and
a selection control circuitry [142] configured to switch an EA modulator to operate among the plurality of EA modulators [121,122] in accordance with a detected temperature of the temperature detector.” See paragraph 0009]
‘230 does not disclose:
“a multiplexer to which outputs of the plurality of EA modulators are connected on an input side and to which a waveguide is connected on an output side”
However, a multiplexer 104 and waveguide are well known in the art as evidenced by Fig 5 of ‘800 for the purpose of selecting and directing outputs.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teachings of ‘800 into the device of ‘230 by using a multiplexer and a waveguide, since the combination would yield the predictable result of selecting and directing outputs.
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.
Regarding claims 2-4, ‘230 further discloses:
2. “wherein the plurality of EA modulators include a first EA modulator [122] and a second EA modulator [121],
the second EA modulator [121] has the absorption peak wavelength smaller than the absorption peak wavelength of the first EA modulator [122] at the same temperature, and
the selection control circuitry [142] causes the first EA modulator [122] to operate when the detected temperature is lower than a threshold determined in advance and causes the second EA modulator [121] to operate when the detected temperature is higher than the threshold.” See paragraphs 0008, 0010
3. “wherein the selection control circuitry [142] causes the first EA modulator [122] to operate when the detected temperature is in a first temperature range [low temperature] and causes the second EA modulator [121] to operate when the detected temperature is in a second temperature range [high temperature], and
a range in which the absorption peak wavelength of the first EA modulator [122] changes in the first temperature range at least partially overlaps a range in which the absorption peak wavelength of the second EA modulator [121] changes in the second temperature range.” See paragraph 0028
4. “wherein the selection control circuitry [142] switches drive voltages of the plurality of EA modulators [121,122] in accordance with the detected temperature.” See paragraph 0010
Pertinent Art
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 which lists other references with similar features as the invention. However, none of them anticipate all the features of the pending claims.
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.
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/M. A. Golub-Miller/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828
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