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.
Applicant’s election with traverse of Group I claims and no election for the cited species requirement in a paper submitted on 7/21/26 is acknowledged. The traverse is no the grounds that claim 1 and claim 12 are amended to cite limitations that would obviate the restriction requirement. This is not found persuasive, since for example claim 1 has at least one feature (photodiode) and claim 12 has at least one feature (i.er, substrate and EIC on the substrate) that are fond in other invention.
With regard to species requirement the examiner called the applicant with a modified species requirement first between groups A) figures 1-2 with the scattering element is in grating form and B) Figure 3 with the scattering element is in V-groove form; also to elect one of the scattering structure between items 400 or 430 or 450 or 470. Mr. McClelland elected with traverse species A and scattering structure 470. Thus Claims 12-17 are withdrawn; further Upon review of the claims 4-5 and 23 are deemed to be directed to non-elected species and thus currently withdrawn. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-3, 11 and 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Guerber” et. al. US 20250044417 A1 and further in view of Antonacci WO 2020084466 A1.
With regard to claim 1, Guerber teaches a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) die (see figs. 1-7 and summary, parag. 0045) comprising:
a main waveguide 11 that extends within a top surface of the PIC die (see at least figs. 1-2 and parag. 0045); an auxiliary waveguide 30 located alongside the main waveguide 11; and the auxiliary waveguide 30 having thereon a scattering structure 32 in optical communication with the auxiliary waveguide 30, wherein the scattering 32 structure is to deflect light from the auxiliary waveguide 30 through the atop surface or through a bottom surface of the PIC die (shown in at least figs. 3-4).
However, Guerber does not specifically teach that the above auxiliary waveguide 30, located away from the photodiode, to couple light from the main waveguide to a photodiode. Nonetheless, Guerber states that the field of the invention includes photo detection (see technical field) and that the PIC substrate an includes active diode. For clarity reason, In the same filed of invention such conventional limitation is taught by Antonacci who teaches that the “auxiliary waveguide” (i.e. 35) can couple to a an optical detector (40) (see at least figures 1 and specification). Thus it would have been obvious to an ordinary artisan skilled in the art when the invention was made to modify Guerber’s light detection as stated by Guerber in which a photodiode, as taught by Antonacci to be used to detect light from the auxiliary waveguide so as to provide optical monitory mechanism for the PIC.
The statements advanced in rejection of claim 1, above, as to the applicability and disclosure of the combined references and the motivation are incorporated herein in rejection of the following claims as follows:
2. (Original) The PIC die of claim 1, wherein the scattering structure comprises a diffraction grating (see at least parag. 0009).
3. (Original) The PIC die of claim 1, wherein the scattering structure comprises a plurality of cavities in the auxiliary waveguide, the plurality of cavities extending perpendicularly inward from a periphery of the auxiliary waveguide (see at least figs. 4a-4d).
11. (Original) The PIC die of claim 1, wherein the main waveguide is a first main waveguide; the auxiliary waveguide is a first auxiliary waveguide, and the scattering structure is a first scattering structure, and further comprising: a second main waveguide; a second auxiliary waveguide located alongside the second main waveguide, the second auxiliary waveguide is to couple light from the second main waveguide to a second photodiode; and a second scattering structure located on the second auxiliary waveguide, away from the second photodiode, the second scattering structure is to reflect light from the second auxiliary waveguide through the top surface or through the bottom surface of the PIC die (see at least fig 1, along with Fig. 2, having at least two waveguide structure coupling between the main and the auxiliary waveguides similar to that of shown in fig. 2-3 and above analogous motivation stated in claim 1).
With regard to claim 21, Guerber teaches an apparatus (see figs. 1-7 and summary) comprising:
a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) (see figs. 1-7 and summary, parag. 0045) comprising:
a main waveguide 11; an auxiliary waveguide 30 at a distance from the main waveguide to optically couple the auxiliary waveguide 30 to the main waveguide 11 (shown in at least figs. 3-4, parag, 0041, 0047); and a scattering structure 32 (diffraction grating 32; see also parag. 0073) to deflect light from the auxiliary waveguide through an outer surface of the PIC (shown in at least figs. 3-4).
However, Guerber does not specifically teach that the above auxiliary waveguide 30, to couple light from the main waveguide to a photodiode. Nonetheless, Guerber states that the field of the invention includes photo detection (see technical field) and that the PIC substrate an includes active diode. For clarity reason, In the same filed of invention such conventional limitation is taught by Antonacci who teaches that the “auxiliary waveguide” (i.e. 35) can couple to a an optical detector (40) (see at least figures 1 and specification). Thus it would have been obvious to an ordinary artisan skilled in the art when the invention was made to modify Guerber’s light detection as stated by Guerber in which a photodiode, as taught by Antonacci to be used to detect light from the auxiliary waveguide so as to provide optical monitory mechanism for the PIC.
22. (New) The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the scattering structure comprises a diffraction grating or a plurality of cavities in the auxiliary waveguide, the plurality of cavities extending perpendicularly inward from a periphery of the auxiliary waveguide (see at least figs. 4a-4d, see at least parag. 0009).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 are 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. Claims 6-10 are allowable because the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious its respective limitations in combination with the rest of the limitations of the base claim. Claim 13 is allowable because of dependency.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
Prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. In accordance with MPEP 707.05 the following references are pertinent in rejection of this application since they provide substantially the same information disclosure as this patent does. These references are:
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEH C KIANNI whose telephone number is (571)272-2417. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-19.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAVEH C KIANNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
