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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: an extra “configured to be” in line 15 should be deleted to remove redundancy and the comma between “the assistance through-hole” and “and” in lines 20-21 should be deleted to improve clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 7-8 and 10 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 7 recites the limitation "the protrusion" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner believes “the protrusion” is referring to “a flat head” recited in the parent claim 6. Therefore, for purposes of examination, the Examiner interprets “the protrusion” to be “the flat head” in claim 7.
Claims 8 and 10 are also rejected under 35 USC 112, second paragraph, by virtue of dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claims 6-10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by NOGUCHI et al. (US PG Pub 2016/0006210 A1, 06/19/23 IDS).
Regarding claim 6, NOGUCHI discloses an optical module (120, FIG. 14, [0014]) comprising:
an optical semiconductor element (104, FIG. 14, [0013]);
a stem (101, FIG. 14, [0013]) including a signal pin (102a, FIG. 14, [0014]) extending in a first direction (a horizontal direction, FIG. 14) and a ground pin (102c, FIG. 14, [0018]), the signal pin being electrically connected to the optical semiconductor element for transmitting an electrical signal (via 106, FIG. 14, [0016]), the ground pin being configured to provide a reference potential of the electrical signal (it’s implicitly taught by the ground pin 102c), the ground pin having a base (see annotated FIG. 14 below) and a flat head (see annotated FIG. 14 below) provided at a tip of the base, the flat head having a top surface crossing the first direction (see annotated FIG. 14 below); and
a circuit board (107, FIG. 14, [0013]) extending in a second direction (a vertical direction, FIG. 14) crossing the first direction, the circuit board including a signal through-hole (see annotated FIG. 14 below), a ground through-hole (see annotated FIG. 14 below), a signal line (114, FIG. 10, [0053]) extending in the second direction, and a ground layer (702, FIG. 7, [0051]), the signal through-hole being configured to be pierced by the signal pin (see annotated FIG. 14 below), the ground through-hole being configured to be pierced by the ground pin (see annotated FIG. 14 below), the signal line being configured to be electrically connected with the signal pin (“the transmission line 114 that is connected to the lead terminal 102a,” [0053]), the ground layer being configured to be electrically connected with the ground pin (“a ground pin welded to the stem and a through-hole connected to a ground layer included in the FPC are soldered,” [0011]).
PNG
media_image1.png
571
515
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 7, NOGUCHI discloses the stem further has a hollow (121, FIG. 14, [0018]) extending the first direction, the hollow including the flat head in the planar view (see annotated FIG. 14 above).
Regarding claim 8, NOGUCHI discloses the base has a first diameter (see annotated FIG. 14 above), and the flat head has a second diameter larger than the first diameter (see annotated FIG. 14 above).
Regarding claim 9, NOGUCHI discloses the ground through-hole has a shape extending in the second direction (see annotated FIG. 14 above).
Regarding claim 10, NOGUCHI discloses the stem has a third distance (d3, see annotated FIG. 14 above) from the signal pin to a far end of the flat head and a fourth distance (d4, see annotated FIG. 14 above) from the signal pin to a far end of the base, the third distance being larger than the fourth distance (d3>d4, see annotated FIG. 14 above).
Regarding claim 13, NOGUCHI discloses a manufacturing method of the optical module according to claim 6, the manufacturing method comprising:
opening a ground through-hole (see annotated FIG. 14 above) penetrating the circuit board in the first direction;
passing the ground pin through the ground through-hole (see annotated FIG. 14 above);
hooking the ground through-hole on the flat head (see annotated FIG. 14 above); and
applying a solder (108a, FIG. 14, [0018]) or a conductive adhesive to the ground pin and a hollow (121, FIG. 14, [0018]) extending in the first direction, the hollow including the ground pin in the planar view (FIG. 14), while the ground through-hole is hooked on the flat head (see annotated FIG. 14 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 12 are allowed.
Claim 11 is 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 1-5 and 12
NOGUCHI has disclosed the optical module outlined in the rejection to claim 6 above and further discloses an assistance through-hole within the stem (a through-hole within the stem 101 which is pierced by pin 102b, FIG. 14).
However, NOGUCHI fails to disclose or suggest “a junction part” and “the junction part being configured to connect the assistance through-hole and the ground layer around the assistance through-hole with the stem; wherein the circuit board has a first distance between the assistance through-hole and the signal through-hole, the first distance being smaller than a second distance between the ground through-hole and the signal through-hole” in combination with the rest of the limitations as recited in claim 1. In particular, NOGUCHI is silent regarding the junction part and fails to disclose or suggest the first distance being smaller than the second distance as the through-holes in FIG. 14 appear to be equally spaced.
Therefore, claim 1 is allowable over the cited prior art and claims 2-5 and 12 are also allowable as they directly or indirectly depend on claim 1.
Claim 11
The cited prior art fails to disclose or suggest “the ground through-hole includes a first ground through-hole and a second ground through-hole, the signal line being sandwiched between the first ground through-hole and the second ground through-hole in a third direction crossing the first direction and the second direction, and the ground pin includes a first ground pin and a second ground pin, the first ground pin piercing the first ground through-hole and the second ground pin piercing the second ground through-hole”. In particular, NOGUCHI fails to disclose multiple ground pins and ground through-holes where the signal line is sandwiched between the ground through-holes in a third direction crossing the first direction and the second direction. Therefore, claim 11 is allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aruga et al. (US PG Pub 2005/0121684 A1) discloses an optical module comprising a stem having multiple through-holes which are pierced by a plurality of pins similar to the claimed invention (FIGS. 5-6).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUANDA ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1439. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/YUANDA ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828