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
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of the embodiment of Figs 1-2 in the reply filed on 07/06/2026 is acknowledged. Applicant indicated that claims 1, 7, 8 and 11 read on the elected embodiment. The traversal is on the grounds that Fig 3A and claim 2 should be examined along with claims 1, 7, 8 and 11. This is not found persuasive because the embodiment of Fig 3A is directed to the structure of the resonator, rather than the structure of the gain medium itself. However, the elected embodiment does disclose in paragraph 0055 that the gain medium is optically pumped, since claim 2 does not disclose any particular limiting features of the pumping scheme it can be examined along with the other elected claims.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Accordingly, claims 3-6, 9, 10 and 12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected embodiments, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
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.
Claim 8 is 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.
Claim 8 discloses a limitation: “the active layer has a thickness”, however the direction of thickness measurement is not described by the claim. Since it is a 3D structure the measurement can be carried out along three different axis, thereby making the claim indefinite.
For the purpose of examination, the limitations as presented have been searched and considered.
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 1, 2 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Govorkov et al. (2007/0036194) found in IDS, hereinafter ‘194.
Regarding claim 1, Fig 2 of ‘194 discloses a light source device comprising:
1. “a resonator comprising a first mirror [48A] and a second mirror [48B];
a gain medium [48] disposed between the first mirror and the second mirror [48A,B], wherein:
the gain medium [48] comprises a first semiconductor portion [not numbered], an active layer [not numbered], and a second semiconductor portion [not numbered] that are arranged in this order in a direction perpendicular [vertical] to an optical axis [horizontal] of the resonator [edge-emitting double-confinement semiconductor heterostructure, see paragraph 0034],
a first principal surface [bottom of 48] of the gain medium is located on a side of the first semiconductor portion opposite to a side of the first semiconductor portion on which the active layer is provided, and
a second principal surface [top of 48] of the gain medium is located on a side of the second semiconductor portion opposite to a side of the second semiconductor portion on which the active layer is provided;
a first heat dissipation member [50] located on a first principal surface side [bottom of 48] of the gain medium; and
a second heat dissipation member [58] located on second principal surface side [top of 48] of the gain medium; wherein:
the resonator [48A,B] and the gain medium [48] are arranged such that the optical axis [horizontal] of the resonator passes through the gain medium.”
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Fig 2 of ‘194 discloses:
2. “further comprising: an excitation light source [12,46] disposed outside the resonator; wherein:
excitation light [46] emitted from the excitation light source [12] is incident on the active layer [not numbered] of the gain medium [48] along the optical axis [horizontal] of the resonator.” The light is incident through the light guide 58 positioned along the entire length of the optical axis of the resonator.
11. “wherein: at least one of the first semiconductor portion [not numbered] and the second semiconductor portion [not numbered] comprises a portion including an impurity with a concentration less than or equal to 1×1017 cm−3.” Since the lower bounds of the impurity concentration is not specified, it can be interpreted to mean “zero”. ‘194 does not disclose doping the heterojunction 48 with impurities.
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 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘194 as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 7, ‘194 discloses a light source device as described above, in addition:
7. “wherein: the gain medium [48] is formed of a nitride semiconductor” [see paragraph 0035],
But does not disclose:
“the first heat dissipation member [50] and the second heat dissipation member [58] are formed of a metal nitride.”
However, these materials are known in the art to be used as heatsinks with lasers.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the of the invention to make the heatsinks 50,58 of these known materials, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material/element on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 227 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
Regarding claim 8, ‘194 discloses a light source device as described above, but does not disclose:
8. “wherein: the active layer [not numbered] has a thickness greater than or equal to 50 nm and less than or equal to 2000 nm.”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to set the thickness of the active layer to be between 50 and 2000 nm, 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. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
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.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Applicant is advised of possible benefits under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) and (f), such as an earlier effective filing date corresponding to the filing date of the application filed in a foreign country.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
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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