NON-FINAL REJECTION
Acknowledgements
1. Claims 1-15 were presented for examination on Aug. 2, 2023. Claim 1 is independent.
2. Applicant claims priority under 35 USC §119(a)-(d) to JP 2022-124163 filed Aug. 3, 2022.
3. The presumed effective filing date of the instant application is Aug. 2, 2023, which is the filing date of the instant application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2023/0204192 to Hayashi et al. filed Dec. 19, 2022 (“Hayashi”).
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As to claim 1, Hayashi discloses:
A light-emitting device comprising:
a light-emitting element (#1);
a substrate (#50) supporting the light-emitting element (#1); and
one or more lateral wall portions (#22) joined to the substrate (#1) to surround the light-emitting element (#1),
the one or more lateral wall portions (#22) including a 1st lateral wall portion having a light incident surface (D4) configured to receive a light emitted from the light-emitting element (#1) and traveling in a 1st direction and a light exit surface (#13) configured to emit the light,
wherein the substrate (#1) has a joint surface (as annotated) joined to the 1st lateral wall portion and a lateral surface (#23) meeting the joint surface (as annotated),
the lateral surface (#23) being located between the light incident surface and the light exit surface (#13) in a top view as viewed in a direction perpendicular to the joint surface (see reflection arrows).
As to claim 2, Hayashi discloses “the 1st lateral wall portion (#23) has a lower surface joined to the joint surface (as annotated) and the light incident surface meets the lower surface” (see arrows).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 3-15 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.
As to claim 3, the prior art does not disclose or make obvious “an optical axis of the light intersects a virtual plane extending parallel to the lateral surface of the substrate and including the lateral surface of the substrate, and an intersection point between the optical axis of the light and the virtual plane is located between the light incident surface of the 1st lateral wall portion and the light exit surface of the 1st lateral wall portion in the top view” in combination with the other limitations of the claims.
As to claim 4, the prior art does not disclose or make obvious “a distance between the lateral surface of the substrate and the light incident surface of the 1st lateral wall portion in the 1st direction is longer than a distance between the lateral surface of the substrate and the light exit surface of the 1st lateral wall portion in the 1st direction” in combination with the other limitations of the claims.
As to claims 5-6, the prior art does not disclose or make obvious “a top portion connected to the one or more lateral wall portions, wherein the light-emitting element is disposed inside a sealed space formed by the substrate, the one or more lateral wall portions, and the top portion, and a height of an intersection point between an optical axis of the light and the light incident surface of the 1st lateral wall portion from the joint surface of the substrate is higher than half of a height of a lower surface of the top portion from the joint surface of the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the joint surface of the substrate” in combination with the other limitations of the claims.
As to claims 7-15, the prior art does not disclose or make obvious “the substrate further has a mounting surface meeting the lateral surface and extending on a side opposite the light-emitting element with respect to the lateral surface, and the mounting surface is located below the joint surface in the direction perpendicular to the joint surface” in combination with the other limitations of the claims” in combination with the other limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEANDRA M HUGHES whose telephone number is (571)272-6982. The examiner can normally be reached Generally M-Th 8AM-6PM.
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Signed:
/DEANDRA M HUGHES/Reexamination Specialist, Art Unit 3992
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