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. Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for domestic benefit under 35 U.S.C. 365(c) with PCT/ JP2022/002870 which in turn claims foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) with JP2021-020442 . The certified copy of foreign priority has been filed with the Office on September 19, 2023 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on August 8, 2023 and May 21, 2025 w ere filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner. 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-3, 5, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Iwai JP 2017161830 . Regarding Claim 1, Iwai teaches An optical semiconductor device (Figs. 1 , 2 & 7 Page 8 Paragraph 2 “ As shown in FIG. 7, in the sixth embodiment, a micro heater 101 is provided so as to cover the high mesa waveguide structure 100 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. ” ) comprising: a base (Fig. 7, 41) including a surface (The top surface of 41 is the surface of the base) intersecting with a first direction (Fig. 7 the first direction is the vertical direction. Fig. 7 shows the top surface of the base intersects with the first direction) ; a mesa (Fig. 7, 42, 43, 44 & 45) protruding from the surface in the first direction (Fig. 7 shows that the mesa is protruding from the surface in the first direction) , including a top surface and two side surfaces (See annotated Fig. 7 below) , and extending along the surface in a direction intersecting the first direction (Fig. 1 shows the mesa extending in a direction intersecting the first direction which is the X and Z directions where the first direction is the Y direction) ; and a heater layer (Fig. 7, 101) including a top wall positioned on a side opposite to the base with respect to the top surface, the heater layer extending along the mesa (Page 8 Paragraph 2 of translation “ a micro heater 101 is provided so as to cover the high mesa waveguide structure 100 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. ”) , the mesa including a first mesa (Fig. 1, 11) extending in a second direction (Fig. 1 The second direction is the Z direction) intersecting the first direction (The Z and Y directions intersect with each other) , and a plurality of second mesas (Fig. 1, 21, 22, 23, 24) branching from the first mesa (Fig. 1 show second mesas branching away from the first mesa ) and extending so as to be away from each other in a third direction toward the second direction from the first mesa (Fig. 1 shows the second mesas branch away from each other in a third direction which is the X direction as it goes towards the second direction which is the Z direction away from the first mesa) , the third direction intersecting both of the first direction and the second direction (The X Y and Z directions all intersect with each other) , each of the second mesas including a first side surface close to another second mesa adjacent in the third direction (Fig. 1 shows a side surface of 2 4 which is side surface closest to the another second mesa 2 3 ) , and a second side surface far from the another adjacent second mesa (Fig. 1 shows a second side surface that is on the side farthest from the adjacent second mesa 2 3 ) , the heater layer including a first side wall provided in at least one of the second mesas (Fig. 7 shows that the heater layer 101 is provided on at least one of the second mesa s and has a first side wall ) , the first side wall extending from a position away from the first mesa along the first side surface so as to be away from the first mesa. (See annotated Fig. 1 below) Regarding Claim 2, Iwai teaches a covering layer configured to cover the heater layer. (Fig. 2, 49 shows that part of the heater layer 25 is covered by 49) Regarding Claim 3 , Iwai teaches the first side wall is separated from either another second mesa adjacent to a second mesa provided with the first side wall or a heater layer provided in the another second mesa adjacent to the second mesa provided with the first side wall. (Fig. 1 shows the first side wall is separated from another second mesa adjacent to a second mesa provided on the first side wall. 24 and 23 do not touch and are separated from each other at the first side wall of the heater layer. ) Regarding Claim 5 , Iwai teaches a second side wall extending along the second side surface on a side opposite to the first side surface. (Fig. 7 shows the heater layer has a second side wall extending along the second side surface) Regarding Claim 1 5 , Iwai teaches one of the plurality of second mesas is curved when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction, and constitutes a part of a circumferential mesa. (When viewed from above the second mesa 24 is curved and is part of circumferential mesa) Regarding Claim 1 6 , Iwai teaches the circumferential mesa constitutes a ring resonator. ( Page 2 Paragraph 3 “ In the configuration described above, the wavelength selection method is realized by changing the refractive indexes of two DBR mirrors or ring resonators by current injection or heating. ”) Regarding Claim 1 7 , Iwai teaches one of the plurality of second mesas linearly extends at least at a portion adjacent to the first mesa when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction. (When viewed from above mesa 22 is next to the first mesa) Regarding Claim 1 8 , Iwai teaches the first mesa constitutes a multimode interference waveguide. (Page 3 Paragraph 5 “ The two-branch portion 21 is formed of a 1 × 2 type branching waveguide including a 1 × 2 type multimode interference (MMI) waveguide 21a, ” The first mesa 11 is the 1 portion of the 1 x 2 multimode interference waveguide since the two branch portion 21 goes into 11) 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 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 . Claim 4 is rejected as being unpatentable over 35 U.S.C. 103 over Iwai in view of another embodiment of Iwai. Regarding Claim 4 , Iwai teaches the heater layer includes, in the at least one of the second mesas, a first portion that is away from the first mesa and includes the first side wall, (Fig. 7 shows a first portion that is away from the mesa that includes the first side wall) and a second portion that is closer to the first mesa than the first portion (See annotated Fig. 1 below) Iwai does not teach a second portion that is closer to the first mesa than the first portion and does not include the first side wall. However, Another embodiment of Iwai teaches a second portion does not include the first side wall. (Fig. 6, 91 Page 8 Paragraph 1 “ In the fifth embodiment, the microheater 91 is not in contact with the side surface of the high mesa waveguide structure 90. ”) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the heater layer as taught by Iwai by having the heater have a second portion that does not include the first side wall as disclosed by another embodiment of Iwai. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize absorption or scattering of light due to the heater. (Iwai Page 8 Paragraph 1 “ As a result, the possibility that the light propagating through the optical waveguide layer 44 is absorbed or scattered by the microheater 91 can be reduced, so that the optical waveguide layer 44 can be heated while maintaining a low loss of the waveguide. ”) Claims 6, 14 are rejected as being unpatentable over 35 U.S.C. 103 over Iwai in view Yamazaki 20070230856 . Regarding Claim 6, Iwai does not teach the heater layer includes a first heater layer extending along the first mesa, and a second heater layer connected to the first heater layer and extending along the at least one of the second mesas, the second heater layer is provided at an end of a second mesa provided with the second heater layer, the end of the second mesa being adjacent to the first mesa, and the second heater layer is spaced from either another adjacent second mesa or a heater layer provided in the another adjacent second mesa However, Yamazaki teaches the heater layer (Paragraph 0040 “ On the upper parts of the ring waveguides 13-2 and 13-3, thin-film-like heaters 15-1 and 15-2 are provided, respectively. And thin-film-like dummy heaters 16-1 and 16-2 are provided around the thin-film-like heaters 15-1 and 15-2, respectively. ”) further includes a first heater layer extending along the first mesa, (Figs. 3 & 4 shows the heater layers 15 and 16 along all the mesas) and a second heater layer connected to the first heater layer and extending along the at least one of the second mesas (Fig. 3 shows all the heaters on all the mesas connected to each other) , the second heater layer is provided at an end of a second mesa provided with the second heater layer, (Fig. 3 shows the heater layer is provided at the end of the second mesa) the end of the second mesa being adjacent to the first mesa, and the second heater layer is spaced from either another adjacent second mesa or a heater layer provided in the another adjacent second mesa (Fig. 4 shows the second heater layer is spaced from another adjacent second mesa) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the heater layer as taught by Iwai by adding the first and second heating layers as disclosed by Yamazaki. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to maintain a constant temperature even when another heater changes . (Yamazaki Paragraph 0033 “ According to the exemplary embodiment under discussion, a total amount of the heat emitted from the first and second heater is maintained substantially constant. Consequently, even when the power supplied to the first heater changes significantly at the time of a tuning operation, the temperature of the whole substrate does not change significantly. ”) Regarding Claim 1 4 , Iwai teaches An optical semiconductor device (Figs. 1, 2 & 7 Page 8 Paragraph 2 “ As shown in FIG. 7, in the sixth embodiment, a micro heater 101 is provided so as to cover the high mesa waveguide structure 100 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. ”) comprising: a base (Fig. 7, 41) including a surface (The top surface of 41 is the surface of the base) intersecting with a first direction (Fig. 7 the first direction is the vertical direction. Fig. 7 shows the top surface of the base intersects with the first direction) ; a mesa (Fig. 7, 42, 43, 44 & 45) protruding from the surface in the first direction (Fig. 7 shows that the mesa is protruding from the surface in the first direction) , including a top surface and two side surfaces (See annotated Fig. 7 below) , and extending along the surface in a direction intersecting the first direction (Fig. 1 shows the mesa extending in a direction intersecting the first direction which is the X and Z directions where the first direction is the Y direction) ; and a heater layer (Fig. 7, 101) including a top wall positioned on a side opposite to the base with respect to the top surface, the heater layer extending along the mesa (Page 8 Paragraph 2 of translation “ a micro heater 101 is provided so as to cover the high mesa waveguide structure 100 having the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. ”) , the mesa including a first mesa (Fig. 1, 11) extending in a second direction (Fig. 1 The second direction is the Z direction) intersecting the first direction (The Z and Y directions intersect with each other) , and a plurality of second mesas (Fig. 1, 21, 22, 23, 24) branching from the first mesa (Fig. 1 show second mesas branching away from the first mesa) and extending so as to be away from each other in a third direction toward the second direction from the first mesa (Fig. 1 shows the second mesas branch away from each other in a third direction which is the X direction as it goes towards the second direction which is the Z direction away from the first mesa) , the third direction intersecting both of the first direction and the second direction (The X Y and Z directions all intersect with each other) , Iwai does not teach the heater layer includes a first heater layer extending along the first mesa, and a second heater layer connected to the first heater layer and extending along the at least one of the second mesas, the second heater layer is provided at an end of a second mesa provided with the second heater layer, the end of the second mesa being adjacent to the first mesa, and the second heater layer is spaced from either another adjacent second mesa or a heater layer provided in the another adjacent second mesa However, Yamazaki teaches the heater layer (Paragraph 0040 “ On the upper parts of the ring waveguides 13-2 and 13-3, thin-film-like heaters 15-1 and 15-2 are provided, respectively. And thin-film-like dummy heaters 16-1 and 16-2 are provided around the thin-film-like heaters 15-1 and 15-2, respectively. ”) further includes a first heater layer extending along the first mesa, (Figs. 3 & 4 shows the heater layers 15 and 16 along all the mesas) and a second heater layer connected to the first heater layer and extending along the at least one of the second mesas (Fig. 3 shows all the heaters on all the mesas connected to each other) , the second heater layer is provided at an end of a second mesa provided with the second heater layer, (Fig. 3 shows the heater layer is provided at the end of the second mesa) the end of the second mesa being adjacent to the first mesa, and the second heater layer is spaced from either another adjacent second mesa or a heater layer provided in the another adjacent second mesa (Fig. 4 shows the second heater layer is spaced from another adjacent second mesa) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the heater layer as taught by Iwai by adding the first and second heating layers as disclosed by Yamazaki. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to maintain a constant temperature even when another heater changes. (Yamazaki Paragraph 0033 “ According to the exemplary embodiment under discussion, a total amount of the heat emitted from the first and second heater is maintained substantially constant. Consequently, even when the power supplied to the first heater changes significantly at the time of a tuning operation, the temperature of the whole substrate does not change significantly. ”) Claims 11 -13 are rejected as being unpatentable over 35 U.S.C. 103 over Yamazaki in view Iwai . Regarding Claim 11, Yamazaki teaches An optical semiconductor device (Figs. 3 & 4) comprising: a base (Fig. 4, 11) including a surface (The top surface of 11) intersecting with a first direction (The first direction is the vertical direction in Fig. 4. The top surface of 11 intersects with the first direction); a mesa protruding from the surface in the first direction (Fig. 4, 22 & 23. Fig. 4 shows the mesa protrude in the vertical direction), including a top surface and two side surfaces (Fig. 4 shows that the mesa has a top surface, which is the top surfaces of 22 and 23, and two side surfaces, which is the two side surfaces of 22 and 23.), and extending along the surface in a direction intersecting the first direction (Fig. 3 shows the mesa extend along the surface in a direction intersecting the first direction); and a heater layer (Fig. 3 & 4, 15-2, 16-2 Paragraph 0040 “thin-film-like heaters 15-1 and 15-2 are provided, respectively. And thin-film-like dummy heaters 16-1 and 16-2 are provided around the thin-film-like heaters 15-1 and 15-2, respectively.”) including a top wall positioned on a side opposite to the base with respect to the top surface (Fig. 4 shows the heater layer has a top wall positioned on top of the mesa which is a side opposite to the base with respect to the top surface), the heater layer extending along the mesa, (Fig. 3 shows the heater layer extends along the mesa) the mesa including a first mesa extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, (See annotated Fig. 3 below) a plurality of second mesas (See annotated Fig. 3 below) branching from the first mesa at an end of the first mesa in the second direction (The second direction is the left direction in Fig. 3) and extending so as to be away from each other in a third direction (The third direction is the up direction in Fig. 3) toward the second direction from the first mesa (Fig. 3 shows the mesa a vertical one and a curved one going to the left and splitting away from each other with the curved mesa going away in the up direction), the third direction intersecting both of the first direction and the second direction (The up direction intersects with the left and the vertical direction because they are all perpendicular to each other), and a plurality of third mesas (See annotated Fig. 3 below) branching from the first mesa at an end of the first mesa in a direction opposite to the second direction (Fig. 3 shows the third mesas going to the right) and extending so as to be away from each other in the third direction (Fig. 3 shows the third mesas extending away from each other in the up direction) toward the direction opposite to the second direction from the first mesa, (Fig. 3 shows the mesa a vertical one and a curved one going to the right and splitting away from each other with the curved mesa going away in the up direction) each of the second mesas and each of the third mesas including a first side surface close to either another second mesa or another third mesa adjacent in the third direction, (Figs. 3 & 4 show that each of the second and third mesas have a side surface adjacent to another second mesa or third mesa in the up direction) and a second side surface far from either the another adjacent second mesa or the another adjacent third mesa, (Fig. 3 shows that each of the second and third mesas have a side surface away from the adjacent second or third mesa) the heater layer including a second heater layer provided in a portion that is included in the second mesas and that is away from the first mesa, (Fig. 3 shows the heater layer provided on the second mesas is away from the first mesa) and a third heater layer provided in a portion that is included in the third mesas that is away from the first mesa, (Fig. 3 shows the heater layer provided on the third mesas is away from the first mesa) Yamazaki does not teach the heater layer being not provided in the first mesa, the second heater layer and the third heater layer including at least one of a first side wall extending along the first side surface and a second side wall extending along the second side surface. However, Iwai teaches the heater layer not provided on the first mesa. (Fig. 6, 91 Page 8 Paragraph 1 “In the fifth embodiment, the microheater 91 is not in contact with the side surface of the high mesa waveguide structure 90.”) the second heater layer and the third heater layer including at least one of a first side wall extending along the first side surface and a second side wall extending along the second side surface. (Fig. 7 shows the heater layer 101 along both side surfaces of the mesa) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the heater layer as taught by Yamazaki by having the heater not provided on the first mesa as disclosed by Iwai. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to minimize absorption or scattering of light due to the heater. (Iwai Page 8 Paragraph 1 “ As a result, the possibility that the light propagating through the optical waveguide layer 44 is absorbed or scattered by the microheater 91 can be reduced, so that the optical waveguide layer 44 can be heated while maintaining a low loss of the waveguide. ”) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the second and third heater layer as taught by Yamazaki by having the heater along the first and second side surfaces as disclosed by Iwai. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve heating efficiency of the waveguide. (Page 8 Paragraph 4“ In the sixth embodiment, since the microheater 101 is provided so as to cover the high mesa waveguide structure 100 including the optical waveguide layer 44, heat conduction occurs as shown by arrows in FIG. The heating efficiency of the optical waveguide layer 44 can be greatly improved. ”) Regarding Claim 1 2 , Yamazaki teaches the heater layer is made of a thermoelectric material (Paragraph 0045 “ Heaters and dummy heaters are formed in an evaporation process with a metallic thin film made of platinum, chrome, gold, or the like, or with a compound thin film made of nitride, such as tantalum nitride ( TaN ), oxide, or the like. ”) , and the second heater layer and the third heater layer are electrically connected in series or in parallel . (Fig. 3 shows that the second and third heater layers are electrically connected in series via the mesa that goes around the first mesa.) Regarding Claim 1 3 , Yamazaki teaches a wiring layer extending along the first mesa and electrically connecting the second heater layer and the third heater layer. (See annotated Fig. 3 below. The wiring layer is beside the first mesa so it extends along the first mesa and connects the second and third heater layers) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 7-10 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. Regarding Claim 7, Iwai does not teach the second heater layer includes, when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction, a first end edge in a width direction of the second heater layer, the first end edge being closer to the first side surface than the second side surface, a second end edge in the width direction of the second heater layer, the second end edge being closer to the second side surface than the first side surface, a third portion away from the first mesa, and a fourth portion located between the third portion and the first mesa and located on a side where the first end edge is closer to the second side surface than the third portion. Regarding Claim 8, Iwai does not teach the second heater layer includes, when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction, a first end edge in a width direction of the second heater layer, the first end edge being closer to the first side surface than the second side surface, and a second end edge in the width direction of the second heater layer, the second end edge being closer to the second side surface than the first side surface, and the first end edge approaches the second side surface as the first end edge approaches the first mesa. Regarding Claim 9, Iwai does not teach when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction, in an entire region of the second heater layer, the second heater layer is located away from the first side surface toward a side close to the second side surface and is located to be close to the second side surface. Regarding Claim 10, Iwai does not teach when viewed in a direction opposite to the first direction, the first heater layer extends along the first mesa with a width larger than a width of the second heater layer. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Higa et al. US 20190363516 teaches many features found in Claim 1 . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT STEPHEN SUTTON KOTTER whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-1859 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday - Friday 8:00-5:00 . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT MinSun Harvey can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 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. /STEPHEN SUTTON KOTTER/ Examiner, Art Unit 2828 /MINSUN O HARVEY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2828