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 .
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claims 1, 30-40, and 44 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Regarding claim 1: As evidenced by claim 29 in the previously examined claims filed on 18 March, 2026, the embodiment wherein the first and second adhesive elements are disposed over the substrate (as shown in Figs. 5, 7-8, 15B, and 16B) has already been examined. New claim 1 is directed to a different embodiment, wherein the first and second adhesive elements are disposed on the light source module and the photonic component (as shown in Figs. 12-13 and 14B-C), rather than the substrate.
Regarding claims 30-40: Claims 30-40 depend on claim 1, and therefore they are also directed to a different embodiment from the one previously examined.
Regarding claim 44: As described above, the originally claimed embodiment corresponds to Figs. 5, 7-8, 15B, and 16B, having one adhesive element per lens structure disposed on the substrate. Claim 44 recites “disposing a plurality of first adhesive elements adjacent to the first unit specific position… disposing a plurality of second adhesive elements to the second unit specific position… wherein at least two adhesive elements among the plurality of first adhesive elements and the plurality of second adhesive elements have different heights, thicknesses, or volumes.” This is described in paragraph 0048 in relation to embodiments having adhesive elements 60, 60A, 60’, and 60A’. These adhesive elements are disposed on the on the light source module and the photonic component (as shown in Figs. 12-13 and 14B-C), rather than the substrate.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 1, 30-40, and 44 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 30 June, 2026 has been fully considered and entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 30 June, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
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 9, 11, 23, 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2022/0179159; hereinafter Wu).
Regarding claim 9: Wu disclosesA method for manufacturing an optoelectronic structure (see Fig. 6 and paragraph 0214), comprising: affixing a first light source module (Fig. 6, step 602, “first laser module” in paragraph 0214), a first photonic component (Fig. 6, step 604, “a first waveguide and a first guided-mode resonance coupler coupled to the first waveguide” in paragraph 0214), a second light source module (Fig. 6, step 602, “second laser module” in paragraph 0214), and a second photonic component (Fig. 6, step 604, “a second waveguide and a second guided-mode resonance coupler coupled to the second waveguide” in paragraph 0214) to a substrate (“support structure (e.g., interposer 208 in the examples of Figs. 2A-2G, 3, and 5C, or LGA substrate 202 in the examples of Figs. 4, 5A, 5B, 5D, and 5E)”)
Wu further disclosesactively aligning the first light source module with the first photonic component by moving a first lens structure to a first unit specific position related to the first photonic component without moving positions of the first light source module and the first photonic component (Fig. 6, step 608, “ aligning (608) a first beam-shaping optical element (e.g., 220) during attachment so that the first optical beam (e.g., 222) is coupled to the first guided-mode resonance coupler” in paragraph 0214); and actively aligning the second light source module with the second photonic component by moving a second lens structure to a second unit specific position related to the second photonic component without moving positions of the second light source module and the second photonic component (Fig. 6, step 610, “aligning (610) a second beam-shaping optical element (e.g., 220) during attachment so that the second optical beam (e.g., 222) is coupled to the second guided-mode resonance coupler”), wherein a waveguide of the first photonic component and a waveguide of the second photonic component are at different elevations (since the claim does not include a reference point or direction for comparing the elevations, the elevation could be measured with respect to the ground, and by turning the Wu device, a waveguide of the first photonic component and a waveguide of the second photonic component would necessarily be at different elevations at some orientations, since they occupy different positions in the chip).
Regarding the limitation “without turning on the first light source module and the second light source module”, while Wu fails to explicitly state that the first light source module, the second light source module, the first photonic component, and the second photonic component are affixed to the substrate “without turning on the first light source module and the second light source module”, Wu does teach that these components are affixed to the substrate using passive alignment (see paragraph 0213) and does not state that turning on the light source modules is a required part of affixing the first light source module, the second light source module, the first photonic component, and the second photonic component to the substrate. Since turning the light source modules is not taught to be required in order to perform this step, and since it is taught that the first light source module, the second light source module, the first photonic component, and the second photonic component are affixed to the substrate using passive alignment, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to perform the step of affixing the respective components to the substrate without turning on the first and second light source modules in order to be more energy efficient.
Regarding claim 11: Modified Wu teaches the method of claim 9, as applied above, further comprising curing a first adhesive element and a second adhesive element to affix the first lens structure and the second lens structure to the first unit specific position and the second unit specific position, respectively (see paragraphs 0213 and 0214). Wu fails to teach curing a first adhesive element and a second adhesive element to affix the first lens structure and the second lens structure to the first unit specific position and the second unit specific position, respectively, in a same operation. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the Wu method by curing the first adhesive element and the second adhesive element to the first lens structure and the second lens structure to the first unit specific position and second unit specific position, respectively, in a same operation, in order to more efficiently manufacture the device by completing the curing step in one operation, since the two adhesive elements correspond to different light paths for which one alignment process does not depend on the other, so the device could be expected to work equally well whether the first and second adhesive elements were cured in a same operation or a different operation.
Regarding claim 23: Modified Wu teachesThe method as claimed in claim 9 (as applied above), wherein actively aligning the second light source module with the second photonic component is performed after aligning the first light source module with the first photonic component is completed (see paragraph 0214, “The attaching (606) includes: aligning (608) a first beam-shaping optical element (e.g., 220) during attachment so that the first optical beam (e.g., 222) is coupled to the first guided-mode resonance coupler, and aligning (610) a second beam-shaping optical element (e.g., 220) during attachment so that the second optical beam (e.g., 222) is coupled to the second guided-mode resonance coupler. Any number of additional beam-shaping optical elements can be sequentially aligned in this manner.”).
Regarding claim 24: Modified Wu teaches the method as claimed in claim 9, as applied above. Wu fails to disclose that a time duration for actively aligning the first light source module with the first photonic component at least partially overlaps a time duration for actively aligning the second light source module with the second photonic component. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to actively align the first/second light source modules with first/second photonic components, respectively, in any order, since they correspond to different light paths for which one alignment process does not depend on the other, so the device could be expected to work equally well no matter which order the active alignment steps are performed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the Wu method by overlapping the time duration for actively aligning the first light source with the first photonic component at least partially with the time duration for actively aligning the second light source module with the second photonic component, in order to more efficiently manufacture the device by completing the active alignment processes in parallel.
Claims 9 and 41-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hata et al. (US 2023/0059013; hereinafter Hata) in view of Omori et al. (US 2020/0244037; hereinafter Omori).
Regarding claim 9: Hata disclosesA method for manufacturing an optoelectronic structure (paragraphs 0208-0218), comprising: affixing a first light source module (see paragraph 0208, “first semiconductor laser module 101 is fixed to one step of multistep base 5 with solder etc.”), a first photonic component (see paragraph 0208, “optical fiber 4 is fixed in a predetermined position of sidewall 3”),
Hata further disclosesactively aligning the first light source module with the first photonic component by moving a first lens structure to a first unit specific position related to the first photonic component without moving positions of the first light source module and the first photonic component (see paragraphs 0212-0213); and
Regarding the limitation “affixing a first light source module [and] a first photonic component… to a substrate without turning on the first light source module and the second light source module”, Hata teaches that the light source modules are turned on in a subsequent step, not in the step in which the light source modules and photonic components are affixed to the substrate, so it is understood that this step of the method is performed without turning on the light source modules, or at least that it can be performed without turning on the light source modules with no adverse effect on the process, in order to save energy.
Hata fails to teach affixing a second light source module, and a second photonic component to a substrate without turning on the first light source module and the second light source module. Hata additionally fails to teach actively aligning the second light source module with the second photonic component by moving a second lens structure to a second unit specific position related to the second photonic component, without moving positions of the second light source module and the second photonic component, wherein a waveguide of the first photonic component and a waveguide of the second photonic component are at different elevations.
However, Omori, also related to light source modules including semiconductor laser diode modules coupled to optical fibers using spatial beam combining with a similar structure to Hata’s light source module 1 (see abstract, paragraph 0070, and Figs. 7a-9 and 13), does teach mounting a plurality of light source modules together to a plurality of optical fibers to form a combined light source module to further increase light output (see Fig. 13, light source modules 200 and optical fibers 220 on substrate; see also Omori paragraphs 0092-0093). Since Omori previously taught that mounting a plurality of similar light source modules to form a combined light source module would allow for increasing light output to a target area (see paragraphs 0092-0093), for the same purpose, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the method of Hata by mounting multiple light source modules (1) coupled to a plurality of optical fibers (4) into an arrangement substantially similar to the arrangement taught by Omori. In making this modification, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the same process for coupling each laser module with each optical fiber, including affixing a second light source module, and a second photonic component to a substrate without turning on the first light source module and the second light source module, and actively aligning the second light source module with the second photonic component by moving a second lens structure to a second unit specific position related to the second photonic component, without moving positions of the second light source module and the second photonic component, since this is the same procedure by which Hata teaches preparing a single light source module 1 (see Hata, paragraphs 0208-0218).
Regarding claim 41: Modified Hata teachesThe method as claimed in claim 9 (as applied above), wherein the first lens structure includes a plurality of lenses having different shapes (see Hata Figs. 1 and 4a, first lens structure includes FAC lenses 320 and SAC lenses 350 having different shapes).
Regarding claim 42: Modified Hata teachesThe method as claimed in claim 9 (as applied above), wherein a waveguide of the first photonic component is misaligned with a waveguide of the second photonic component from a top view perspective (see Omori Fig. 13, wherein two optical fibers correspond to the first photonic component and the second photonic component of the modified Hata device; Omori shows that these waveguides are misaligned, i.e. offset from each other in order to couple light from different light source modules to a converging point; in order to couple light according to the modification described above, the modified Hata device would also need to have this feature), and wherein the second photonic component is rotated offset from the second light source module (see Hata Fig. 1, the light source module emits light along an axis perpendicular to the axis that the optical fiber extends, therefore the second photonic component is considered to be rotated offset from the second light source module).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 43 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest found prior art, Hata and Wu, fail to teach or suggest: The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein a thickness of a photodetector of the first photonic component and a thickness of a photodetector of the second photonic component are different. Therefore, claim 43 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/KIRSTEN D. ENDRESEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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