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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) rejected in the prior office action have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant amended independent claims 1, 8 and 14 with features that distinguish over the prior art rejection. However, a rejection is made in view of Witzens below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2021/170200 to Witzens et al. in view of US 2015/0212281 to McColloch.
Witzens discloses on figures 1-2, 9 and 12, an optical array connector comprising:
A first component (300A) configured to mechanically connect a first array of first waveguides (120A-D), the first component comprising a body including a first array of curved surfaces (602; figure 7), each curved surface corresponding to a respective first waveguide (figure 13), the second component comprising a body including curved surfaces like the first above (same surfaces shown as 602 in figure 7); and
A second component (300B) configured to mechanically connect to a second array of second waveguides (120E-H) wherein the second component comprises a housing (500) and a microlens array (portion 230) positioned within the housing;
Wherein the first and second components are configured to:
Removably connect to one another (The description for figure 7 describes how facets may be shaped to couple multiple blocks);
Connecting the first and second array and optically align the waveguides (when combined, the building blocks mechanically connect the arrays).
Optically align each of the first and second waveguides through an optical path that passes through the first and second bodies (figures 5 and 12)
Wherein the first and second components are configured to expand or focus, respectively, their light beams and direct to one another (lines 19-29; page 13).
PNG
media_image1.png
462
473
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As to claim 2, waveguides may be affixed to a substrate portion such as 120A-D (figure 12) and coupled to an array of fibers (200; figure 1b). Further, grating couplers (112) and edge couplers (113) are disclosed.
As to claim 3, the second array of waveguides comprises at least one of an array of fibers fixed to the substrate (the fibers 200 in figure 1b are fixed to the substrate via the glass interposer 300).
As to claim 4, the component is configured to direct light via TIR (line 13; page 40).
As to claims 5-6, lenses (602) are disclosed and collimate light to their respective outputs.
As to claim 7, multiple surfaces are disclosed and shown in figure 7. These may be coupled to other components to create multiple redirections of paths (figure 9).
Claim 8 is similar to the above but discloses the arrays in a single plane (this is depicted in figure 12).
Claims 9 and 11-13 effectively recite a gap which is shown in Witzens figure 13.
As to claim 10, the components are fixed on a PIC (figure 1b).
As to claim 11, the other end is a fiber array (200; figure 1b).
Claim 14 is similar to the above but adds a third array of waveguides to couple (Witzens discloses multiple components of a PIC to be coupled (such as figures 3c or 19).
As to claim 15, light beams may be expanded or collimated depending on whether they are an input or output beam from the coupling blocks.
As to claim 16, the method of making structure is not a positive limitation in an apparatus claim.
As to claim 17, the device is a planar Lightwave circuit (PSM/WDM/PIC; figure 1b).
As to claims 18-19, these are similar to above disclosed features.
As to claim 20, there is an angle on surface 330 (figure 3a).
However, Witzens fails to explicitly disclose a “mechanical connection”. Witzens discloses connecting two disclosed blocks to one another, as well as the provisions of adapting the facet for such a placement. It is further noted that Applicant’s figures do not disclose any additional “mechanical” features such as alignment pins or structural connection means to define more than the mere placement of two components in contact with one another.
McColloch discloses connection alignment holes and pins to connect two bodies together (10, 21; figures 1-2) for securing two components to reduce misalignment.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use additional mechanical coupling means as taught by McCollogh in Witzens to secure two optical components to one another to prevent optical misalignment.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eric K Wong whose telephone number is (571)272-2363. The examiner can normally be reached M-Tu, Th-F 8A-6P.
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, Thomas Hollweg can be reached at 571-270-1739. 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.
ERIC K. WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2874
/Eric Wong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights