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 .
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0059394 to Ho et al. in view of US 2018/0212708 to Tian et al.
Ho discloses in the abstract and figures 2B-5B, an optical module comprising:
a circuit board (FPC; paragraph 61);
an optical transceiver component electrically connected to the circuit board (paragraph 62); and
a fiber adapter connected to the optical transceiver component (MPO receptacle; paragraph 21),
wherein, the optical transceiver component comprises:
a first tubular shell having an inner cavity (figures 4B-4C) and a first incident light port and a second incident light port, a first reception light port and a second reception light port, and an integrated emission and reception light port that are communicated with the inner cavity, wherein the fiber adapter is inserted into the inner cavity via the integrated emission and reception light port; the inner cavity is provided therein with an optical element and an inclined plane, the optical element being configured to transmit and reflect emission beams incident into the first tubular shell, and the inclined plane being located below the optical element and opposite to a transmission surface of the optical element, and being configured to re-reflect an emission beam reflected by the transmission surface such that the emission beam, after being re-reflected by the inclined plane, does not pass through the second incident light port (Applicant’s Specification does not explicitly define or label the “ports” and therefore Examiner is left to guess as to their functions as such. Based on the Specification, the photodiode packages 222 of the prior art constitute said ports and are arranged to direct light as claimed through inclined mirrors 232 in figure 4A);
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a demultiplexing assembly function (paragraph 24);
a first light emission assembly (upper port of TOSA 110 in figure 2B) connected to the first tubular shell at the first incident light port and configured to generate a first emission beam, and the first emission beam can pass through the optical element and be coupled to the fiber adapter after passing through the first optical splitter (via sidewall receptacle 206 in figure 2A);
a second light emission assembly (lower port of TOSA 110 in figure 2B) connected to the first tubular shell at the second incident light port and configured to generate a second emission beam, and the second emission beam can be reflected by the optical element and then be coupled to the fiber adapter after passing through the first optical splitter (via sidewall receptacle in figure 2A);
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a bracket disposed at the first reception light port and comprising a mounting surface and an insertion surface disposed opposite to each other, wherein the insertion surface is configured to be inserted in the first reception light port to fix the bracket to the first reception light port; the mounting surface is inclinedly disposed such that a distance between the mounting surface and the central axis of the first tubular shell gradually decreases in the beam emission direction inside the first tubular shell, and the first light reception assembly is assembled on the mounting surface and is thus inclinedly disposed relative to the central axis of the first tubular shell (Figure 4C depicts the ports mounted in a bracket structure with lenses set to collimate and therefore decrease a beam emission direction within and towards an output for the TOSA 110).
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As to claim 2, Ho discloses multiple inner cavities for the mounting of ports (figure 2B).
As to claim 16, figures 2B-4A depict the arrangement of the lateral sides opposite to one another with respective ports therein.
However, Ho fails to explicitly disclose a light splitting assembly disposed in the inner cavity of the first tubular shell downstream of the optical element in a beam emission direction inside the first tubular shell, and comprising a support frame and a first optical splitter, a second optical splitter and a third optical splitter disposed on the support frame, wherein the first optical splitter is configured to reflect multi-path reception beams transported from the fiber adapter; the second optical splitter is configured to split the multi-path reception beams reflected from the first optical splitter such that a first reception beam of the multi-path reception beams is directly transmitted through the second optical splitter, and a second reception beam of the multi-path reception beams is reflected again at the second optical splitter and then comes onto the third optical splitter; and the third optical splitter is configured such that the second reception beam re-reflected from the second optical splitter is transmitted through the third optical splitter.
Further, Ho does not explicitly disclose a first light reception assembly connected to the first tubular shell at the first reception light port and configured to receive the second reception beam transmitted through the third optical splitter; and a second light reception assembly connected to the first tubular shell at the second light reception port and configured to receive the first reception beam transmitted through the second optical splitter, wherein the second light reception assembly is assembled on the first tubular shell perpendicular to a central axis of the first tubular shell.
These limitations relate to the routing and direction of light being output from a splitter.
Although these specifics are not disclosed, Ho discloses a general de-multiplexing arrangement and a multi-channel TOSA 110 and ROSA 112. One would recognize that such demultiplexing would likely involve beam splitters and the redirection of light to an appropriate output.
Tian teaches such a light splitting assembly in figures 4-6 where multi-path reception beams are reflected multiple times to generate a desired output.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to recognize that a beam splitter as taught by Tian would be employed for the demultiplexing functions of Ho for proper channel separation.
Claim(s) 3-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ho in view of Tian.
Ho in view of Tian discloses the invention as claimed except for claims 3-15 and respective locations, brackets, angles and positioning of lenses. It is noted that rearrangement of components is generally accepted to be within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. Setting the positions and angles of lenses or mirrors for a beam splitter within an optical module as taught by Tian in Ho likewise would be within the level of ordinary skill in the art to properly separate channels and optimize transmission of specific pre-determined wavelengths.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2013/0028611 (inclined surfaces and lenses; figure 3).
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US 2015/0037038 (figure 5).
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US 2019/0285816 (figure 4).
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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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on 571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ERIC K. WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2874
/Eric Wong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874