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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-3 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2001188148 A to Fujita et al.
Regarding Claim 1. Fujita discloses a signal transmitting/receiving device comprising: a light source part configured to emit transmission light (See Fig. 5 light emitting element 4); a light-receiving part having a photodetector configured to receive reception light (Fig. 5 light receiving element 5, para 59); and a condenser mirror (Fig. 5 reflective surface 10) configured to condense the reception light on the photodetector (as shown in Fig. 5), wherein the condenser mirror has a through hole configured to allow the transmission light emitted from the light source part to pass therethrough and align an optical axis of the light source part and an optical axis of the condenser mirror with each other (See Fig. 5 transmission area 9), and a reflection surface of the condenser mirror has a shape obtained by cutting out a columnar body extending in an emission direction of the transmission light, with a spheroid whose rotation axis is a major axis (as shown in Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 2. Fujita further discloses the columnar body is a quadrangular prism (as shown in Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 3. Fujita further discloses the through hole has a cutout in an inner surface facing the light-receiving part (as shown in Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 7. Fujita further discloses a plurality of transmitting/receiving units each having the light source part, the light-receiving part, and the condenser mirror are placed (See Fig. 1 communication device 3 is connected to the optical fiber 2 for bidirectionally transmitting modulated light suitable for transmission).
Regarding Claim 8. Fujita further discloses the plurality of transmitting/receiving units are placed in a matrix on the same plane (as shown in Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 9 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.
Conclusion
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/EDMOND C LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871