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 .
Election/Restrictions
The present application (18/435,836) was filed on February 7, 2024 as a continuation-in- part of PCT/JP2022/010213 filed on March 9, 2022, which claims priority to provisional
application 63/231,417 filed on August 10, 2021.
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-10 in the reply filed on August 25, 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on August 25, 2026.
Claims 1-10 are pending. Claim 1 is the only independent claim.
References and Documents Cited in this Action
Yoneda (WO 2019/176912 A1; see English-language equivalent family document, US 2021/0057876 A1)
Takase (US 2011/0013655 A1)
Summary of Rejections and Objections in this Action
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite.
Claims 1-5 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoneda.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoneda in view of Takase.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8 is indefinite because the claim recites further limitations “when a total number of at least two protruding portions on one side of the rectangle is denoted by n…” but does not specifically recite that at least two protruding portions are actually on one side of the rectangle. It is unclear how many protruding portions on a side of the rectangle are included in the recited invention.
Claim 9 is indefinite because the claim recites further limitations “when a total number of a plurality of protruding portions on one side of the rectangle is denoted by n, and distances between the plurality of protruding portions are each denoted by Pi, where i is an integer and satisfies 1≤i≤n−1…” (i.e., n would be at least two) but does not specifically recite that at least two protruding portions are actually on one side of the rectangle. Again, it is unclear how many protruding portions on a side of the rectangle are included in the recited invention. Claim 10 depends on claim 9 and is also indefinite for the same reason.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoneda.
Since Yoneda (WO 2019/176912 A1) is in Japanese, all references to its specification (including paragraph numbers) in this action are made to the English-language equivalent family document, US 2021/0057876 A1.
Regarding independent claim 1, Yoneda discloses a semiconductor laser device (Figures 1a-b; see also Figure 5a-b) comprising:
a pedestal (i.e., block 30);
a submount 20 that is joined to the pedestal via solder 60 (paragraphs [0042]-[0043]); and
a semiconductor laser 10 that is mounted on the submount 20,
wherein when a view of the submount from a side on which the semiconductor laser is mounted is defined as a top view (i.e., the view shown in Figure 1a), in the top view:
the solder 60 includes a plurality of protruding portions (i.e., the solder protruding on four sides of submount 20); and
the plurality of protruding portions are provided on the pedestal outside the submount, protrude in directions away from an inside of the submount, and are located at regular intervals on at least a portion of a periphery of the submount (Figures 1a and 5a; paragraphs [0053]-[0055], [0067], and [0074]). Yoneda discloses the recited plurality of protruding portions at least in the sense that Yoneda discloses “excess solder 60 is let outside the sub-mount 20” (paragraph [0067]) and Figures 1a and 5a show excess solder protruding at regular intervals on at least a portion of a periphery of the submount (i.e., the four portions of excess solder along four sides of submount 2, or alternatively, the two portions of excess solder in the two symmetrical concave portions 25 on the periphery of submount 20). The claim does not recite further details with respect to the shape of the protruding portions.
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Regarding claim 2, Yoneda discloses that all of the plurality of protruding portions are provided on the pedestal outside the submount, protrude in the directions away from the inside of the submount, and are located at regular intervals. (Figures 1a and 5a; paragraphs [0053]-[0055], [0067], and [0074]). Again, Yoneda discloses the recited plurality of protruding portions at least in the sense that Yoneda discloses “excess solder 60 is let outside the sub-mount 20” (paragraph [0067]) and Figures 1a and 5a show excess solder protruding at regular intervals on at least a portion of a periphery of the submount (i.e., the four portions of excess solder along four sides of submount 2, or alternatively, the two portions of excess solder in the two symmetrical concave portions 25 on the periphery of submount 20). The claim does not recite further details with respect to the shape of the protruding portions.
Regarding claim 3, Yoneda discloses that in the top view, borders between the submount and the plurality of protruding portions are located at regular intervals, at least in the sense that Yoneda discloses that there are four borders along the submount at four protruding portions of each side of the submount. The claim does not further recite details with respect to the borders. Applicant’s specification appears to indicate that a “border” may be simply a section along the edge of the submount where there is a protruding section (e.g., a dotted line marked as having a length L1 in Applicant’s Figure 5, for example).
Regarding claim 4, Yoneda discloses that the solder includes an outer peripheral portion that protrudes from an outer edge of the submount, and the plurality of protruding portions protrude from the outer peripheral portion in the directions away from the inside of the submount, at least in the sense that Yoneda discloses that some the excess solder 60 that is closest to the outer edge of the submount can be considered “an outer peripheral portion” and areas of the rest of the excess solder 60 that extends beyond that are “protruding portions protrude from the outer peripheral portion in the directions away from the inside of the submount.” The claim does not recite any details with respect to the shape or relative measurement of the protruding portion versus the “outer peripheral portion.”
Regarding claim 5, Yoneda discloses that in the top view, at least one of the plurality of protruding portions is located on an optical axis of the semiconductor laser 10 (Figure 5a shows portions of solder 60 located on the optical axis of laser 10, which would be along a horizontal Y axis in Figure 5a).
Regarding claims 8-10, as well as well the claims may be understood with respect to 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as discussed above, Yoneda discloses that a top view shape of the submount 20 is a rectangle (Figures 1a and 5a). Claims 8-10 do not require at least two protruding portions on one side of the rectangle (and therefore also do not require specific further limitations with respect to a distance between at least two protruding portions on one side).
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 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoneda in view of Takase.
Again, since Yoneda (WO 2019/176912 A1) is in Japanese, all references to its specification (including paragraph numbers) in this action are made to the English-language equivalent family document, US 2021/0057876 A1.
Regarding claim 6, Yoneda discloses a semiconductor laser device as discussed above with regard to claim 1. Yoneda further discloses that the plurality of protruding portions may be excess solder in concave portions 25 only, “when the amount of supplied solder is small and the solder is accordingly prevented from being let out to the periphery of the sub-mount 20” (paragraph [0068]). In this embodiment, a length of a border between the submount and one of the plurality of protruding portions would be the length of the concave portion. Yoneda further discloses that the concave portions may have a length that is less than a fourth of the length of the overall submount edge (Figure 4B; paragraph [0070]), but Yoneda is silent with respect to the exact dimensions of the concave portion or the submount edge.
However, Takase teaches a semiconductor laser device that is related to the one disclosed by Yoneda, including a laser 103 on a submount 101. Takase further teaches that submount 101 can be “750 μm wide” (paragraph [0032]). Regarding claim 6, given Takase’s teaching that a side of a similar submount may be roughly 750 μm, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide a length of a border between the submount and one of the plurality of protruding portions that is at least 20 μm and at most 200 μm in the device disclosed by Yoneda as an engineering design choice of a particular measurement for the concave portion and corresponding border that would achieve Yoneda’s purpose for the concave portion with a reasonable expectation of success (e.g., about a fourth of the length of the submount side, or less, such as as shown in Yoneda, Figure 4B).
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Regarding claim 7, Yoneda discloses a semiconductor laser device as discussed above with regard to claim 1. Again, Yoneda further discloses that the plurality of protruding portions may be excess solder in concave portions 25 only, “when the amount of supplied solder is small and the solder is accordingly prevented from being let out to the periphery of the sub-mount 20” (paragraph [0068]). In this embodiment, a length of a border between the submount and one of the plurality of protruding portions would be the length of the concave portion. Yoneda further discloses that in the top view, a portion of the solder that does not protrude from an outer edge of the submount and in which an outer edge of the solder coincides with the outer edge of the submount has a length that is about one fourth to one third of the length of the overall submount edge (i.e., the portion of the submount edge to the left and right of concave portion 25 in Figures 1a and 5a; see also Figure 4C; paragraph [0070]), but Yoneda is silent with respect to the exact dimensions of the portion of the solder that does not protrude from an outer edge of the submount.
However, again, Takase teaches a semiconductor laser device that is related to the one disclosed by Yoneda, including a laser 103 on a submount 101. Takase further teaches that submount 101 can be “750 μm wide” (paragraph [0032]). Regarding claim 7, given Takase’s teaching that a side of a similar submount may be roughly 750 μm, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide a length of a portion of the solder that does not protrude from an outer edge of the submount and in which an outer edge of the solder coincides with the outer edge of the submount that is at most 200 μm in the device disclosed by Yoneda as an engineering design choice of a particular measurement for the concave portion and corresponding adjacent submount edge that would achieve Yoneda’s purpose for the concave portion with a reasonable expectation of success (e.g., about a third of the length of the submount side, or less, such as shown in Yoneda, Figure 4C).
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christina Leung at telephone number (571) 272-3023. If attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Patricia Engle can be reached at (571) 272-6660.
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/CHRISTINA Y. LEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3991
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