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 § 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
CN1400957
CN1421061
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goforth et al, CN1400957 in view of Chu et al, CN1421061.
Regarding claims 1, 9, and 17, Goforth et al disclose a phosphorus silicate fibers suitable for extended band amplification comprising: an erbium doped fiber comprises a fiber core, and the fiber core may comprise, by weight percentage: 65-92% of SiO2 and 0.2-0.4% of Er2O3 (which is 0.17-0.35wt% if being converted into erbium ions), P2O5 > 8% (see claim 7, which may be greater than 20%, and is greater than 8.2wt % if being converted into phosphorus ions), 0.0%sAhO3 < 0.3%, in addition, the erbium doped fiber may further comprise 0.5-20% of La serving as an Er ion de-clustering agent and 0.5-20% of Sb serving as a gain flattening agent discloses (claims 1-20, description, page 3, line 12 to page 7, line 5, and figures 1 to 4).
Goforth et al fail to disclose a range of 3wt% to 6wt% of aluminum ions, 1wt% to 5wt% of antimony ions, and greater than 60wt% of silicon ions. However, Goforth et al disclose that SiO2 serves as the main component of the fiber core and the content of antimony ion is 0.5-20wt%, a person skilled in the art would have been able to select a suitable base material from existing fiber core materials, for example, a silicon material having a silicon ion content of greater than 60wt%, and select, in a specified range, an erbium doped fiber having an antimony ion content of, for example, 1-5 wt%, so as to obtain the desired gain performance.
Chu et al disclose (description, page 5, line 24 to page 6, line 23) that an optical gain fiber comprises a fiber core, and the fiber core may comprise erbium (e.g. erbium oxide), aluminum oxide, silicon oxide and antimony oxide; as an example, the oxides of aluminum are in an amount of from about 6 weight percent to about 20 weight percent of the total weight of the oxides of aluminum, erbium, antimony, and silicon, and all aluminum is present in the form of Al 203 (which is 3.2-10.6wt% if being converted into aluminum ions).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for an ordinary artisan to arrive at the technical solution of the invention by combining the teaching of Goforth et al and Chu et al due to the fact they represent conventional means in the art.
Regarding claims 2-3, 10-11, the mass percentage of the elements can be selected by an ordinary person skilled in the art from the combined teachings of Goforth et al and Chu et al and conventional configurations in the art, and is a conventional design in the art.
Regarding claims 4-5, 12-13, Goforth et al discloses Er2O3, AhO3, P2O5, and the fiber core can further comprise Ga, Ge, F, Gd. In addition, lanthanum oxide and antimony trioxide are common forms of La and Sb, and boron and cerium are common co-doped materials of an active fiber core, which therefore obvious.
Regarding claims 6-8, 14-16, are respectively conventional designs for erbium doped fibers for meeting specific customer requirements, which therefore obvious.
Regarding claims 17-20, since the structural limitations are as recited, the method steps are obtained, and therefore, obvious.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Pastouret et al, US Pub. 2010/118388, disclose an amplifying optical fiber and a method for manufacturing. Myers et al, US Pub. 2002/0173417, disclose high gain short length optical amplifiers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL ST CYR whose telephone number is (571)272-2407. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 8:00-8:00.
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DANIEL ST CYR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/DANIEL ST CYR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876