cDETAILED 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
Applicant's election with traverse of Species A in the reply filed on 3/25/26 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the grounds that a search for Species A would yield search results for Species B and Species C. This is not found persuasive because Species B and Species C have different designs so a search for Species A would yield results for Species A and the search for Species B-C would require queries that are specific for the designs of these species, not for the design of Species A.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 9-18 and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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 1-8 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mochizuki et al (WO 2018/008154 A1) and the corresponding machine translation.
Mochizuki teaches:
1. A multiplexer and demultiplexer (MDM) (50, 100, 110, Figs. 1, 8, 9), comprising:
a plurality of filters (21-23) arranged along a propagation direction of an optical signal (dotted lines), each one of the plurality of filters (21-23) having a thin-film filter (TFF) (211, 221, 231) supported by a substrate (210, 220, 230), and
wherein the plurality of filters (21) are arranged so that each filter of the plurality of filters (21) induces an opposite warpage of the optical signal traversing along the propagation direction than an immediately preceding filter of the plurality of filters (the filters are alternating concave convex shaped – see Figs. 1, 8 and 9, page 4 paragraphs 3-4 of the translation).
2. The MDM of claim 1, wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged so that the TFFs (211, 221, 231) have alternating concave and convex curvatures relative to the propagation direction (see Figs. 1, 8, 9).
3. The MDM of claim 1, wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged so that adjacent filters of the plurality of filters have opposite radius of curvature (concave – convex – concave; see Figs. 1, 8, 9).
4. The MDM of claim 1, further comprising:
a filter block (1), and
wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged along the propagation direction so that the TFF (211, 231) of every other filter of the plurality of filters connects to the filter block (1) (see Figs. 1, 8, 9).
5. The MDM of claim 1, further comprising:
a filter block (1), and
wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged along the propagation direction so that the substrate (220) of every other filter of the plurality of filters connects to the filter block (1) (see Figs. 1, 8, 9).
6. The MDM of claim 1, wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged so that each one of the plurality of filters (21-23) is flipped vertically with respect to any filter of the plurality of filters positioned adjacent thereto (see Figs. 1, 8, 9).
7. The MDM of claim 1, wherein spectral beams that pass through respective ones of the plurality of filters (21, 22; see Figs. 2-3) produce a first pitch (Fig. 2) and a second pitch (Fig. 3), the first pitch and second pitch are different from one another and alternate with one another along the propagation direction (see the ray diagram of Fig. 2 verse Fig. 3; one pitch has converging and overlapping beams – Fig. 2; while one pitch has diverging beams – Fig. 3).
8. The MDM of claim 1, wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged so that the TFFs of adjacent filters of the plurality of filters (211, 221, 231) are vertically offset from one another (see Figs. 1, 8, 9; the filters are vertically flipped, which results in a vertical offset).
19. A multiplexer and demultiplexer (MDM) (50, 100, 110, Figs. 1, 8, 9), comprising:
a plurality of filters (21-23) arranged along a propagation direction, each one of the plurality of filters (21-23) having a thin-film filter (TFF) (211, 221, 231) supported by a substrate (210, 220, 230), and
wherein the plurality of filters (21-23) are arranged so that the TFFs (211, 221, 231) have alternating concave and convex curvatures along the propagation direction (see Figs. 1, 8, 9).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Li et al (US 11668947 B2) teaches an MDM with substrates having alternating concave and convex shapes for propagating a signal through an optical block.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LEPISTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1946. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
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 on 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 an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RYAN A LEPISTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights