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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on April 29, 2025 have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form PTO-1449).
Drawings
Fourteen (14) sheets of drawings were filed on November 30, 2023.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description:
211 in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6;
CA1 in Figure 9;
CA2 in Figure 9;
110a in Figure 9;
ED in Figure 11;
330a, 330b, 330n in Figure 14; and
71 in Figure 15.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Inventorship
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 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.
Claims 1-5 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nowell et al. (US 2022/0225537 A1), hereafter Nowell, in view of Krichevsky et al. (US 2022/0404546 A1), hereafter Krichevsky.
Regarding claims 1 and 2; Nowell discloses an optical module (see Figures 2, 11A, 11B) comprising:
a substrate (substrate 20, 110; see Figures 2, 11A, and 11B);
an optical component (optical components/photonics chip 23, 116) positioned on the substrate (20; 110) and converting an electrical signal into an optical signal or converting an optical into an electrical signal (optical components includes optical engine, laser, light source; see paragraph 38);
an electronic component (electronic component 21, 103) driving the optical component (ASIC, network processing unit (NPU), IC, chip, die, processor; see paragraphs 38 and 40);
an optical fiber support (Fiber array unit 24, ) fixing an optical fiber (26; see annotated Figure 11A) positioned away from the optical component (23, 116);
a container (immersion cooling enclosure 22, housing including walls 111a, 111b, 111c) accommodating the optical component (23, 116), the electronic component (21, 103), and the optical fiber (26; see annotated Figure 11A below) and isolated from the outside; and
coolant (cool fluid entering enclosure 22 through ingress line 27b; see paragraph 39 and Figure 2; liquid 114) filled in the container (enclosure 22, housing with walls 111a, 111b, 111c), wherein the electronic component (21, 103), and the optical component (23, 116) contact the coolant;
wherein the optical fiber support contacts the coolant at one side thereof.
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Nowell does not disclose an optical wire optically connecting the optical component (23, 116) and one end of the optical fiber (26; see annotated Figure 11A), wherein the optical wire contacts the coolant. Nowell does not teach the specifics of the connection between the optical component (23, 116) and the array of optical fibers (26).
Krichevsky et al. teaches that an optical components (PIC dies 102 in Figures 1A-1F; PIC die including laser array 907 and waveguides 117a or photodiodes 908 and waveguides 117b in Figure 9) maybe be coupled to a fiber array (101, 101a, 101b) via optical wires (113, 113a, 113b) for the purpose of providing an optical interconnection in the form of the optical wire to minimize optical loss and provide for efficient manufacturing by interconnecting optical components to separately formed fiber array units and other chips with the optical wires (see paragraph 1).
Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to interconnect the optical components of Nowell with the fiber array units by providing optical wires there-between as suggested by the teachings of Krichevsky et al. to allow for additional space between the optical components and fiber array units, thereby allowing for easier assembly and a lower profile device, as well as positioning flexibility while having a low loss interconnection, wherein the optical wires are positioned within the enclosure/housing of Nowell and therefor contact the coolant therein.
Regarding claim 3; Nowell further teaches that an optical module (see Figure 1) may comprise a housing (module 10) accommodating the immersion cooling enclosure (12). Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to further provide a second housing (module housing) accommodating the substrate (20); and a first housing (22) covering the substrate (20), the first housing being coupled to the substrate to form the container (immersion cooling enclosure 22).
Regarding claim 4; Nowell teaches that the first housing (enclosure 22, enclosure including walls 111a, 111b, 111c) comprises a partition (walls 111b) protruding towards the substrate (110) and coupled to the upper surface of the substrate (110; coupling via intervening structure) to form the container (enclosure).
Regarding claim 5; Nowell teaches that a connection layer (123a) is provided between the partition (sidewalls 111b) and the substrate (110), the adhesive layer being positioned on the bottom wall (111a) interconnecting the sidewalls (111b). The examiner takes Official notice that PCB connection layers may include adhesives as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide an adhesive layer formed between the partition and the substrate.
Regarding claim 10; the container disclosed by Nowell inherently comprises a structure withstanding changes in volume due to thermal expansion or contraction inside the container at least to some extent.
Regarding claim 11; Nowell teaches that the container is connected to a channel (27b/28b and 116/117) through which the coolant circulates outside the container.
Regarding claim 12; The examiner takes Official notice that it’s known in the art to provide heat radiation fins and/or material between components within a housing and a housing to dissipate heat from the components to outside of the housing for the purpose of preventing components from overheating. Before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art, would have found it obvious to provide a heat conductive component between the container and the housing as an additional means for removing unwanted heat from the components, wherein the container physically contacts a portion of the housing to dissipate the heat of the coolant to the outside.
Regarding claim 13; as applied to claim 1 above Nowell and Krichevsky (see the rejection of claim 1 above) teach and/or suggest discloses an optical modules comprises: a substrate; and an optical component positioned on the substrate and converting an electrical signal into an optical signal or converting an optical into an electrical signal; an electronic component driving the optical component; an optical fiber support fixing an optical fiber positioned away from the optical component; an optical wire optically connecting the optical component and one end of the optical fiber; a container accommodating the optical component, the electronic component, and the optical fiber and isolated from the outside; and coolant filled in the container, wherein the electronic component, the optical component, and the optical wire contact the coolant.
Nowell teaches that the embodiments of the invention operate in the context of data communications networks that include multiple network devices in communication via nodes to facilitate passage of data (see paragraph 29). Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to provide a plurality of the optical modules suggested by the teachings of Nowell and Krichevsky, wherein the modules are interconnected by optical fibers for the purpose of transmitting data via optical signals there-between, since Nowell teaches that the device is configured for insertion into communications networks (see paragraphs 2, 21, and 29).
Regarding claim 14; Nowell further teaches that an optical module (see Figure 1) may comprise a housing (module 10) accommodating the immersion cooling enclosure (12). Thus, before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to further provide a second housing (module housing) accommodating the substrate (20); and a first housing (22) covering the substrate (20), the first housing being coupled to the substrate to form the container (immersion cooling enclosure 22).
Regarding claim 15; Nowell teaches that the first housing (enclosure 22, enclosure including walls 111a, 111b, 111c) comprises a partition (walls 111b) protruding towards the substrate (110) and coupled to the upper surface of the substrate (110; coupling via intervening structure) to form the container (enclosure).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record, which is the most relevant prior art known, does not disclose or render obvious:
The optical module defined by claim 6, wherein the partition comprises a first partition coupled to the substrate and a second partition coupled to the upper surface of the optical fiber support in combination with all of the limitations of base claim 1 and intervening claims 3 and 4; or
The optical module defined by claim 7, further comprising a plurality of heat dissipation patterns arranged within the container and in contact with the coolant.
Claims 8 and 9 depend from claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Okada et al. (US 6,065,881) discloses optical sires (20, 40; see Figures 7 and 8; see the entire disclosure).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE R CONNELLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.
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, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at 571-272-2397. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHELLE R CONNELLY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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