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 information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04 March 2024 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement; please see attached forms PTO-1449.
Drawings
The drawings submitted have been reviewed and determined to facilitate understanding of the invention. The drawings are accepted as submitted.
Claim Objections
Claim 60 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 60 refers to “the OPA.” This appears to be a reference to the optical phased array of Claims 53 and shall be construed in such manner for examination purposes.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 55 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) 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.
The term “narrow” in Claim 55 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “narrow” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Therefore, it is not possible to determine if a given pitch anticipates the claim limitation, rendering it indefinite.
For examination purposes, a pitch at the output end narrower than any other portion of the optical phased array shall be considered to anticipate the claim limitation directed to a “narrow pitch.”
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 53-59 and 71-73 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by “Fully integrated hybrid silicon two dimensional beam scanner” by Hulme et al. (hereinafter “NPL1”), cited in Applicant’s IDS.
Regarding Claim 53, NPL1 describes a chip integrated optical phased array (see Figs 1 and 7, Pg 5863 Par 3), comprising:
phase shifter array (“Phase Modulators” of Fig 1) having N input light channels and configured for tuning the phase of the N input light channels;
a beam splitter (“2x32 Splitter” of Fig 1) configured for splitting light from a light source (“Tunable Laser” of Fig 1) into the N input channels of the phase shifter array;
at least one waveguide array (shown in Fig 1, see Pg 5864. Par 6) configured for squeezing the phase tuned N light channels to at least one output end, such that the N light channels interfere to form a first plane wave at the output end; and
an emitter (“Grating Array” of Fig 1, see Pg 5863 Pas 2) configured for emitting light out of the chip with a predefined field of view (FOV) and/or with a predefined beam divergence.
Regarding Claim 54, NPL1 describes the emitter as a plane emitting surface configured for transforming the first plane wave to light emittance out of the chip with a predefined field of view (FOV) and/or with a predefined beam divergence (see Pg 5863 Par 2, Pg 5864 Par 5-6).
Regarding Claim 55, NPL1 describes the at least one output end having a narrow pitch, as construed herein (see Fig 1).
Regarding Claim 56, NPL1 describes the at least one output end having a pitch of less than one wavelength of the light (see Pg 5865 Par 2).
Regarding Claim 57, NPL1 describes the number of channels N of the phase array is at least 4, or at least 8, or at least 32 (see Fig 1).
Regarding Claim 58, NPL1 describes a coupler (connecting wave structures shown in Fig 1) for coupling light from a light source (“Tunable Laser”) into the phase shifter array through a power splitter, and wherein the coupler is integrated in the chip (see Figs 1 and 7)
Regarding Claim 59, NPL1 describes the wavelength of the light is between 1480 nm and 1680 nm (see Pg 5865, Par 2).
Claim 71 describes a method substantially embodied by the above-discussed device of Claim 53. Therefore, Claim 71 is rejected in view of NPL1 for substantially the same reasoning.
Regarding Claim 72, NPL1 describes the wavelength of the input light is adjusted to obtain a 2D beam (see Pg 5862 Par 2-Pg 5863 Par 1).
Regarding Claim 73, NPL1 describes the claimed chip integrated optical phased array, which is the same as the array set forth in Claim 1 (see above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 60-70 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:
Claim 60 describes a free propagation region positioned between the output end of the waveguide array and the emitting surface.
Claim 61 describes the input channels of the phase shifter array as folded waveguides having variable widths.
Claim 62 describes channels in the waveguide array as waveguide superlattices
Claims 63-70 describe a beam expander configured to expand the first plane wave to a second expanded plane wave, and wherein the emitter is further configured for transforming the second expanded wave to light emittance with a predefined beam divergence.
These limitations represent subject matter not described or reasonably suggested, in conjunction with the further limitations of the present claims, by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
The prior art cited in the attached form PTO-892 are made of record and considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art describes optical beam steering devices including waveguides and/or phase shifters.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY RAHLL whose telephone number is (571)272-2356. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm.
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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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/JERRY RAHLL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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