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 .
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.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4-7, 9, 10, and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0115459 (“KAMO”) in view of US 2001/0013641 (“ONODERA”).
Regarding claim 1, KAMO teaches an integrated optical module (1) comprising: a housing (4) including a mounting surface (on which elements 5 and 9 are mounted), and a first side wall and a second side wall that are continuous from the mounting surface and face each other (FIG. 1); a plurality of light emitting elements (7a-7d) to emit optical signals each having a different wavelength (par. [0023]); a loading part (5) on which the plurality of light emitting elements are loaded; and an optical multiplexer (9) to multiplex the optical signals emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements, wherein the mounting surface of the housing includes a first bonding region to which a first bonding material (51e; pars. [0018], [0028], [0037]; FIG. 6) for bonding the mounting surface of the housing and the loading part is to be applied, and a second bonding region to which a second bonding material (8a) for bonding the mounting surface of the housing and the optical multiplexer is to be applied (FIGs. 3, 4, 6; pars. [0019], [0020], [0032], [0035], [0036]), a bonding surface of the optical multiplexer to be bonded to the mounting surface has a first side parallel to a direction intersecting with but not orthogonal to an incident direction of the plurality of optical signals to the optical multiplexer (FIG. 1), a bonding surface of the loading part to be bonded to the mounting surface has a second side facing the first side (FIG. 1), the loading part and the optical multiplexer are arranged between the first side wall and the second side wall such that the respective bonding surfaces do not overlap in a direction in which the first side wall and the second side wall face each other (FIG. 1), and the first side is provided such that a distance between the first side and the second side along a direction parallel to the incident direction increases in advancement along the first side from a first side wall side toward a second side wall side (FIG. 1),
KAMO does not teach a bonding material outflow blocking part provided on the mounting surface of the housing between the first bonding region and the second bonding region to block bonding material outflow; the bonding material outflow blocking part including a portion extending in a direction intersecting with but not orthogonal to the incident direction, and the portion provided such that a distance between the portion and the bonding surface of the loading part along a direction parallel to the incident direction increases in advancement along the extending direction of the portion from the first side wall side to the second side wall side. ONODERA teaches a bonding material outflow blocking part (5) provided on a mounting surface of a housing between bonding regions to block bonding material outflow (FIG. 1; par. [0049]); the bonding material outflow blocking part including a portion extending in a direction intersecting with but not orthogonal to an incident direction (FIG. 1). Furthermore, incorporation of the bonding material outflow blocking part of ONODERA in the module of KAMO would result in the portion being provided such that a distance between the portion and the bonding surface of a loading part along a direction parallel to the incident direction would increase in advancement along the extending direction of the portion from the first side wall side to the second side wall side (KAMO, FIG. 1) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the module of KAMO with the bonding material outflow blocking part of ONODERA. The motivation would have been to prevent the outflow of excessive adhesive.
Regarding claim 2, ONODERA teaches that the bonding material outflow blocking part is provided along a direction parallel to the first side (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 4, ONODERA teaches that the bonding material outflow blocking part includes the other portion that is continuous with the portion and is bent and extends in a direction different from that of the portion (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 5, ONODERA teaches that the other portion is parallel to the second side (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 6, ONODERA teaches that the bonding material outflow blocking part includes the other portion provided separately from the portion (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 7, ONODERA teaches that the other portion extends parallel to the second side (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 9, ONODERA teaches that the bonding material outflow blocking part is provided away from the first side wall and the second side wall (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 10, KAMO teaches an integrated optical module (1) comprising: a housing (4) including a mounting surface (on which elements 5 and 9 are mounted); a plurality of light emitting elements (6a-6d) to emit optical signals each having a different wavelength
(par. [0023]); a loading part (5) on which the plurality of light emitting elements are loaded; and an optical multiplexer (9) to multiplex the optical signals emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements, wherein the mounting surface of the housing includes a first bonding region to which a first bonding material (51e; pars. [0018], [0028], [0037]; FIG. 6) for bonding the mounting surface of the housing and the loading part is to be applied, and a second bonding region to which a second bonding material (8a) for bonding the mounting surface of the housing and the optical multiplexer is to be applied (FIGs. 3, 4, 6; pars. [0019], [0020], [0032], [0035], [0036]), a bonding surface of the optical multiplexer to be bonded to the mounting surface has a first side parallel to a direction intersecting with but not orthogonal to an incident direction of the plurality of optical signals to the optical multiplexer (FIG. 1), and a bonding surface of the loading part to be bonded to the mounting surface has a second side facing the first side (FIG. 1).
KAMO does not teach a bonding material outflow blocking part provided on a mounting surface of the housing between the first bonding region and the second bonding region to block bonding material outflow, the bonding material outflow blocking part including a first portion extending along a direction parallel to the second side, and a second portion provided separately from the first portion and extending along a same direction as the first portion. ONODERA teaches a bonding material outflow blocking part (5) provided on a mounting surface of the housing between bonding regions to block bonding material outflow (FIG. 1; par. [0049]), the bonding material outflow blocking part including a first portion extending along a direction parallel to the second side, and a second portion provided separately from the first portion and extending along a same direction as the first portion (FIG. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the module of KAMO with the bonding material outflow blocking part of ONODERA. The motivation would have been to prevent the outflow of excessive adhesive.
Regarding claim 12, KAMO teaches that the housing includes a first side wall and a second side wall that are each continuous from the mounting surface and face each other the loading part and the optical multiplexer are arranged between the first side wall and the second side wall such that the respective bonding surfaces do not overlap in a direction in which the first side wall and the second side wall face each other, and the first portion and the second portion are provided away from the first side wall and the second side wall (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 13, KAMO teaches that the optical multiplexer comprises a plurality of filters (10a-10d); a mirror (11); and a holder (central region of element 9 between filters 10 and mirror 11) to fix the plurality of filters and the mirror, wherein the plurality of filters and the mirror multiplex the plurality of optical signals (pars. [0023], [0027], [0028]).
Regarding claim 14, KAMO teaches that the loading part includes a temperature adjusting element (Peltier element; pars. [0018], [0028]).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KAMO in view of ONODERA as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of JP 2013-123016 (“YAMAMOTO”).
KAMO in view of ONODERA renders obvious the limitations of base claim 1. KAMO does not teach that the bonding material outflow blocking part is curved. YAMAMOTO teaches a curved bonding material outflow blocking part (par. [0088]; FIG. 10). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the module of KAMO with the curved bonding material outflow blocking part of YAMAMOTO. The motivation would have been to prevent the outflow of excessive adhesive.
Claims 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KAMO in view of ONODERA as applied to claims 1 and 10 above, and further in view of JP 2009-218280 (“ENDO”).
KAMO in view of ONODERA renders obvious the limitations of the respective base claims. KAMO does not teach that the bonding material outflow blocking part is a laser marking. ENDO teaches a bonding material outflow blocking part that is a laser marking (par. [0014]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the module of KAMO with the laser marking of ENDO. The motivation would have been to prevent the outflow of excessive adhesive.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY M BLEVINS whose telephone number is (571)272-8581. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
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/JERRY M BLEVINS/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874