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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Information disclosure statement field 1/17/2024 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent No 8,725,001 B2 to Fini et al. (hereinafter “Fini”).
Regarding claim 1, Fini discloses an optical transmission device being connected to an optical cable including a first multicore fiber (220a, etc. in Fig. 7) including a plurality of cores (222 in Fig. 7), the optical transmission device comprising: an optical processor including: a multicore fiber interface (e.g. 240 in Fig. 7) including a second multicore fiber (the details of 240 is shown in Fig. 8. The tapered body 248 is actually described as multicore fiber- see also 182 in Fig. 4, which described the implementation of tapered body in detail. See column 5, line 11) including a plurality of cores being able to be fusion-spliced to an end portion of the first multicore fiber (column 5, line 23); and at least one optical component (e.g. any of 242, 244, 246, 262, 264, 266 can be considered “optical component”) being connected to the multicore fiber interface and being configured to execute predetermined processing on each piece of light being coupled to the plurality of cores of the multicore fiber interface.
Regarding claim 8, Fini discloses wherein the optical component includes a fan-in/ fan-out (FIFO) (e.g. 260 in Fig. 7) and an optical function device being optically coupled to each core of the FIFO (e.g. 264 or 266 as shown in Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 9, Fini discloses an optical cable system comprising an optical transmission device being connected to an optical cable including a first multicore fiber (any one of 220a…220n in Fig. 7) including a plurality of cores (222 in Fig. 7), the optical transmission device comprising: an optical processor including: a multicore fiber interface (e.g. 240 in Fig. 7) including a second multicore fiber (the details of 240 is shown in Fig. 8. The tapered body 248 is actually described as multicore fiber- see also 182 in Fig. 4, which described the implementation of tapered body in detail. See column 5, line 11) including a plurality of cores being able to be fusion-spliced to an end portion of the first multicore fiber (column 5, line 23); and at least one optical component (e.g. any of 242, 244, 246, 262, 264, 266 can be considered “optical component”) being connected to the multicore fiber interface and being configured to execute predetermined processing on each piece of light being coupled to the plurality of cores of the multicore fiber interface; and a plurality of termination stations (224 in Fig. 7) being connected to the optical transmission device via the optical cables different from one another (220n in Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 10, Fini discloses wherein the optical transmission device includes a function of splitting the optical cable (the “splitting” function is described in reference to Fig. 8; column 7, lines 56-65); the optical cables include a multicore fiber including cores matching in number with cores split by the optical transmission device (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 11, Fini discloses a method of manufacturing an optical transmission device being connectable to a first multicore fiber (220a, etc. in Fig. 7) that is provided to an optical cable and includes a plurality of cores, the method comprising: fusion-splicing an optical processor to the optical cable at one end of the multicore fiber interface (column 5, line 23), the optical processor including: a multicore fiber interface (e.g. 240 in Fig. 7) including a second multicore fiber (the details of 240 is shown in Fig. 8. The tapered body 248 is actually described as multicore fiber- see also 182 in Fig. 4, which described the implementation of tapered body in detail. See column 5, line 11) including a plurality of cores being connectable to an end portion of the first multicore fiber; and at least one optical component (e.g. any of 242, 244, 246, 262, 264, 266 can be considered “optical component”) being connected to another end of the multicore fiber interface and being configured to execute predetermined processing on each piece of light coupled to the plurality of cores of the multicore fiber interface.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fini.
Fini discloses an optical transmission device according to claim 1 as already discussed above. Although Fini discloses that the optical processor includes plurality of optical components (i.e. any of 242, 244, 246, 262, 264, 266 can be considered “optical component” as already discussed above), it does not explicitly disclose that they are connected to one another via the multicore fiber interface as claimed in claim 2, or includes a second multicore fiber interface with the optical component being an MxN optical matrix switch as claimed in claim 3. One the other hand, the use of plurality of multicore fiber interfaces or the use of an MxN optical matrix switch is well known and common in the art. Such multiple fiber interfaces or optical matrix switches are advantageously used in the art to route and process large bandwidth of data necessary in robust optical communications systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of Fini to have the optical processor connected to one another via the multicore fiber interface as claimed in claim 2, or includes a second multicore fiber interface with the optical component being an MxN optical matrix switch as claimed in claim 3 of the present application.
Claim(s) 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fini in view of JP H0219609 A (hereinafter “JP’609”).
Fini discloses an optical transmission device according to claim 1 as discussed above. However, it does not explicitly disclose the optical component including a third and a fourth multicore fiber and a rotator that controls the rotation amount of the fourth multicore fiber about the center axis, in the manner claimed in the present application.
On the other hand, such a rotary joint is known in the art. JP’609 discloses a rotary joint comprising multicore optical fibers (1, 2 in Fig. 1) coupled via a rotator (21 in Fig. 2). The rotator in JP’609 controls the rotation amount of the multicore fibers about the central axis (Figs. 3-6; page 2 of the English translation of the JP’609). In addition, by controlling the rotational amount of the fibers, the rotator inherently and necessarily controls the connection relationship and the connection loss of the fibers as claimed in claims 5-6 of the present application. Regarding claim 7, JP’609 discloses the plurality of cores of the third and fourth multicore fiber being arranged at an equal interval on a circle having the center axis (Fig. 1-3).
One of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize such a rotary joint arrangement as advantageous and desirable, since it would allow for simple and effective active optical routing and switching of transmitted signals without the need for complex and bulky switching mechanisms. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of Fini to have the optical component including a third and a fourth multicore fiber and a rotator that controls the rotation amount of the fourth multicore fiber about the center axis, in the manner claimed in the present application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUNG H PAK whose telephone number is (571)272-2353. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7AM- 5PM.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SUNG H PAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874