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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/17/26. Examiner acknowledges claims 1-11 as generic to the three species indicated in the restriction requirement of 06/17/26.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishii (Patent No.: US 2018/0254831 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ishii teaches An optical module, comprising: an upper shell part (reference numeral 7 in Figure 3); a circuit board (reference numeral 13, 15, 16 in Figure 3) formed, on a surface thereof, with a base mounting portion (e.g. the circuit board edge between reference numerals 15a in Figure 15) ; a base (reference numeral 30, 40 in Figure 3) secured to the surface of the circuit board through the base mounting portion (e.g. as illustrated in Figure 20), an upper surface of the base being formed with a protrusion protruded towards the upper shell part and in thermal connection with the upper shell part (e.g. any one of the numerous protrusions illustrated in Figures 5, 6 brought into contact “with the inner surface of the upper housing” via “a heat dissipating member of a gel type” as in paragraph [0052]); a light reception component (reference numeral F(F2), 10 in Figure 9) located on an upper surface of the base and at a side of the protrusion (e.g. as illustrated in Figures 18-20), to receive multi-path optical signals; and a light emission component (reference numeral F(F2), 9 in Figure 9) located on a lower surface of the base (reference numeral F, 40, 42, 46 in Figure 19), to emit multi- path optical signals.
Regarding claim 7, Ishii teaches The optical module according to claim 1, wherein the base comprises: a first recess (reference numeral 35 in Figure 6; reference numeral 41, 46 in Figure 8) located on the lower surface of the base and is concave upwards relative to the base; a semiconductor refrigerator (e.g. “thermoelectric cooler (TEC)” as in paragraph [0051]) is disposed in the first recess, a hot side of the semiconductor refrigerator being provided with power supply wires (reference numeral 11b in Figure 10) ; and an upper surface of the circuit board is provided with conductive pins (e.g. terminals at the ends of reference numeral 14a as illustrated in Figure 10) which are connected to the power supply wires; and a third notch is formed on one side of the base (e.g. any one of the side notches of base illustrated in Figures 6-8) , the third notch being communicated with the first recess.
Regarding claim 8, Ishii teaches The optical module according to claim 1, wherein the light reception component comprises: a first optical collimator (e.g. “collimating lens” as in paragraph [0069]; reference numeral 10d, 10f, and 10h in Figure 11b) ; a first demultiplexer (reference numeral 10 in Figure 11b) , wherein the first optical collimator and the first demultiplexer are located on the upper surface of the base and at one side of the protrusion (reference numeral 10 in Figure 20) ; a second optical collimator (e.g. “collimating lens” as in paragraph [0069]; reference numeral 10d, 10f, and 10h in Figure 11b); and a second demultiplexer (reference numeral 9 in Figure 11b), wherein the second optical collimator and the second demultiplexer are located on the upper surface of the base and at the other side of the protrusion (reference numeral 9 in Figure 20).
Regarding claim 9, Ishii teaches The optical module according to claim 8, further comprising a first lens component (e.g. “collimating lens” as in paragraph [0069]; reference numeral 10d, 10f, and 10h in Figure 11b), wherein one end of the protrusion is protruded from a sidewall of the base (reference numeral 31 in Figure 19, 22) , and the first lens component is located at one side of the protrusion (e.g. as illustrated in Figure 19, 20).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6 and 10-16 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: Of the prior art noted by examiner in the attached PTO-892, the most relevant references, e.g. US 20200081205 A1, US 20190312645 A1, US 20180254831 A1, and US 9236945 B2, fail to teach, either alone or in combination, the variety of structures and surfaces recited in the dependent claims objected to as reciting allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AGUSTIN BELLO whose telephone number is (571)272-3026. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Payne can be reached at (571)272-3024. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AGUSTIN BELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
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