DETAILED ACTION
This is the first office action on the merits. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
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 4/23/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-4, 7-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takushima, US 20140022627 A1 (“Takushima”) in view of Tanaka et al., US 20200284988 A1 (“Tanaka”).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Takushima discloses A multi-core fiber optical amplifier (Fig. 7, optical fiber amplifier 6, Paragraph [0058]) and An optical amplification method used in a multi-core fiber optical amplifier comprising:
a multi-core excitation fiber configured to include a first core and a second core (Fig. 4A, multicore optical fiber 10, cores 12 and 13, Paragraph [0044]); and
[…], wherein
signal light input to an one end of the first core is output from an other end of the first core (Fig. 4A, I/O 21, core 12 on end face 10A to core 12 on end face 10B, Paragraph [0045]; See also: Paragraph [0036]),
the signal light output from the other end of the first core is input to an one end of the second core (Fig. 4A, core 12 on end face 10B to core 13 on end face 10A, Paragraph [0045]), and
the signal light input to the one end of the second core is output from an other end of the second core (Fig. 4A, core 13 on end face 10B, Paragraph [0045]).
Takushima does not teach: a clad excitation circuit configured to inject excitation light into a clad of the multi-core excitation fiber.
However, Tanaka teaches an optical connection structure between a multi-core fiber and a fiber which transmits excitation light (Fig. 11, connection structure 1I, first spatial multiplex transmission line 11, the second spatial multiplex transmission line 12, Paragraph [0104]). The connection structure comprises a filter and a lens that injects the excitation light into the inner cladding of the fiber (Fig. 11, lens 58, filter 4, pump light S2, coupled light S3, inner cladding 44a, Paragraph [0109]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have replaced the Takushima’s I/O fiber which inputs excitation light with Tanaka’s connection structure which injects excitation light into the fiber’s cladding. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to execute amplification with a high excitation power using an inexpensive configuration, as suggested by Tanaka (Paragraph [0111]).
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 1 and The optical amplification method according to claim 14, wherein
the first core and the second core are equidistantly spaced on a circumference around a center of an end face of the multi-core excitation fiber (Takushima, Fig. 4A, cores 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Paragraph [0051]), and
the other end of the first core is optically coupled to the one end of the second core by maintaining an other end of the multi-core excitation fiber in a state of being rotated by a predefined angle relative to an one end of the multi-core excitation fiber (Takushima, Fig. 4A, end faces 10A, 10B, Paragraph [0039]).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 1 and The optical amplification method according to claim 14, wherein
the multi-core excitation fiber includes a third core (Takushima, Fig. 4A, cores 14, Paragraph [0045]),
the signal light output from the other end of the second core is input to an one end of the third core (Takushima, Fig. 4A, core 13 on end face 10B to core 14 on end face 10A, Paragraph [0045]), and
the signal light input to the one end of the third core is output from an other end of the third core (Takushima, Fig. 4A, core 14 on end face 10B, Paragraph [0045]).
Regarding claim 4, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 2 and , wherein
the multi-core excitation fiber includes a third core (Takushima, Fig. 4A, cores 14, Paragraph [0045]),
the signal light output from the other end of the second core is input to an one end of the third core (Takushima, Fig. 4A, core 13 on end face 10B to core 14 on end face 10A, Paragraph [0045]), and
the signal light input to the one end of the third core is output from an other end of the third core (Takushima, Fig. 4A, core 14 on end face 10B, Paragraph [0045]).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 1 and The optical amplification method according to claim 14.
Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, does not teach: wherein optical coupling is performed between the other end of the first core and the one end of the second core by optical collimators facing each other.
However, Tanaka teaches an optical connection structure between a two ends of a multi-core fiber and a fiber which transmits excitation light (Fig. 11, connection structure 1I, first spatial multiplex transmission line 11, the second spatial multiplex transmission line 12, Paragraph [0104]). The connection structure that couples the ends of the multi-core fiber comprises two collimation lenses and a filter that functions to transmit signal light and reflect excitation light (Fig. 11, lenses 57 and 58, filter 4, Paragraph [0104], [0109]-[0110]; See also Paragraph [0061]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have replaced the Takushima’s fiber end face coupling Tanaka’s connection structure. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to execute amplification with a high excitation power using an inexpensive configuration, as suggested by Tanaka (Paragraph [0111]).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 7, and The optical amplification method according to claim 18, further comprising,
between the optical collimators facing each other, a mirror configured to couple the excitation light to the first core by reflecting the signal light (Tanaka, Fig. 11, filter 4, Paragraph [0104]).
Regarding claims 9 and 20, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 8, and The optical amplification method according to claim 19, wherein
the mirror couples the excitation light to the first core by reflecting the excitation light (Tanaka, Fig. 11, filter 4, Paragraph [0104]).
Regarding claim 10, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 2.
Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses does not teach: wherein optical coupling is performed between the other end of the first core and the one end of the second core by optical collimators facing each other.
However, Tanaka teaches an optical connection structure between a two ends of a multi-core fiber and a fiber which transmits excitation light (Fig. 11, connection structure 1I, first spatial multiplex transmission line 11, the second spatial multiplex transmission line 12, Paragraph [0104]). The connection structure that couples the ends of the multi-core fiber comprises two collimation lenses and a filter that transmits signal light and reflects excitation light (Fig. 11, lenses 57 and 58, filter 4, Paragraph [0104], [0109]-[0110]; See also Paragraph [0061]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have replaced the Takushima’s fiber end face coupling Tanaka’s connection structure. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to execute amplification with a high excitation power using an inexpensive configuration, as suggested by Tanaka (Paragraph [0111]).
Regarding claim 11, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 8, wherein
the clad excitation circuit includes a wavelength filter configured to be placed between the optical collimators facing each other and guide the excitation light input from outside the multi-core excitation fiber to a clad of the multi-core excitation fiber (Tanaka, Fig. 11, filter 4, Paragraph [0110]).
Regarding claim 12, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 11, wherein
the wavelength filter causes the signal light to propagate from the other end of the first core to the one end of the second core by transmitting light at a wavelength of the signal light (Tanaka, Fig. 11, filter 4, Paragraph [0110]).
Regarding claim 13, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 11, wherein
the wavelength filter is formed in a part of the mirror (Tanaka, Fig. 11, filter 4, Paragraph [0104], [0110]).
Claims 5-6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takushima in view of Tanaka in further view of Saito, JP 2013238692 A (“Saito”).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 1 and The optical amplification method according to claim 14.
Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, does not teach: wherein the other end of the first core is optically coupled to the one end of the second core by shifting a center of the one end of the multi-core excitation fiber from a center of the other end of the multi-core excitation fiber.
However, Saito teaches a multicore fiber with a small gap between the master multicore fiber and the multicore fiber and optically coupled cores between fibers (Fig. 2, master multicore fiber 5, multicore fiber 1, cores 11a and 15a, Paragraph [0024], [0027]). Saito teaches moving the multicore fiber relative to the master multicore fiber by shifting along two orthogonal directions (Fig. 2a, master multicore fiber 5, multicore fiber 1, directions A and B, Paragraph [0027]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Takushima’s method of aligning cores by shifting the fibers instead of rotating them, which is disclosed by Saito. One of ordinary skill in the art could have used the known technique of shifting the fiber ends in the same way to Takushima’s fiber ends to achieve the desired core alignment, and the results would have been predictable (MPEP 2143 I KSR Rationale C).
Regarding claim 6, Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, discloses The multi-core fiber optical amplifier according to claim 2.
Takushima, as modified in view of Tanaka, does not teach: wherein the other end of the first core is optically coupled to the one end of the second core by shifting a center of the one end of the multi-core excitation fiber from a center of the other end of the multi-core excitation fiber.
However, Saito teaches a multicore fiber with a small gap between the master multicore fiber and the multicore fiber and optically coupled cores between fibers (Fig. 2, master multicore fiber 5, multicore fiber 1, cores 11a and 15a, Paragraph [0024], [0027]). Saito teaches moving the multicore fiber relative to the master multicore fiber by shifting along two orthogonal directions (Fig. 2a, master multicore fiber 5, multicore fiber 1, directions A and B, Paragraph [0027]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Takushima’s method of aligning cores by shifting the fibers instead of rotating them, which is disclosed by Saito. One of ordinary skill in the art could have used the known technique of shifting the fiber ends in the same way to Takushima’s fiber ends to achieve the desired core alignment, and the results would have been predictable (MPEP 2143 I KSR Rationale C).
Conclusion
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/RACHEL NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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