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
2. The prior art documents submitted by applicant in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on 02/05/24, have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form PTO/SB/08a).
Specification
3. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) 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.
7. Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Sfez (WO 2020/075048 A1) in view of Nishimura et al. (US 2002/0159153 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Sfez (figures 2-3) discloses a tunable optical filter comprising: a dispersive-collimating element (22), a medium apparatus (25) and a focusing-dispersive element (28) such that said dispersive-collimating element assigns each beam wavelength to a particular spatial position, the beams being parallel to each other, said medium apparatus changes the polarization state independently for each wavelength, and said focusing-dispersive element recombines the different wavelengths into one single beam (see the abstract and page 7, lines 3-8).
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Sfez does not explicitly disclose an electro-optical medium.
However, Nishimura et al. (figures 3 and 7) teach an optical device including an electro-optical medium (50) ([0028]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Sfez to include the electro-optical medium (accordance with the teaching of Nishimura) for the purpose of maximizing the change in optical path length as a function of the control signal ([0045]).
With respect to claim 2, Sfez (figures 2-3) substantially discloses all the limitations of the claimed invention except the electro-optical medium comprises multiple pairs of electrodes that are connected to voltage sources so that an electric field strength is different for each wavelength and a phase difference between the beam electric field components is different for different wavelengths.
However, Nishimura et al. (figures 4B) teach an optical device including the electro-optical medium (50) comprises multiple pairs of electrodes (63A, 64A) that are connected to voltage sources so that an electric field strength is different for each wavelength and a phase difference between the beam electric field components is different for different wavelengths ([0034]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Sfez to include the above features (accordance with the teaching of Nishimura) for the purpose of maximizing the change in optical path length as a function of the control signal ([0045]).
With respect to claim 3, Sfez (figures 2-3) discloses the tunable optical filter, wherein crossed polarizers are added before and after the dispersive-collimating element (22) (see figures 3 and 5).
With respect to claim 4, Sfez (figures 2-3) discloses the tunable optical filter, wherein said optical medium is shaped to compensate for a birefringence wavelength dependence, allowing for a single-value voltage source (see page 5, solution 2).
With respect to claim 5, Sfez (figures 2-3) discloses the tunable optical filter, wherein a shape of the optical material is complemented to a rectangular shape (25) by using a transparent material with no electro-optical effect and index-matched so that beams (29) exit in a direction that is parallel to the impinging beam (figure 3).
With respect to claim 6, Sfez (figures 2-3) discloses the tunable optical filter, wherein the shape of the material is complemented to the rectangular shape by using a complemented part of the same electro- optical material, the result of complementation being a rectangular shape, and distanced from said shaped electro-optical material by a transparent material with near-zero electro- optical coefficient and index-matched to the electro-optical material refractive index, said complemented electro-optical material being located in a region where the electric field is approximately null (see page 7, claim 4).
With respect to claim 7, Sfez (figures 2-3) discloses the tunable optical filter, wherein said electro-optical medium apparatus is cut at Brewster angle to improve transmission (page 5, lines 2-6).
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Keyworth et al. (US-9304257-B2) disclose a wavelength selective switch. Cabaniss (US-9170152-B2) discloses a spectral dispersion element. Wein et al. (US-20100296091-A1) a multiplexer device.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jennifer Doan whose telephone number is (571) 272-2346. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 7:00am to 3:30pm.
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, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on 571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JENNIFER DOAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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