DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Newell et al. (“Newell”) (US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0012493).
Regarding claim 1, Newell discloses an optical reception apparatus comprising: a reception detection unit that converts an intensity-modulated optical signal transmitted from an optical transmission apparatus into a frequency modulation signal (fig. 1A and fig. 2 element 314A and paragraph 0045 in light of paragraph 0042); a frequency demodulation unit that generates a multi-channel signal by performing demodulation processing on the frequency modulation signal (fig. 2 element 316A and paragraphs 0045-0046); and a derivation unit that derives, for each of a channel, a difference between transmission quality and required quality of the intensity-modulated optical signal, and transmits feedback information indicating the difference for each of the channel to the optical transmission apparatus (paragraphs 0057-0059, where the received level reads on quality, as it drops based on chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion, and where the feedback power adjustment to the desired transmit side gain is a difference between the received level and the desired level for that channel).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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.
Claim 6 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reason for the allowability of claims 2-6 is the inclusion, in the claims, directly or by way of dependence, of an adjustment unit that acquires feedback information indicating a difference between transmission quality of an intensity-modulated optical signal and required quality for each of channel of a multi-channel signal, from an optical reception apparatus, and adjusts power of the multi-channel signal for each of the channels according to the feedback, a phase modulator using a laser beam based on a first oscillation frequency, a multiplexing unit that multiplexes a laser beam based on a second oscillation frequency and the phase modulated signal; a modulation signal generation unit that generates a frequency modulation signal by performing detection on a result of the multiplexing, and an intensity modulator that transmits the intensity-modulated according to the frequency modulation signal. This was not anticipated by, or obvious in view of, the prior art. The closest prior art, in addition to Newell applied above, is noted below.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0285548 – receiver feedback to transmitter for multi-carrier optical communication signal quality control.
US Patent No. 9197324 – receiver feedback to transmitter for PAM optical communication signal quality control.
US Patent Nos. 8086110, 8045852, 7756421 – receiver feedback to transmitter for WDM optical communication signal quality control.
US Patent No. 5896216 – AM/FM converter with video signal laser and oscillator signal laser into multiplexer and detector.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN M CORS whose telephone number is (571)272-3028. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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/NATHAN M CORS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634