DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application and claims filed on March 1, 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending, with claims 1 and 11 in independent claim form.
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 prior art documents submitted by Applicant in the Information Disclosure Statements filed on March 1, 2024, have been considered and made of record (note attached copy of forms PTO-1449).
Drawings
The original drawings (seven (7) pages) were received on March 1, 2024. These drawings are acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claims 3, 6, 13, and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities: regarding dependent claims 3 and 13, the phrase “the wavelength of the output light corresponds to the period formed in the thermal wavelength”, should be corrected to “the wavelength of the output light corresponds to a period, of the different periods depending on a/the position of the nonlinear optical crystal, formed in the thermal waveguide.” First, the term “the period” is improper because it is unclear which period is being referred (of the “different periods” depending on a (current) position of the nonlinear optical crystal), and further explanation and identifiers should be listed as shown above. Second, the typo “thermal wavelength” should read “thermal waveguide” for consistency with claim 1. Claims 6 and 16 are also objected to at least as being dependent upon claims 3 and 13, respectively. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3-6 and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 3 and 13 recite the limitations in the phrase “the wavelength of the output light corresponds to the period formed in the thermal wavelength” in the claim body. However, such features lack proper antecedent basis for which is being referred to as “the period” and “the wavelength.” The claim term “the period” yields an unclear claim feature, of the “different periods” depending on a (current) position of the nonlinear optical crystal, and therefore further explanation and identifiers should be outlined. This phrase should be corrected, with an example such as: “the wavelength of the output light corresponds to a period, of the different periods depending on a/the position of the nonlinear optical crystal, formed in the thermal waveguide.” Additionally, there is no “thermal wavelength” in claim 1 and corrections should be made, although this appears to be an unintentional typo. Therefore, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims 3 and 13. Claims 3, 6, 13, and 16 are thus rejected as being vague and indefinite under the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for lacking proper antecedent basis.
Regarding claims 4-5 and 14-15, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). The claim language in claims 4 and 14 is “a KTP-based material such as PPKTP…” and must be corrected. For these reasons, and because claims 5 and 15 further depend from claims 4 and 14, respectively, claims 4-5 and 14-15 are rejected as being vague and indefinite under the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 11 are allowed, with further dependent claims 2, 7-10, 12, and 17-20 also being allowed as being in dependent claim form. Each independent claim 1 and 11 is allowed based on their original claim features, as a whole and as arranged.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the closest prior art of record (Kamijoh US ‘990; Hall US ‘191; Yamoto US ‘465; Furukawa US ‘648; JP ‘376; and JP ‘368) does not expressly teach or reasonably suggest, in combination, each claim limitation as arranged in independent claims 1 and 11. In particular, the Examiner must consider the context of these claims in view of the original specification and drawings. Most notable is the key feature of “a guide light source” (210; see Applicant’s Figs.1-4) which provides a guide light traveling in a first direction within the nonlinear optical crystal such that “a thermal waveguide (see 110, Fig. 5) penetrating the nonlinear optical crystal is formed” (by the guide light, during the optical propagation of the signal light and pump light). In other words, there is an additional “guide light” source which forms waveguiding features of the waveguide in the nonlinear optical crystal itself, and such features are not pre-formed in this crystal. Instead, there is a thermal waveguide formed in the nonlinear optical crystal by such guide light source during operation thereof (the guide light source not affecting optical coupling and frequency conversions of the separate signal/pump; note Fig. 5 in view of the overall “wavelength conversion device(s)” of Figs. 1-4). For these reasons, and based on the totality of the claimed features found in claims 1 and 11, the Examiner is unable to present either an anticipation rejection (under 35 U.S.C. 102) or a prima facie case of obviousness (under 35 U.S.C. 103). Claims 2, 7-10, 12, and 17-20 are also allowed at least as being in dependent claim form. Issues in dependent claims 3-6 and 13-16 are noted above and must be corrected. However, these claims are also drafted in dependent form and thus there are no prior art issues with these claims.
The single closest prior art of record is Kamijoh US ‘990, which teaches (Figs. 1, 3, 5, 7) a wavelength conversion device in which:
A wavelength conversion device (Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 7) comprising: a nonlinear optical crystal 10 / 40 / 110 / 210;
However, there is no clear teaching or reasonable suggestion found in the closest prior art for such additional feature noted as missing in claims 1 / 11. Additionally, there is no clear motivation to combine such a “thermal waveguide” formation with a distinct “guide light source” for penetrating the NLO crystal.
Other close prior art is Hall US ‘191 (see the thermally tunable feature 410 and 460 in Figs. 4A-4B); Yumoto US ‘465 (see thermal tuning of a PPLN crystal with waveguide; Figs. 5-8, 10-13, 25-26); Moulton US ‘834, which teaches a generic thermal waveguide with controllable (by light) coupling region; Furukawa US ‘648, using a signal light and pump light through a NLO crystal waveguide to generate sum frequency; and the two Japanese JP ‘376 (Figs. 4, 7, 9, and 10 in view of Fig. 1) and JP ‘368 (Figs. 6-7) documents which teach similar constructs to generate frequency conversion from multiple optical / laser sources. All such prior art (along with Kamijoh ‘990) is cited in the attached PTO-892 form references A-E, N, and O.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.
Inventorship
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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: see PTO-892 form references A-E, N, and O. Note the full explanation of relevance of each reference above in section (13).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Daniel Petkovsek whose telephone number is (571) 272-4174. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 6 PM.
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/DANIEL PETKOVSEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874 February 6, 2026