NON-FINAL REJECTION
Acknowledgements
1. Claims 1-16 were presented for examination on Mar. 13, 2024.
2. Applicant claims foreign priority to JP 2021-150595 filed Sep. 15, 2021.
3. The presumed effective filing date of the instant application is Sep. 1, 2022, which is the filing date of the instant application.
Election of Species
4. Species 1 was elected for prosecution without traverse on Sept. 3, 2026. Claims 1-8 read on Species 1. As such, the status of the claims is as follows.
claims 1-16 are pending;
claims 1-8 are examined; and
claims 9-16 are withdrawn.
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
A single claim which claims both an apparatus and the method steps of using the apparatus is indefinite under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
The following limitation is indefinite because it is unclear whether infringement occurs when one creates a VCSEL with the structural elements of claims 1 and 9 or whether infringement occurs when light is emitted from the active layer thereby creating the standing wave that satisfies the following expression.
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In other words, it is unclear whether infringement occurs in the above excerpted limitation of clams 1 and 9 when the claimed VCSEL is not operated because the active layer has not been activated to create the claimed standing wave, i.e., this limitation is essentially a method step of using the apparatus of claims 1 and 9.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Although the claims are not in condition for allowance, Examiners do not find the following claimed relationship in the prior art.
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As such, it is likely that the claims would be in condition for allowance if the claims are amended so that the structure that makes the claimed structure capable of achieving the claimed relationship (e.g., the described thicknesses of the claimed layers) is claimed in a manner that overcomes the §112(b) rejection above.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEANDRA M HUGHES whose telephone number is (571)272-6982. The examiner can normally be reached Generally M-Th 8AM-6PM.
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Signed:
/DEANDRA M HUGHES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
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