CTNF 18/710,066 CTNF 87139 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. DETAILED ACTION This is an AIA application filed May 14, 2024. The earliest effective filing date of this AIA application is seen as December 1, 2021, the date of the earliest priority application (PCT/JP2021/044134) for any claims which are fully supported under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) by the parent application. The effective filing date of this AIA application is seen as May 14, 2024, the actual filing date, for any claims that are not fully supported by the foregoing provisional or non-provisional application(s). The present application is also related to the applications giving rise to the following patent publication(s) (some redundancy may be present): Office Application App. Date Pub. # Pub. Date JP PCT/JP2021/044134 12/01/2021 WO 2023100297 A1 06/08/2023 JP 2023564345 12/01/2021 JP WO2023100297 A1 JP 7680693 B2 06/08/2023 05/21/2025 The claims filed May 14, 2024 are entered, currently outstanding, and subject to examination. This action is in response to the application data sheet/ADS filing of November 21, 2025. Claims 1-2 are currently pending and outstanding. No claims have been amended, cancelled, withdrawn, or added. Claims 1-2 are currently outstanding and subject to examination. This is a non-final action and is the first action on the merits. Allowable subject matter is not indicated below. Often, in the substance of the action below, formal matters are addressed first, claim rejections second, and any response to arguments third. Claim Objections The following claim is objected to because of the indicated informality/ies: Claim(s) Informality/ies 1 "waveguide widths of a two waveguides" appears to have a typographic error Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b/¶ 2) 07-30-02 AIA 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. 07-34-01 AIA Claim s 1 (and by dependency, claim 2) 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites “two directional couplers” then “the directional coupler”. This leads to uncertainty as to what “the directional coupler” refers to. For purposes of examination, the examiner considers any directional coupler to read on the claimed “the directional coupler”. Special Definitions for Claim Language - MPEP § 2111.01(IV) No special definitions as defined by MPEP § 2111.01(IV) are seen as present in the specification regarding the language used in the claims. Consequently, the words and phrases of the claims are given their plain meaning. MPEP §§ 2173.01, 2173.05(a), and 2111.01. If special definitions are present, Applicant should bring those to the attention of the examiner and the prosecution history with its next response in a manner both specific and particular. In doing so, there will be no mistake, confusion, and/or ambiguity as to what constitutes the special definition(s). Per above, such special definitions must conform to the requirements of MPEP § 2111.01(IV). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 10,935,726 of Lee et al. (Lee, cited by Applicant) . With respect to claim 1, Lee discloses a waveguide type optical coupler ( Fig. 7 ) including one comprising a Mach-Zehnder interferometer ( 710/720 ) that includes two arm waveguides ( 710/720 ) between two directional couplers ( 730 and 750 ), wherein waveguide widths of a [sic] two waveguides in a coupling portion of the directional coupler are different from each other ( true for both adiabatic/directional couplers 730 and 750 ). With respect to claim 2, Lee as set forth above discloses the waveguide type optical coupler according to claim 1, including one wherein a waveguide width of a portion of one arm waveguide of the two arm waveguides is different from a waveguide width of the other arm waveguide. The waveguides of the central Mach-Zehnder element in Fig. 7 have different widths . Conclusion Applicant’s publication US 20250020865 A1 published January 16, 2025 is cited. 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references have elements related to Applicant’s disclosure and/or claims or are otherwise associated with the other cited references, particularly with respect to Mach-Zehnder and related systems with flanking couplers and the like . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW JORDAN whose telephone number is (571) 270-1571. The examiner can normally be reached most days 1000-1800 PACIFIC TIME ZONE (messages are returned). 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. While examiner does not examine over the phone (see 37 C.F.R. § 1.2), examiner is glad to clarify or discuss issues so long as it forwards prosecution. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas (Tom) HOLLWEG can be reached at (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 published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent- center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Andrew Jordan/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874 V: (571) 270-1571 (Pacific time) F: (571) 270-2571 May 27, 2026 Application/Control Number: 18/710,066 Page 2 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/710,066 Page 3 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/710,066 Page 4 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/710,066 Page 5 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/710,066 Page 6 Art Unit: 2874 Application/Control Number: 18/710,066 Page 7 Art Unit: 2874
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