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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yasuhiro et al. (JP 2007-057938 A) - machine English language translation provided.
With respect to claim 1, Yasuhiro et al. disclose an optical member (“organic non-linear optical material”) for terahertz constituted by a molded body containing a mixture of an organic nonlinear optical material (“organic compound having non-linear optical activity”) and an excipient (“polymer binder”) (see entire document).
With respect to claim 2, Yasuhiro et al. disclose wherein the mixture partially contains crystals of the organic nonlinear optical material (see entire document).
With respect to claim 4, Yasuhiro et al. disclose wherein the optical member emits terahertz waves when being irradiated with laser light (see “Technical Field”).
With respect to claim 6, Yasuhiro et al. disclose an optical element (“non-linear optical element”), comprising: the optical member (“organic non-linear optical material“) according to claim 1; and a support member (“substrate”) configured to support the optical member.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
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.
Claims 3, 5, 7, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasuhiro et al. (JP 2007-057938 A) - machine English language translation provided - as applied to claims 1 and 6 above.
With respect to claim 3, Yasuhiro et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the excipient contains polyethylene and/or Teflon. Yasuhiro et al. disclose the excipient is a polymer binder. Teflon is a well known polymer binder. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Yasuhiro et al. to have the excipient contain Teflon, as a matter of design choice for a polymer binder.
With respect to claim 5, Yasuhiro et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the optical member is irradiated with terahertz waves and detects the terahertz waves. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Yasuhiro et al. to have the optical member detect teraherz waves, as a matter of design choice, depending on the specific application being done.
With respect to claim 7, Yasuhiro et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the support member is formed in an annular shape so as to support a peripheral edge portion of the optical member while exposing a central portion of the optical member. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Yasuhiro et al. to have the support member formed in an annular shape so as to support a peripheral edge portion of the optical member while exposing a central portion of the optical member, as a matter of design choice, depending on the specific application being done.
With respect to claim 10, Yasuhiro et al. disclose an optical member (“organic non-linear optical material”) for terahertz constituted by a molded body containing a mixture of an organic nonlinear optical material (“organic compound having non-linear optical activity”) and an excipient (“polymer binder”) (see entire document). Yasuhiro et al. do not specifically disclose a method for manufacturing the optical member for terahertz, comprising: a first process of mixing an organic nonlinear optical material and an excipient to form a mixture; and a second process of forming a molded body of the mixture by applying a pressure to the mixture after the first process. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Yasuhiro et al. to have a method for manufacturing the optical member for terahertz, comprising: a first process of mixing the organic nonlinear optical material and the excipient to form a mixture; and a second process of forming a molded body of the mixture by applying a pressure to the mixture after the first process, because this is a basic process for forming molded bodies.
With respect to claim 11, Yasuhiro et al. disclose a third process of crystallizing at least a part of the organic nonlinear optical material before the first process (see entire document).
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasuhiro et al. (JP 2007-057938 A) - machine English language translation provided - as applied to claims 1 and 6 above, and further in view of Tetsuo et al. (JP 2004-219967 A) - machine English language translation provided.
With respect to claim 8, Yasuhiro et al. do not specifically disclose wherein the support member is a lens, and the optical member is provided on a light incident surface or light emitting surface of the lens. Tetsuo et al. disclose this (paragraph 0015). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Yasuhiro et al. to have the support member be a lens, and the optical member be provided on a light incident surface or light emitting surface of the lens, as a matter of design choice, depending on the specific application being done, as taught by Tetsuo et al. in the second embodiment.
With respect to claim 9, Yasuhiro et al. do not specifically disclose a moisture-proof film provided on a surface of the optical member. Tetsuo et al. disclose this (paragraph 0015). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Yasuhiro et al. to have a moisture-proof film provided on a surface of the optical member, as a matter of design choice, to prevent deterioration due to hygroscopicity, as taught by Tetsuo et al. in the second embodiment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gunter et al. (US 2011/0128610 A1) disclose phenolic configurationally locked polyene bulk single crystals, crystalline thin films and waveguides for electro-optics and THZ-wave applications.
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/JURIE YUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884
March 17, 2026