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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I (claims 1-10) in the reply filed on 7/13/26 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 6/28/24 and 11/6/25 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Soref et al. (US 5,140,651).
Re. Claim 1, Soref et al. discloses an optical coupling module comprising:
a light source configured to output an optical signal (col. 2 lines 34-40; col. 3 lines 34-40);
an optical module 9 configured to convert the optical signal into a light sheet (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 54-57); and
a planar optical waveguide 7 on a substrate (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 44-47),
wherein the planar optical waveguide includes an input waveguide provided to one end portion 3 of the planar optical waveguide 7 (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 40-47),
the light sheet includes input light that is incident between an upper surface and lower surface of an incidence surface of the input waveguide (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 40-47 and 63-68; col. 4 line 1), and
a thickness of the input light of the light sheet is less than a horizontal width of the input light of the light sheet (Fig. 1).
Re. Claim 2, Soref et al. discloses the thickness of the input light of the light sheet is substantially the same as or less than a thickness of the incidence surface of the input waveguide (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 40-47).
Re. Claim 3, Soref et al. discloses the horizontal width of the input light of the light sheet is substantially the same as or less than a width of the lower surface of the incidence surface of the input waveguide (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 40-47).
Re. Claim 6, Soref et al. discloses the light sheet decreases in thickness between the optical module and the input waveguide (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 54-57).
Re. Claim 7, Soref et al. discloses a width of the input waveguide in a second direction intersecting a first direction decreases in the first direction parallel to an upper surface of the substrate (Fig. 1; col. 3 lines 54-57).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5 and 8-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Re. Claim 4, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical coupling module as required by the claim, specifically wherein a width of the upper surface of the incidence surface of the input waveguide is 1 mm to 10 mm.
Re. Claim 5, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical coupling module as required by the claim, specifically wherein the planar optical waveguide further includes a planar waveguide on the substrate, the incidence surface of the input waveguide includes a protruding region protruding from the planar waveguide, and a thickness of the protruding region of the incidence surface is greater than 0 nm and equal to or less than 300 nm.
Re. Claim 8, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical coupling module as required by the claim, specifically wherein the optical module further includes: a cylindrical lens configured to convert the optical signal into the light sheet; and an objective lens configured to make the light sheet thin.
Re. Claims 9-10, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical coupling module as required by the claims, specifically wherein the substrate is a first substrate, the optical module includes a second substrate and a metasurface element on the second substrate, and the metasurface elements includes a pad on the second substrate and a plurality of nano-structures extending in a first direction parallel to an upper surface of the first substrate.
The most applicable prior art, Soref et al. (US 5,140.651), addressed above, fails to disclose or reasonably suggest the claimed invention as outlined above, specifically those portions highlighted above taken in combination with the remaining limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Frish et al. (US 2002/0191916 A1) discloses vertical waveguide tapers for optical coupling between optical fibers and thin silicon waveguides.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to R. PEACE whose telephone number is (571)272-8580. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5 pm.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at (571) 272-2397. 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.
/RHONDA S PEACE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874 7/30/26
Prosecution Insights