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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS's) submitted comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement; please see attached forms PTO-1449.
Drawings
The drawings submitted have been reviewed and determined to facilitate understanding of the invention. The drawings are accepted as submitted.
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.
Claims 5-11 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.
Claims 5, 6, 7, and 9 each describe, “the interferometer… configured to reduce the change in difference by,” followed by a structure. The use of the word by in this situation would normally be followed by a method or step to reduce the change in difference. For examination purposes, the word “by” in these claims shall be considered to mean “utilizing.”
Claims 8, 10, and 11 depend from Claims 7 and/or 9 and therefore incorporate the indefinite language.
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 1-4, 7-8, 12, and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication US 2003/0223672 A1 to Joyner et al.
Regarding Claim 1, US1 describes an interferometer for a photonic integrated circuit (see Fig 7), the interferometer comprising:
a first waveguide (25) with a first effective refractive index and a first path length along an optical propagation axis of the first waveguide;
a second waveguide (another of elements 25) with a second effective refractive index and second path length along an optical propagation axis of the second waveguide; and
a layer (BCB, see Figs 8-9 and 12-19) on at least one of the first waveguide or the second waveguide, wherein the interferometer is configured to reduce change in a difference between:
the first path length multiplied by the first effective refractive index, and
the second path length multiplied by the second effective refractive index, the change in the difference caused by at least one of an expansion force or a contraction force from the layer (see [0077]).
Regarding Claim 2, US1 describes the interferometer configured to reduce application of the expansion force or the contraction force from the layer to at least one of the first waveguide or the second waveguide (see [0076]).
Regarding Claim 3, US1 describes the interferometer configured to reduce the change in the difference by compensating an effect of the force on the change in the difference. (see [0077])
Regarding Claim 4, US1 describes optically compensating the effect of the force on the change in the difference (see [0077]).
Regarding Claim 7, US1 describes reduce the change in the difference utilizing a recess (62) in the layer.
Regarding Claim 8, US1 describes the recess as elongate parallel at least part of the first optical propagation axis (see Fig 7).
Regarding Claim 12, US1 describes the interferometer comprising a passivation layer (97) between the layer and at least one of: the first waveguide or the second waveguide (see Figs 12-15).
Regarding Claim 14, US1 describes the interferometer as an asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer (see [0009]).
Regarding Claim 15, US1 does not specifically describe the at least one of the expansion force or the contraction force as due to a change in at least one of humidity, temperature, or age of the layer. However, such changes are inherent to the device of US1, and the operation of the patterned BCB region as described by US1 (see [0076]-[0077]) would act to counteract such forces.
Regarding Claim 16, US1 describes the layer comprising benzocyclobutene (see [0076]).
Regarding Claim 17, US1 describes:
at least one of the first waveguide or the second waveguide is curved (see Fig 7);
each of the first waveguide and the second waveguide are curved, and a radius of curvature of the first waveguide is different to a radius of curvature of the second waveguide (see Fig 7);
the interferometer comprises indium phosphide (see Fig 8 and [0081]); and
the interferometer is on a monolith for a photonic integrated circuit (see Figs 1-2).
Regarding Claim 18, US1 describes a photonic integrated circuit (see Figs 1-6, [0054]) comprising an interferometer (20, Fig 7), the interferometer comprising:
a first waveguide (25) with a first effective refractive index and a first path length along an optical propagation axis of the first waveguide;
a second waveguide (another of the elements 25) with a second effective refractive index and second path length along an optical propagation axis of the second waveguide; and
a layer (BCB, see Figs 8-9 and 12-19) on at least one of the first waveguide or the second waveguide, wherein the interferometer is configured to reduce change in a difference between:
the first path length multiplied by the first effective refractive index, and
the second path length multiplied by the second effective refractive index, the change in the difference caused by at least one of an expansion force or a contraction force from the layer (see [0077]).
Regarding Claim 19, US1 describes a further interferometer (see Figs 4, 6, 7), the further interferometer comprising:
a third waveguide (25) with a third effective refractive index and a third path length along an optical propagation axis of the third waveguide;
a fourth waveguide (another of the elements 25) with a fourth effective refractive index and fourth path length along an optical propagation axis of the fourth waveguide; and
a further (BCB, see Figs 8-9 and 12-19) layer on at least one of the third waveguide or the fourth waveguide, wherein the further interferometer is configured to reduce change in a further difference between:
the third path length multiplied by the third effective refractive index, and
the fourth path length multiplied by the fourth effective refractive index, the change in the further difference caused by at least one of a further expansion force or a further contraction force from the further layer (see [0077]).
Regarding Claim 20, US1 describes a device (see Figs 1-6) comprising a photonic integrated circuit (see [0054]), the photonic integrated circuit comprising an interferometer (20, see Fig 7), the interferometer comprising:
a first waveguide (25) with a first effective refractive index and a first path length along an optical propagation axis of the first waveguide;
a second waveguide (another of elements 25) with a second effective refractive index and second path length along an optical propagation axis of the second waveguide; and
a layer (BCB, see Figs 8-9 and 12-19) on at least one of the first waveguide or the second waveguide, wherein the interferometer is configured to reduce change in a difference between:
the first path length multiplied by the first effective refractive index, and
the second path length multiplied by the second effective refractive index, the change in the difference caused by at least one of an expansion force or a contraction force from the layer (see [0077]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 9-11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
Claim 5 describes the interferometer configured to reduce the change in the difference utilizing:
a width of the first waveguide perpendicular to the optical propagation axis of the first waveguide, different from and parallel, and
a width of the second waveguide perpendicular to the optical propagation axis of the second waveguide.
Claim 6 describes the interferometer configured to reduce the change in the difference utilizing:
a first width of the first waveguide perpendicular to the optical propagation axis of the first waveguide at a first point on the optical propagation axis of the first waveguide, different from and parallel, and
a second width of the first waveguide perpendicular to the optical propagation axis of the first waveguide at a second point on the optical propagation axis of the first waveguide.
Claim 9 describes the recess as a first recess, and the interferometer is configured to reduce the change in the difference by a second recess in the layer.
These limitations represent subject matter not described or reasonably suggested, in conjunction with the further limitations of the present claims, by the prior art of record.
Claims 10-11 depend from Claim 9 and therefore contain at least the same allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
The prior art cited in the attached form PTO-892 are made of record and considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited prior art describes various interferometer using waveguides.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY RAHLL whose telephone number is (571)272-2356. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm.
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.
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/JERRY RAHLL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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