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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe (US 20030002128 A1) in view of Ishimatsu (US 20170372501 A1).
Re Claim 1, Watanabe discloses, on Fig. 2, An optical isolator with multiple stages, comprising: an optical element comprising at least a first polarizer (polarizer 205) [Par 43], a first Faraday rotator (faraday rotator 203) [Par 43], a second polarizer (polarizer 206) [Par 43], a third polarizer (polarizer 207) [Par 43], a second Faraday rotator (faraday rotator 204) [Par 43], and a fourth polarizer (polarizer 208) [Par 43] in sequence in a direction in which light travels (see Fig. 2 and circles 1-8); and at least one permanent magnet (magnet 210) [Par 43] configured to apply a magnetic field to the first Faraday rotator (if the magnets are present they magnetize faraday rotator 210) [Par 17-18] and the second Faraday rotator (faraday rotator 204) [Par 43], with a relative angle between a transmitted light polarization axis of the second polarizer (polarizer 206) [Par 43] and a transmitted light polarization axis of the third polarizer (See Fig. 3: polarizer 207 and 206 have the same polarization direction so their angle is approaching 0) [Par 43].
But Watanabe does not explicitly disclose, wherein the angle is equal to or more than 0.1 degrees.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Ishimatsu teaches, that it is desirable in polarizers to control a direction (angle) of a transmission axis of a polarized light transmitted therethrough [Par 44], and that doing so only necessitates “rotating the polarizer” [Par 45]. Thus Ishimatsu teaches that methods of controlling and adjusting the angle of transmission of polarizer light through a polarizer is known in the art at the time of the invention, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have been capable of simply rotating one of the second or third polarizers slightly such that the transmission angle is equal to or greater than 0.1 degrees. Further one of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do so, to control the polarized image light that is transmitted and then captured by a sensor [Par 44]. Note that the Court has held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation; see In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to modify the system of Watanabe with Ishimatsu, in order to provide control of the polarized image light that is transmitted and then captured by a sensor [Ishimatsu: Par 44]
Re Claim 2, Watanabe in view of Ishimatsu, discloses, the optical isolator according to claim 1, and Watanabe further discloses, wherein the first polarizer (polarizer 205) [Par 43], the first Faraday rotator (faraday rotator 203) [Par 43], and the second polarizer (polarizer 206) [Par 43] are integrated (See Fig. 2 where substrate 201 is processed at an oblique such that polarizers 205 and 206, and rotator 203 are together obliquely disposed as well and thus integrated) [Par 44], and the third polarizer (polarizer 207) [Par 43], the second Faraday rotator (faraday rotator 204) [Par 43], and the fourth polarizer (polarizer 208) [Par 43] are integrated (See Fig. 2 where components 207, 204, and 208 are together flat on substrate 201 and thus integrated) [Par 44].
Re Claim 3, Watanabe in view of Ishimatsu discloses, the optical isolator according to claim 1, and Watanabe further discloses, wherein the second polarizer (polarizer 206) [Par 43] and the third polarizer (polarizer 207) [Par 43] are flat-plate polarizers (See Fig. 2: where all theb polarizers flat plate-like surfaces, and they are made of Polarcor polarizing glass) [Par 68] .
Re Claim 4, Watanabe in view of Ishimatsu discloses, the optical isolator according to claim 2, and Watanabe further discloses on Fig. 2, wherein the second polarizer (polarizer 206) [Par 43] and the third polarizer (polarizer 207) [Par 43] are flat-plate polarizers (See Fig. 2: where all theb polarizers flat plate-like surfaces, and they are made of Polarcor polarizing glass) [Par 68].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chang (US 5808793 A) teaches a optical isolator, with a first polarizer, a faraday rotator, a second polarizer, a third polarizer, a second faraday rotator, and a fourth polarizer in order.
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/RAY ALEXANDER DEAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/BUMSUK WON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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