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
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 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Komatsu (US Patent 6192170).
Regarding claim 1, Komatsu teaches (Figs. 1-4) A wavelength detection device comprising: waveguides (23) configured to guide lights; a multiplexer unit (30) configured to multiplex lights respectively guided through the waveguides and having wavelengths different (lamda 1-4) from one another; a filter unit (33 – see also col. 5, line 19-22, 52-60, and col. 6) to which light output from the multiplexer unit is input, the filter unit having a property of having light transmittance that changes according to wavelength; and a detection unit configured to detect intensity of light output from the filter unit, wherein the waveguides, the multiplexer unit, and the filter unit are included in a planar light wave circuit (col. 5, lines 32-35).
Regarding claim 3, Komatsu teaches the multiplexer unit includes a wavelength division multiplexing (28) coupler.
Regarding claim 5, Komatsu teaches the filter unit includes filters having different properties for transmittance in relation to wavelength.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4 and 6-10 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONY KO whose telephone number is (571)272-1926. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5pm.
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, Georgia Epps can be reached at 571-272-2328. 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.
/TONY KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
TK