Appeal No. 2005-0783
Application No. 10/039,094
periodic variation in the fiber’s physical state, such as an
alteration in the index of refraction or ablation or removal of
portions of the fiber.” Thus, appellants apparently concede that
deformation is inherent in the formation of a Bragg grating as in
Byron.
Rejection (5)
This rejection is reversed.
The examiner concedes that Kim ‘881 does not show the axial
displacement of two laser beams along an optical fiber. Kim ‘881
(Fig. 5) merely shows laser beams that strike the fiber at
circumferentially displaced locations.
According to the examiner, the claim requirement for axial
displacement would be satisfied if the Kim process were repeated at
another location along the fiber axis, and that it would have been
obvious to do so to form an additional grating.
The examiner has failed to establish a prima facie case of
obviousness since the cited reference fails to teach or suggest a
need for forming additional gratings along the fiber axis. Nor has
the examiner provided any other evidentiary basis to establish that
a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to
form a plurality of gratings along the axis of an optical fiber.
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