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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed March 5, 2026, have been submitted for consideration by the Office. They have been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 6-11, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Solon (Pub Num 2016/0072431) in view of Chen (CN Pat Num 2660691Y). Solon discloses a trunk bus connector (Figs 5-60) that couples a plurality of electrical trunking assemblies without the usage of a combiner box (abstract). Specifically, with respect to claim 1, Solon discloses a trunk bus connector (35, Fig 8) for electrically coupling one or more branch cables (12) to a trunk line (14), wherein the connector (35) comprising a junction area (located at 20, Fig 35), where stripped portions of the one or more branch cables (left and right 12, Paragraph 94) can lay flat against a striped portion of the trunk line (14) to electrically couple the branch cables (12) to the trunk line (14, Fig 35), an overmold (24, Fig 48) substantially encapsulating the junction area (located at 20), wherein the overmold (24) comprising one or more branch entry pathways (Fig 47) disposed proximate one or more corners of the overmold (24) forming one or more trunk line entry pathways (Fig 47), wherein the one or more branch entry pathways (Fig 47) are angled so that the branch cable (left and right 12) enters into the junction area (located at 20) to be coupled with the trunk line (14) such that two bends in the branch cable (12) are required inside the connector (35, Fig 47) and an undermold (22, Fig 48) for securing the stripped portions (located at 20, Fig 35) of the trunk cable (14) and branch cables (left and right 12) together (Fig 47). With respect to claim 6, Solon discloses that the trunk line entry pathways (top hole, Figs 24 & 26) have a larger diameter than the branch entry pathways (bottom hole, Figs 24 & 26) so that the trunk line entry pathways may accept a larger diameter line (Figs 24 & 26). With respect to claim 7, Solon discloses that a plurality of trunk bus connectors (35, Figs 5-6) may be placed in tandem along a single trunk line (14, Figs 5-6). With respect to claim 8, Solon discloses that the trunk bus connector (35) comprising two branch entry pathways (left and right top pathways for feeder line 14, Fig 7). With respect to claim 9, Solon discloses that the bus connector (35) comprising three branch entry pathways (left and right top pathways for feeder line 14, and one pathway for feeder line 12, Fig 7). With respect to claim 10, Solon discloses that the bus connector (35) comprising four branch entry pathways (left and right top pathways for feeder line 14, and left and right pathway for feeder line 12, Fig 31). With respect to claim 11, Solon discloses a method of coupling one or more branch cables (left and right 12) to a trunk line (14, Fig 29), wherein the method comprising stripping the trunk line (14) to reveal a junction portion (located at 20) of the trunk line (14, Paragraph 94), b. stripping ends of the one or more branch cables Left and right 12) to be coupled to the trunk line (14, Paragraph 94), c. providing a connector (20) comprising a junction area (located at 20) where the stripped portions of the one or more branch cables (left and right 20) can lay flat against the junction portion of the trunk line (14, Figs 35-38) to electrically couple the branch cables (left and right 12) to the trunk line (14), and an overmold (24) substantially encapsulating the junction area (located at 20), wherein the overmold (24) comprising one or more branch entry pathways (Fig 47) disposed proximate one or more corners of the overmold (24) forming one or more trunk line entry pathways (Fig 47), wherein the one or more branch entry pathways (Fig 47) are angled so that the branch cable (left and right 12) enters into the junction area (located at 20) to be coupled with the trunk line (14) such that two bends in the branch cable (12) are required inside the connector (35, Fig 47) and an undermold (22, Fig 48) for securing the stripped portions (located at 20, Fig 35) of the trunk cable (14) and branch cables (left and right 12) together (Fig 47), and d. inserting the one or more stripped branch cable ends (left and right 12) into the connector (20, Fig 35) and e. securing the connector (20) to couple the branch cables (left and right 12) to the trunk line (14, Fig 35). With respect to claim 16, Solon discloses a method wherein the trunk line entry pathways (top hole, Figs 24 & 26) have a larger diameter than the branch entry pathways (bottom hole, Figs 24 & 26) so that the trunk line entry pathways may accept a larger diameter line (Figs 24 & 26). With respect to claim 17, Solon discloses a method wherein a plurality of trunk bus connectors (35, Figs 5-6) may be placed in tandem along a single trunk line (14, Figs 5-6). With respect to claim 18, Solon discloses a method wherein the trunk bus connector (35) comprising two branch entry pathways (left and right top pathways for feeder line 14, Fig 7). With respect to claim 19, Solon discloses a method wherein the bus connector (35) comprising three branch entry pathways (left and right top pathways for feeder line 14, and one pathway for feeder line 12, Fig 7). With respect to claim 20, Solon discloses a method wherein the bus connector (35) comprising four branch entry pathways (left and right top pathways for feeder line 14, and left and right pathway for feeder line 12, Fig 31).
While Solon discloses that the one or more branch entry pathways (Fig 47) are bent and angled so that the branch cable (left and right 12) enters into the junction area (located at 20) to be coupled with the trunk line (14) such that two bends in the branch cable (12) are required inside the connector (35, Fig 47), Solon doesn’t necessarily disclose the branch cable being coupled with the trunk line within the junction area such that only a single bend in the branch cable is required inside the trunk bus connector, wherein the overmold is configured to secure the one or more branch cables to maintain the single bend in the branch cable inside the trunk bus connector via the one or more branch entry pathways (claim 1), nor the method of coupling one or more branch cable to a trunk line, wherein the method comprises inserting the branch cable being coupled with the trunk line within the junction area such that only a single bend in the branch cable is required inside the trunk bus connector and wherein the overmold is configured to secure the one or more branch cables to maintain the single bend in the branch cable inside the trunk bus connector via the one or more branch entry pathways (claim 11).
Chen teaches a special cable branch connector (Fig 1) that is simple, firm and safe, quick and convenient, while also eliminating the cable prefabrication cycle and shortening the entire power construction cycle (Paragraph 20), and while also reducing manufacturing cost (Paragraph 18). Specifically, with respect to claims 1 & 11, Chen teaches a trunk bus connector (Fig 1) for electrically coupling a branch cable (2) to a trunk line (1), wherein the connector (Fig 1) comprising a junction area (located at 5), where stripped portions (4) of the branch cable (2) can lay flat against a stripped portion (3) of the trunk line (1) to electrically couple the branch cable (2) to the trunk line (1), an overcoat (9) substantially encapsulating the junction area (located at 5), wherein the overcoat (9) comprising a branch entry pathways (located at 8) disposed proximate one or more corners (bottom right) of the overcoat (9) forming a trunk line entry pathway (Fig 1), wherein the branch entry pathway (located at 8) is angled so that the branch cable (2) is inserted into the respective branch entry pathway (located at 8) and enters into the junction area (located at 5) to be coupled with the trunk line (1), wherein the branch cable (2) within the junction area (located at 5) has only a single bend in the branch cable (2) that is required inside the trunk bus connector (Fig 1), and wherein the overmold (9) is configured to secure the branch cable (2) to maintain the single bend in the branch cable (2) inside the trunk bus connector (Fig 1) via the branch entry pathways (located at 8).
With respect to claims 1 & 11, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art of cables at the time the invention was made to modify the trunk bus connector of Solon to comprise wherein the one or more branch entry pathways being angled so that the branch cable enters into the junction area to be coupled with the trunk line such that only a single bend in the branch cable is required inside the trunk bus connector, rather than a two bend configuration, as taught by Chen because Chen teaches that such a configuration provides a special cable branch connector (Fig 1) that is simple, firm and safe, quick and convenient, while also eliminating the cable prefabrication cycle and shortening the entire power construction cycle (Paragraph 20), and while also reducing manufacturing cost (Paragraph 18) and since it has been held that a change in form cannot sustain patentability where involved is only extended application of obvious attributes from a prior art. In re Span-Deck Inc. vs. Fab-Con Inc. (CA 8, 1982) 215 USPQ 835.
Claim(s) 4, 5, 14, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Solon (Pub Num 2016/0072431) in view of Chen (CN Pat Num 2660691Y), as applied to claims 1 & 11 above (herein referred to as modified Solon), further in view of Byrne et al (Pat Num 9,531,145, herein referred to as Byrne). Modified Solon discloses a trunk bus connector (Figs 5-60) that couples a plurality of electrical trunking assemblies without the usage of a combiner box (abstract), as disclosed above with respect to claims 1 & 11.
While modified Solon discloses that the one or more branch entry pathways (Fig 47) are angled so that the branch cable (left and right 12) enters into the junction area (located at 20) to be coupled with the trunk line (14) such that only a single bend in the branch cable (12) is required inside the connector (35, Fig 47), Solon doesn’t necessarily disclose the branch entry pathways are angled at approximately 30 to 50 degrees relative to the trunk line entry pathways (claims 4 & 14), nor the branch entry pathways are angled at approximately 45 degrees relative to the trunk line entry pathways (claims 5 & 15).
Byrne teaches a branched electrical system (Figs 1-24) configurable to provide multiple user with access to electrical power in different environments (Col 4, lines 15-20), wherein branches can be added or removed as desired (Col 4, lines 36-42), wherein the angles and/or orientation of the branch lines to the main line may be selected according to the general direction of the branch line to provide visual cue to an installer of the general direction of the flow of electrical current through the branched electrical system so that proper orientation of the branched line relative to another can be readily ascertained without reference to power plug and electrical connectors (Col 8, lines 1-13). Specifically, with respect to claims 4-5 and 14-15, Byrne teaches a branch connector (60, Figs 6-11) housing the main cable (52) in the main section (Figs 6-11), wherein the one or more branch entry pathways (located at 60d) is angled so that the branch cable (50) enters into the junction area (located at 60) to be coupled with the trunk line (52), wherein the angle at which the branch cable (50) approaches the trunk line (52) and the angle the branch entry pathways (located at 60d) may be angled at approximately 30-50 degrees (i.e. 45o, as shown in Fig 15, Col 8, lines 15-20).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art of cables at the time the invention was made to modify the trunk bus connector of modified Solon to comprise the branch cable approaching the trunk line and the branch entry pathways to be between approximately 45 degrees configuration as taught by Byrne because Byrne teaches that such a configuration provides a branched electrical system (Figs 1-24) configurable to provide multiple user with access to electrical power in different environments (Col 4, lines 15-20), wherein branches can be added or removed as desired (Col 4, lines 36-42), wherein the angles and/or orientation of the branch lines to the main line may be selected according to the general direction of the branch line to provide visual cue to an installer of the general direction of the flow of electrical current through the branched electrical system so that proper orientation of the branched line relative to another can be readily ascertained without reference to power plug and electrical connectors (Col 8, lines 1-13) and since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 4-11, and 14-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the enclosed PTO-892 form for the citation of pertinent art in the present case, all of which disclose various trunk bus connectors.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM H MAYO III whose telephone number is (571)272-1978. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Thurs (5:30a-3:00p) Fri 5:30a-2p (w/alternating Fridays off).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani Hayman can be reached on (571) 270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/William H. Mayo III/
William H. Mayo III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
WHM III
May 20, 2026
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