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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to a paper filed on 01/14/2026 in which claims 71-73, 75-88 and 91 are pending and ready for examination.
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) 71-73, 76-78, 80-81 and 87-88 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Binder (US 2005/0010954 A1) in view of Blair et al (hereinafter Blair) (US 2015/0286941 A1) further in view of Rose et al (hereinafter Rose) (US 9,680,390 B1).
As to claim 71, Binder discloses a control panel (Fig 16a, 165), comprising:
a plurality of coaxial cable connectors (Fig 16a, 71, 73), each coaxial cable connector configured to couple to one coaxial cable (Fig 16a, data + power cable);
a data networking head end (Fig 16a, 74) coupled to the plurality of coaxial cable connectors and coupled to the plurality of DC power sources, wherein the data networking head end is configured to provide: data via a data transfer protocol to each coaxial cable connector, and electrical power to each coaxial cable connector (see Fig 16a, parag [0155]).
Binder does not disclose a switch configured to transmit and receive data communications between the control panel and at least one edge distribution frame device.
However, Blair discloses a switch (see parag [0024]) configured to transmit and receive data communications between the control panel and at least one edge distribution frame device. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the panel of Binder to include the switch as taught by Blair in order to effectively control communication of the panel.
The combination of Binder and Blair does not disclose:
a power strip configured to receive AC power from a plurality of AC power sources;
an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) converter configured to convert the AC power from the power strip to provide a plurality of DC power sources.
However, Rose discloses a power strip (Fig 3, 312) configured to receive AC power from a plurality of AC power sources (Fig 3, 102, 104);
an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) converter configured to convert the AC power from the power strip to provide a plurality of DC power sources (see Figs 2 & 3). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the panel of Binder and Blair to include the teachings of Rose in order to provide DC power sources for the panel.
As to claim 72, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, wherein the data transfer protocol is a G.hn protocol, a multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) protocol, or a power line communications protocol (Binder, see parag [0024]).
As to claim 73, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, further comprising a plurality of optical fiber connectors (Binder, see parags [0034], [0134], claim 1), wherein the control panel is configured to communicate with another control panel through at least one of the plurality of optical fiber connectors.
As to claim 76, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, wherein the control panel is communicatively coupled to an external network (Binder, see parag [0005]).
As to claim 77, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 76, wherein the control panel is communicatively coupled to the external network via an access network (Binder, see parags [0005], [0091]).
As to claim 78, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 76, wherein the control panel is configured for wireless communication with the external network (Binder, see parag [0142]).
As to claim 80, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, wherein the switch (Blair, see parag [0024]) configured to communicate with one or more nodes, with another control panel, with a network adapter (Binder, Fi 12, 56) communicatively connected to the data networking head end, or a combination thereof.
As to claim 81, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, further comprising a wired and/or wireless connection to a cellular network, a backhaul network, an internet, an extranet, and/or a network that is in communication with the Internet (Binder, see parag [0006]).
As to claim 87, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, further comprising a power manager (Binder, Fig 16a, 57) configured to control distribution of the electrical power to one or more nodes.
As to claim 88, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose discloses the control panel of claim 71, further comprising a power distribution unit (Binder, see parag [0080]) configured to control power distribution to one or more components connected to the control panel.
Claim(s) 75 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Binder (US 2005/0010954 A1) as modified by Blair et al (hereinafter Blair) (US 2015/0286941 A1) in view of Rose et al (hereinafter Rose) (US 9,680,390 B1) further in view of Mitchell, Jr (hereinafter Mitchell (US 9,344,144 B1).
As to claim 75, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose does not disclose the control panel of claim 71, wherein each of the plurality of DC power sources is configured to provide about 48 volts of DC electrical power to each coaxial cable connector.
However, Mitchell discloses wherein each of the plurality of DC power sources is configured to provide about 48 volts of DC electrical power to each coaxial cable connector (Fig 3, col 1, lines 42-44). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power sources of Binder, Blair and Rose to be 48 volts as taught by Mitchell in order to provide the desired power to the cable.
5. Claim(s) 79 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Binder (US 2005/0010954 A1) as modified by Blair et al (hereinafter Blair) (US 2015/0286941 A1) in view of Rose et al (hereinafter Rose) (US 9,680,390 B1) further in view of Shrivastava et al (hereinafter Shrivastava) (US 2019/0294018 A1).
As to claim 79, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose does not disclose the control panel of claim 71, wherein the control panel is communicatively coupled to a controller located in the cloud.
However, Shrivastava discloses wherein the control panel is communicatively coupled to a controller located in the cloud (see parag [0238]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the control panel of Binder, Blair and Rose to include the teachings as taught by Shrivastava in order to effectively communicate through the cloud.
Claim(s) 82-86 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Binder (US 2005/0010954 A1) as modified by Blair et al (hereinafter Blair) (US 2015/0286941 A1) in view of Rose et al (hereinafter Rose) (US 9,680,390 B1) further in view of Greer (US 2014/0368899 A1).
As to claim 82, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose does not disclose the control panel of claim 71, further comprising a controller configured to send, via the data networking head end, signals to a plurality of window controllers coupled to the data networking head end.
However, Greer discloses a controller configured to send, via the data networking head end, signals to a plurality of window controllers (Fig 2, 40) coupled to the data networking head end. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the control panel of Binder, Blair and Rose to include the teachings as taught by Greer in order to effectively communicate between controllers.
As to claim 83, the combination of Binder, Blair, Rose and Greer discloses the control panel of claim 82, wherein the controller is further configured to control the plurality of window controllers (Greer, see Fig 2, parag [0009]).
As to claim 84, the combination of Binder, Blair, Rose and Greer discloses the control panel of claim 82, wherein the controller is configured to control one or more optically switchable devices (Greer, Fig 3, 106) coupled to the plurality of window controllers.
As to claim 85, the combination of Binder, Blair, Rose and Greer discloses the control panel of claim 71, wherein: the data networking head end is configured to transmit tint commands to a plurality of window controllers coupled to the data networking head end (Greer, see parag [0047]), and each window controller is coupled to one or more optically switchable devices (Greer, Fig 3, 106).
As to claim 86, the combination of Binder, Blair, Rose and Greer discloses the control panel of claim 85, wherein the plurality of window controllers is coupled to the data networking head end via trunk lines (Greer, see parags [0009-0010]).
6. Claim(s) 91 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Binder (US 2005/0010954 A1) as modified by Blair et al (hereinafter Blair) (US 2015/0286941 A1) in view of Rose et al (hereinafter Rose) (US 9,680,390 B1) further in view of CN101106257 A (hereinafter CN257).
As to claim 91, the combination of Binder, Blair and Rose does not disclose the control panel of claim 71, wherein at least one of the plurality of coaxial cable connectors is configured to provide power to the at least one edge distribution frame device.
However, CN257 discloses at least one of the plurality of coaxial cable connectors is configured to provide power to the at least one edge distribution frame device (see page 2, parag [0004]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the panel of Binder, Blair and Rose to include the teachings of CN257 in order to provide power to the frame device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC M PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5026. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
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, Rexford Barnie can be reached at 5712727492. 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.
/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2836 February 2, 2026
/Menatoallah Youssef/SPE, Art Unit 2849