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
Response to Appeal Brief
Applicant’s Appeal Brief filed January 15, 2026 has been fully considered and is persuasive. As such, the action below will be non-final.
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Sutherland (US 2020/0132934 A1) in view of Shibata et al. (US 2020/0044389 A1), further in view of Smith et al. (US 2019/0101707 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 13, Sutherland discloses an optical connector assembly comprising first and second optical connectors, the first optical connector (100P in Figs. 8A-8B) comprising a housing (110) and an optical ferrule (500) housed in, and configured to move relative to the housing (paragraph 0098), the optical ferrule configured to mate with a mating second optical connector (100R) comprising a mating housing (600 and 750) and mating optical waveguides (640) housed in, and fixed relative to, the mating housing, the housing comprising at least one first engagement feature (224) for engaging a corresponding first mating engagement feature (803) of the mating housing of the mating optical connector, causing the optical ferrule to move relative to the housing (paragraph 0123 discloses how a pressing force is applied to carrier member 300 which moves it downward, along with ferrule assembly 500).
Still regarding claims 1, 8 and 13, Sutherland teaches the claimed invention except for the mating engagement feature comprising a first portion and a second portion along a second direction. Shibata discloses a mated pair of optical connectors (1, 2 in Figs. 4 and 5) comprising at least one first engagement feature (23) for engaging a corresponding first mating engagement feature (56, 57) of the mating housing of the mating optical connector, such that: when the optical connector moves from a partial to a full mating position relative to the mating optical connector, the at least one first engagement feature transitions from engaging a first portion (56) of the first mating engagement feature to a second portion (57) of the first mating engagement feature, and wherein the first mating engagement feature (56, 57) of the mating housing of the mating optical connector comprises an elongated opening defined in, and extending along, a sidewall of the mating housing, wherein the first portion (56) of the first mating engagement feature comprises a first portion of the elongated opening extending along the sidewall of the mating housing along a first direction and the second portion (57) of the first mating engagement feature comprises a second portion of the elongated opening extending along the sidewall of the mating housing along a different second direction (see Figs. 4 and 5; 57 extends along a different second direction than 56 allowing for temporary and permanent engagement as described in paragraphs 0035-0038). Since both of the inventions relate to optical devices, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to use the mating engagement feature comprising a first portion and a second portion along a second direction as disclosed by Shibata in the device of Sutherland for the purpose of preventing the operator from unintentionally detaching one of the connectors during mating of the connectors.
Still regarding claims 1, 8 and 13, the proposed combination of Sutherland and Shibata teaches the claimed invention except for redirecting the light to a second ferrule. Smith discloses a mated pair of optical ferrules (1301A, 1301B in Fig. 15) comprising an optical ferrule (1301A) comprising an input surface for receiving and transmitting a central light ray from an optical fiber (1302) attached to the optical ferrule, a light redirecting side (1522) for receiving along a first direction, the central light ray transmitted by the input surface and redirecting the received light along a different second direction, the redirected central light ray exiting the optical ferrule through an output surface of the optical ferrule in Figs. 19A-19B and paragraphs 0136-0137. Since all of the inventions relate to optical devices, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to redirect the light to a second ferrule as disclosed by Smith in the device of the proposed combination of Sutherland and Shibata for the purpose of reducing transmission loss.
Regarding claim 2, Sutherland discloses the at least one first engagement feature comprises a protrusion (224) protruding from an exterior surface of a sidewall (200) of the housing along a direction substantially orthogonal to a mating direction of the optical connector in Fig. 8A.
Regarding claim 3, Sutherland discloses the housing comprises a pair of opposing first engagement features (224) disposed on corresponding pair of opposing sidewalls (200) of the housing, the pair of opposing first engagement features configured to engage a pair of corresponding opposing first mating engagement features (802) of the mating housing of the mating optical connector in Fig. 8A.
Regarding claim 5, Sutherland discloses the elongated opening extends from an open end of the elongated opening to an opposing closed end of the elongated opening in Fig. 8A.
Regarding claim 6, Sutherland discloses the optical ferrule rests on at least one support (324 in Figs. 3A-3B) of the housing, and wherein when the at least one first engagement feature transitions from engaging the first portion of the first mating engagement feature to the second portion of the first mating engagement feature, the transition causes the optical ferrule to separate from the at least one support in paragraph 0098.
Regarding claim 7, Smith in view of the rejection above, further discloses a plurality of optical fibers (115 in Fig. 1A; paragraphs 0062-0063) attached to the optical ferrule at a first location (121) along a length of the plurality of optical fibers and attached to the housing at a different second location (110) along the length of the plurality of optical fibers.
Regarding claim 9, Smith in view of the rejection above, further discloses the optical ferrule comprises a first top surface portion (surface joining input surface 1521 and light redirecting surface 1522) joining the input surface and the light redirecting side, and a second top surface portion (top surface of 1315) extending from the light redirecting side toward a front mating end of the optical ferrule, and wherein the first and second top surface portions of the optical ferrule are bonded to the housing.
Regarding claim 10, Sutherland discloses a plurality of optical fibers (10) attached to the optical ferrule, an end face of each optical fiber disposed proximate and facing the input surface, wherein for at least one fiber, an opposite end face of the optical fiber is disposed proximate an optical transceiver (paragraph 0002) configured to at least one of receive light from and transmit light to the optical fiber.
Regarding claim 11, Sutherland discloses the optical transceiver comprises at least one of an optical detector and a light source in paragraph 0002.
Regarding claim 12, Sutherland discloses an optical transceiver disposed proximate and facing the input surface and configured to at least one of receive light from and transmit light to the optical ferrule in paragraph 0002.
Regarding claim 14, Sutherland discloses the mating optical waveguides bonded to the second housing in Fig. 6B.
Regarding claim 15, Sutherland discloses the optical component is an optical fiber (10) attached to the optical ferrule.
Regarding claim 16, Sutherland discloses the optical component is an optical transceiver disposed proximate and facing the input surface and configured to at least one of receive light from and transmit light to the optical ferrule in paragraph 0002.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed January 15, 2026, with respect to claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRIS H CHU whose telephone number is (571)272-8655. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached on 571-272-239797. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general or clerical nature should be directed to the Technology Center 2800 receptionist at telephone number (571) 272-1562.
Chris H. Chu
/CHRIS H CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874 March 16, 2026