DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed on March 12, 2026. Claims 1-7 are under consideration.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitation—the first interposition provided between all of the adjacent optical fibers within that unit, for preventing the optical fibers within that unit from coming into contact with each other—must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Fig. 4 is the only drawing that illustrates the “first interposition 12”. However, no other drawings show the first interposition provided between all of the adjacent optical fibers within that unit. Fig. 4 is replicated below which shows the first interposition 12 is provided in the top portion of the cable, referencing the bolded line along the longitudinal direction. The fibers at the bottom of the cable are not in contact with the first interposition 12. No new matter should be entered.
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Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parke (US 2017/0271046 A1, herein “Parke”) in view of Risch et al. (US 10,782,496 B1, herein “Risch”) and Overton et al. (US 2009/0279833 A1, herein “Overton”) .
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Regarding claim 1, Parke discloses in Fig. 6 an optical cable (51) comprising one or more units (53, 54, 56, and 57) each including a plurality of optical fibers (61) being bundled by a bundle tape (35, 37; Para [0047]), wherein each of the units consists only optical fibers and a first interposition (gel 64; Para [0055]), the first interposition provided between all of the adjacent optical fibers within that unit, and the optical fibers and the first interposition are bundled by the bundle tape in a state where the optical fibers and the first interposition are in contact with each other (Fig. 1 and 6).
However, Parke does not explicitly disclose “provided between all of the adjacent optical fibers within that unit, for preventing the optical fibers from coming into contact with each other”.
Risch teaches optical cable with buffer tube fabricated using an emulsion lubricant. The emulsion lubricant is applied to the surface of the optical fibers (160) prior to the polymeric sheath (140) and the swellable-thread (410 “first interposition”) extruding around the optical fibers (160). After the swellable-thread (410) surrounds the optical fibers (160), the ions in the swellable-thread (410) absorb the water of the emulsion lubricant, leaving a thin layer of silicone (420) between the optical fibers (160) and the swellable-thread (410) or polymeric sheath (140). The thin layer of silicon (420) provides mechanical lubrication and reduces stiction (static friction) and buildup of static charges without the drippage observed in conventional gel-free buffer tubes (Fig. 4D and Col. 7, lines 20-43). As shown in replicated Fig. 4D below, the first interposition (swellable thread 410) is an elastic body (“swellable”) arranged in around each individual fiber (160) and the first interposition are bundled together within sheath (140). Risch teaches the “swellable-thread 410 extruding around the optical fibers 160, in which the examiner considers to be along the length of the fiber. Extrusion is a process used to create objects with a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section (Extrusion - Wikipedia).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize the prevention of friction stress between the optical fibers and the static electric buildup can benefit the optical cable in Parke. One would exchange the gel in Parke’s invention with the silicone coating and swellable-thread around the fibers forming the interposition for preventing static electric buildup and stiction between the optical fibers and the polymeric sheath. One would be motivated to exchange the gel in Parke’s invention with the silicone coating and swellable-thread around the fibers as the interposition to prevent stiction and improves the cleaning of the optical fibers during splicing and provides for an easier fiber optic access (Col. 7, lines 44-49). Furthermore, Risch shows one cross-section of the swellable-thread meandering around individual fibers may not explicitly and clearly teaches the swellable-thread is arranged in an entire longitudinal direction of the optical fibers. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the invention to optimize the protective function of the swellable-thread around the optical fibers and along the entire length 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 (C.C.P.A. 1955).
However, Parke and Risch is silent to the elastic body is a softer material than a coating of the optical fibers and the material is one of polypropylene, nonwoven fabric or a sponge.
Overton teaches an optical fiber cable with water-swellable element. Overton teaches an example of water-swellable tape or yarn may be made of a such as polypropylene as a lightweight carrier material within which particles or coatings of sodium polyacrylate are affixed (Para [0022]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the time of filing to recognize polypropylene is a known material that is flexible, durable, and lightweight to be used along as a cushioning material such as foam polypropylene or as water-swellable or water blocking tape. Using polypropylene as the first interposition in place of Parke’s gel or Risch’s water-swellable thread would have been obvious to one skilled in the art. Overton teaches one would be motivated to use water-swellable polypropylene tape to reduce microbending induced by the particles impinging on the optical fibers (Para [0060]).
Claim 2. Parke discloses in Fig. 5 a plurality of units (53, 54, 56, and 57); and a second interposition (73) provided between the units which prevents optical fibers each included in different units of the units from coming into contact with each other, wherein the units are bundled by a jacket (69) of the optical cable (51) in a state where the units (53, 54, 56, and 57) and the second interposition (73) are in contact with each other.
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Claim 3. Parke further discloses the second interposition has water absorbency (Para [0052]). The examiner considers the adhesive strips (73) being activated by water or some other liquid to have water absorbency property.
Claim 4-5. Parke further discloses a third interposition (water tapes or armor layer 71, Para [0050]), which holds the individual fibers prevents the optical fibers included in any of the units from coming into contact with the jacket (69).
Claim 6. Parke in view of Risch teach the first interposition has water absorbency. The swellable-thread (410) is a superabsorbent material capable of absorbing water (Risch: Col. 8, lines 42-54).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Parke in view of Risch and Overton as applied to claim 1 above, and further view of Graham et al. (US 5,751,879, herein “Graham”).
Parke in view of Risch and Overton (herein “Parke / Risch / Overton”) teach the invention of claim 1, however, Parke / Risch / Overton do not teach a color of the first interposition differs from those of the bundle tape and optical fibers.
Graham teaches an optical fiber cable including spacers (26) for filling the interstitial space within the outer jacket (24). Graham also teaches color coding fiber unit (Col. 2, lines 8-36) to inform the technician the correct fiber unit to splice (Col. 11, lines 15-25).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize the color coding technique of Graham can be adopted to the optical cable of Parke / Risch / Overton by color coding the fiber units and the gel since the translucency of the gel allows for technician to easily identify the loose tube fibers and other binding structure such as bundle tape. One would be motivated to color the gel, bundle tape, and loose tube fibers for ease of identification during maintenance operations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-7 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
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erin D Chiem whose telephone number is (571)272-3102. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am - 6 pm.
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, Thomas A. Hollweg can be reached at (571) 270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIN D CHIEM/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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