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
Applicant’s election with traverse of Group I (claim 9-18), in response/amendment (with claims 1-8 cancelled, claims 19- 31 withdrawn, new claim 32 is added) is acknowledged. The traverse is on the grounds that the search for group III can be done without serious burden which is not found persuasive as previously cited by the examiner each invention would require different search strings with significant burden. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Note applicant has submitted the amended claims in the applicant’s response/arguments.
Applicant is kindly advised in next response to this examiner’s action to submit claims and the corresponding response in separate sheets.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by Applicant(s) in the information Disclosure Statement(s) have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form(s) PTO-1449).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 9-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 9, 32 and 12 are indefinite for respectively citing reciting a connector engagement surface at the second end, and wherein the second end comprises a cable crimp member, as there is no citation of a first end or a second end in the claim, thus lacking a first end as well as lacking antecedent basis for the claimed invention, thus making the claims vague/indefinite.
Claims 19-18 are rejected because of dependency to claim 1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Claims 9 and 12-18 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over “Luther” et al., US 20080044137 A1.
Regarding claim 9, Luther teaches a fiber optic connector (see figs. 1-8 and summary) comprising:
a connector housing 42 comprising a rear end and a front end with a longitudinal passageway extending from the rear end to the front end (shown in figs. 4-7 parag. 0023-0024); and a retention body comprising:
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a front end and a rear end (around item 9); at least one opening between the front end and the rear end; a front end wall at the front end; a fiber guide extending from the front end wall (clearly shown in at least figs.3-8), wherein the fiber guide defines a fiber opening in the front end wall for receiving an optical fiber of a fiber optic cable (clearly shown in at least figs.3/8); and
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a connector engagement surface at the second end, wherein the connector engagement surface contacts the rear end of the connector housing (clearly shown in at least figs.3 and parag. 0002).
Luther further teaches:
12. The fiber optic connector of claim 9, wherein the second end comprises a cable crimp member (see fig. 1 and 3-6. At least parag. 0027).
13. The fiber optic connector of claim9,wherein the connector engagement surface comprises a shoulder (clearly shown in at least figs.3).
14. The fiber optic connector of claim 9, wherein the connector engagement surface comprises a tab that extends radially outward (clearly shown in at least figs.3).
15. The fiber optic connector of claim 9, wherein the fiber guide is configured to be crimped onto the optical fiber (see fig. 1 and 3-6. At least parag. 0027).
16. The fiber optic connector of claim 9, wherein the retention body is cylindrical (see fig. 8)..
17. The fiber optic connector of claim 9, further comprising a heat shrink element disposed around the fiber guide and within the passageway of the connector housing (housing (see at least parag. 0008 and 0025)..
18. The fiber optic connector of claim 9, wherein the connector housing comprises at least one connector housing aperture aligned with the at least one opening of the retention body (see at least figs. 4-7).
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
Prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. In accordance with MPEP 707.05 the following references are pertinent in rejection of this application since they provide substantially the same information disclosure as this patent does. These references are:
US 20220171138 A1
US 12523824 B2
US 20200057224 A1
US 12517306 B2
US 20080226234 A1
WO 2022098600 A1
US 10782484 B2
US 20130322826 A1
US 12265268 B2
US 20250208357 A1
US 7708469 B2
US 9297972 B2
US 20190384017 A1
US 20080175541 A1
US 20090148104 A1
US 20090003772 A1
US 20080044137 A1
US 20200049903 A1
US 20200049922 A1
US 20180003902 A1
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEH C KIANNI whose telephone number is (571)272-2417. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-19.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KAVEH C KIANNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874