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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 5 recites: “a connector at the PCB extended portion” should be --a connector block is mounted at the PCB extended portion--
Claim 1 line 8 recites: “the connector at the first end” should be -- the connector block at the first end--
Claim 4 line 2 recites: “a first Physical Layer Device or PHY” should be -- a first Physical Layer Device (PHY)--
Claim 8 line 1 recites: “wherein the module provides” should be --wherein the pluggable module provides--
Appropriate correction is required.
(Note: applicant is reminded to revise the whole claim set accordingly with Specification to prevent confusing).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, and 7-8 are as best understood and is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Non-Patent Literature (NPL) (See attached DataSheet ADIN1110).
As per claim 1: NPL (DataSheet ADIN1110) discloses a pluggable module comprising: a housing (not shown, inherent not to have a cover/housing/sleeve to house the module as shown in attached figure) having a first end and a second end; a printed circuit board (PCB) mounted within the housing and the PCB has an extended PCB portion at the first end; a connector block is mounted at the PCB extended portion at the first end of the PCB and a second end of the PCB at the second end of the housing to form an edge connector as a host interface; wherein the connector block at the first end provides a Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) interface (as shown in the attached figure below).
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As per claims 2-3, 7-8: NPL (DataSheet ADIN1110) discloses the pluggable module, wherein the Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) interface connector is mounted at the PCB extended portion at the first end of the PCB (as shown in the attached figure); and wherein the connector provides a SPE interface and includes a horizontal style SPE interface connector (as shown in the attached figure); and wherein the pluggable module provides for communication over single twisted pair on a line side interface of the module (see Page 13 of Datasheet (ADIN1110); wherein the ADIN1110 requires an external hybrid between the TXN/TXP and RXN/RXP pins and the twisted wire pair).
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.
Claim(s) 5-6, and 9 are as best understood and is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Non-Patent Literature (NPL) (DataSheet ADIN1110).
As per claims 5-6: NPL discloses the pluggable module, and 1st and 2nd PHY (see NPL datasheet, as shown in page 22 of Datasheet (ADIN1110). However, NPL does not explicitly disclose wherein a first PHY is provided on the PCB proximate the first end of the PCB; and wherein a second PHY is provided on the PCB proximate the second end of the PCB.
On the other hand, according to the NPL Datasheet (ADIN1110) page 22 described the 2 PHYs in a diagram. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art would know that having the 1st and 2nd PHY on the PCB as recited above can only deal with location of parts because such modification still would not change the function of the PHY or the module after all, beside applicants have presented no explanation having a configuration of the locations as recited from the instant invention are significant or are anything more than on numerous configurations a person of ordinary skill in the art would find obvious. Since, a change in shape is generally recognizing as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Dailey, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1976).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to further modify the pluggable module of NPL by having a first PHY is provided on the PCB proximate the first end of the PCB; and wherein a second PHY is provided on the PCB proximate the second end of the PCB as taught by the instant invention to further enhance a stable, reliable and secure the networks which connected to the pluggable module.
As per claim 9: NPL discloses the pluggable module and the extended portion of the PCB (as shown in the attached figure above). However, NPL does not explicitly disclose wherein the extended portion of the PCB provides an enlarged housing portion to extend beyond a bezel of a host device.
Although, NPL does not explicitly mention the housing of the pluggable module. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art would know that it is inherent not to have a cover/housing to house the whole pluggable module in order to provide protection to the pluggable module against harsh environments or to shield it from electromagnetic field.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to further modify the pluggable module of NPL by having the extended portion of the PCB provides an enlarged housing portion to extend beyond a bezel of a host device as taught by the instant invention to further provide protection to the pluggable module against harsh environments or to shield it from electromagnetic field.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Claims 10-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: with regards to claim 10, NPL (Datasheet ADIN1110) is the closest prior art of record regards to the instant invention of claim 10. However, NPL does not teach: “wherein a second PHY device including an SGMII Ethernet host interface; the first and second PHY devices provide for migration of standard SGMII host interface Ethernet to SPE protocol wherein communication is achieved over single twisted pair on a line side interface connector of the module”. The above noted structure in combination with other recitations within the claims is not shown by a single prior art document and the examiner knows of no reasonable rational to combine the prior art of record such that the claimed invention would have been obvious at prior to the filing of this application.
Claims 11-19 are dependent on claim 10 and are therefore allowable.
with regards to claim 20, NPL is the closest prior art of record regards to the instant invention of claim 10. However, NPL does not teach: “wherein a second PHY device including an SGMII Ethernet host interface; the module provides for migration of standard SGMII host interface Ethernet to SPE protocol wherein communication over single twisted pair on a line side interface of the module is provided”. The above noted structure in combination with other recitations within the claims is not shown by a single prior art document and the examiner knows of no reasonable rational to combine the prior art of record such that the claimed invention would have been obvious at prior to the filing of this application.
Therefore, claim 20 is allowable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANG H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-0288. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.H.N/ Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831