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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/13/2026 has been entered.
Inventorship
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues, on pages 7-9 of the Remarks dated 4/13/2026, that Eslambolchi/Stanford do not teach the modified claim 8 limitations incorporated into the amendment of claim 1 because the second body contact member is extended in the third direction on the same side as the first body contact member in the unfolded state instead of the second body contact member is extended in the third direction on the opposite side as the first body contact member (Emphasis added). The examiner disagrees because a “side” is rather unspecific. As directed to “a side of the one long wall portion of the pair of long wall portions”, this could mean two “sides” opposing in a left-right direction (the second direction as claimed) or opposing in an up-down direction (the third direction, as claimed). The Applicant has specified that the second body contact member is “extended in the third direction” which can still be true regardless of if the comparable members have been provided with a left-right opposition or an up-down opposition. The annotation below shows both of these interpretations for clarity.
PNG
media_image1.png
1332
938
media_image1.png
Greyscale
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) 1, 3-5, 7, and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eslambolchi et al. in US Patent 6,179,278 B1 (hereinafter "Eslambolchi") and in view of Stanford in US 20030164124 A1 (hereinafter "Stanford") and in further view of Song in CN 112255731 A (hereinafter "Song").
Regarding claim 1, Eslambolchi discloses a tray (fiber optic cable splicing work station 10) for fusion splicing work which is used for fusion splicing work for an optical fiber (see Abstract), comprising:
a tray main body (12) including a pair of long wall portions opposing each other and extending along a first direction (see Annotated Fig. 1), and a pair of short wall portions opposing each other and extending along a second direction intersecting with the first direction (see Annotated Fig. 1), the tray main body (12) being provided with a placement portion (18) on which a fusion splicer (20) is able to be placed within a rectangular region (see how 18 is rectangular in Fig. 1) defined by the pair of long wall portions and the pair of short wall portions (see Annotated Fig. 1); and
a first body contact member (a single leg 40 as in Annotated Fig. 1) including an outer surface (any outer surface of 40) configured to come into contact with a body of an operator (an exemplary foot, leg, or hand may come into contact with 40 during use) using the fusion splicer (20) and attached to the tray main body (12) on a side of one long wall portion of the pair of long wall portions (leg 40 is attached to a long wall portion in Fig. 1),
wherein the first body contact member (40) is able to be transitioned between an unfolded state in which the outer surface is unfolded in a third direction intersecting with the first direction and the second direction (see Annotated Fig. 1 where the unfolded state is shown), and a housed state in which the first body contact member is housed from the unfolded state (see Col. 3 lines 15-16 which implies that a housed state exists),
wherein the tray main body (12) includes a first region (work surface 16) in which the placement portion (18) is provided and a second region (the underside of 12 which is opposite to 16) on a side opposite to the first region (16) in the tray main body (12) in the third direction (see Annotated Fig. 1),
wherein the first body contact member (40) is connected to the tray main body (12) with a hinge mechanism (since 40 is foldable/collapsible, 40 is interpreted as inherently having a hinge mechanism) in the second region (see Annotated Fig. 1 where 40 is connected to the underside of 12),
wherein the tray for fusion splicing work further comprises a second body contact member attached to the tray main body on a side of the one long wall portion of the pair of long wall portions (a second leg is interpreted as the second body contact member which is attached to the interpreted tray main body 12 and is contacted by a hand when assembled into the unfolded state; the attachment is on a right side of the one long wall portion of the pair of long wall potions wherein the first body contact member is interpreted as being on the left side in the annotated Fig. 1 of Eslambolchi provided with the Response to Arguments above), and
the second body contact member is extended in the third direction (both leg portions interpreted as first and second body contact members extend in the third direction, see the annotated figure below) on a side opposite to the first body contact member in the unfolded state (when the leg portions are unfolded, the leg portions 40 interpreted as first and second body contact members exist on opposite sides in a left-right opposition; see the interpreted first and second body contact members in annotated Figure 1 below; see annotated Fig. 1 above highlighting left-right opposition).
PNG
media_image2.png
426
605
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Annotated Figure 1
Eslambolchi fails to disclose that the first body contact member:
includes a pair of shaft portions,
wherein each of the shaft portions is inserted into a recess provided in the second region to function as the hinge mechanism.
Stanford, in Fig. 2, teaches a similar body contact member (pivotable support pedestal 18 is interpreted as a body contact member since it will contact a hand during assembly) that includes a pair of shaft portions (ends 88 of cross pole 86 are interpreted as shaft portions), and
wherein each of the shaft portions (88) is inserted into a recess (apertures 46) provided in the second region (apertures 46 are interpreted as being provided on the side rails of the underside of the table which is interpreted as the second region) to function as the hinge mechanism (Para. 48 discloses how pedestal 18 moves between an extended and collapsed position which necessarily means that the cross pole and its respective ends function as the hinge mechanism).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the body contact member of Stanford in the tray of Eslambolchi for the purpose of pivotably fixing the shaft portions in a single dimension thereby achieving increased product longevity, ease of storing, usability, and portability.
Eslambolchi/Stanford fails to disclose that the second body contact member is detachably attached.
Song teaches legs that can be detachably attached (see Fig. 2, 4, and 7 where convex shell 401 is used as an attachment means into a portion of first platen 1; note that the internal spring allows for compression so that the legs may be removed; “the purpose of rapidly installing and detaching the convex shell 401 is achieved”, wherein the convex shell is at the top of the leg 6).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the detachably attached legs of Song as a feature of the second body contact member of Eslambolchi/Stanford for the purpose of being able to remove the second body contact member thereby achieving increased mobility of the user when moving the tray or to extend product life by adding the ability to easily replace broken legs.
Regarding claim 3, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses the tray for fusion splicing work according to claim 1 as discussed above, wherein, in the unfolded state, the first body contact member (40) includes a main body portion that extends in the first direction (the portion of 40 connected to 12 is interpreted as the main body portion as seen in Fig. 1) along an edge portion (the surface portion touching 40 is interpreted as the edge portion) of the one long wall portion (see Annotated Fig. 1) of the tray main body (12) to which the first body contact member (40) is attached, and a pair of leg portions (two portions of 40 extending in the third direction are interpreted as a pair of leg portions) that extend in the third direction (see Annotated Fig. 1) away from the tray main body (12) with both ends of the main body portion in the first direction as base ends (the sides of 40 facing the first direction are interpreted as these ends).
Regarding claims 4-5, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses the tray for fusion splicing work according to claim 3 as discussed above, but is silent regarding:
wherein a length of each of the pair of leg portions (portions of 40) is greater than a length of the tray main body (12) in the third direction (a length may be interpreted as any length such that any length of each of the pair of leg portions that is greater than a length of the tray main body in the third direction meets the limitation of the claim), and
wherein, in the unfolded state, a width of the main body portion (the portion of 40 connected to 12) in the third direction is one-half or less of a length of each of the pair of leg portions (a width may be interpreted as any width such that any width of the main body portion in the third direction that is one-half or less of a length of each of the pair of leg portions (portions of 40)).
However, motivated by a desire to appropriately size the device of Eslambolchi for different situations, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Eslambolchi such that a length of each of the pair of leg portions is greater than a length of the tray main body in the third direction and such that, in the unfolded state, a width of the main body portion in the third direction is one-half or less of a length of each of the pair of leg portions, and since such modifications would have involved a mere change in the size of a component (a change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art; In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 CCPA 1955); and to select the length of each of the pair of leg portions and the width of the main body portion to be within the claimed range, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art (In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233).
Regarding claim 7, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses the tray for fusion splicing work according to claim 1 as discussed above,
wherein the outer surface of the first body contact member (40) includes a curved surface portion (the wheel at an end of 40 is interpreted as having a curved surface portion) protruding in a direction (the wheel protrudes in all directions and thus at least one of these directions must meet the claim limitation) from the outside toward the inside of the tray main body (12).
Regarding claim 10, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses the tray for fusion splicing work according claim 1 as discussed above,
wherein at least one wall portion of the pair of long wall portions and the pair of short wall portions is provided with a notch (26, 28) depressed inside the tray main body (12; see Annotated Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 11, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses a fusion splicer set comprising:
a housing case (splice enclosure lid (see Col. 3 lines 12) is interpreted as a housing case) including the tray (12) for fusion splicing work according to claim 1; and
a fusion splicer (20) placed on the placement portion (18) of the tray (12),
wherein the tray (12) for fusion splicing work is detachable (see Col. 3 lines 12-13) from the housing case (splice enclosure lid).
Claim(s) 6 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eslambolchi et al. in US Patent 6,179,278 B1 (hereinafter "Eslambolchi") in view of Stanford in US 20030164124 A1 (hereinafter "Stanford") and Song in CN 112255731 A as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Zhao in CN 105842789 A (hereinafter "Zhao").
Regarding claim 6, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses the tray for fusion splicing work according to claim 3 as discussed above,
wherein the tray main body (12) includes a connection portion (the connection portion is interpreted as the portion of the tray main body between the pair of leg portions, as defined, when viewed in the third direction), and
wherein, in the housed state, the connection portion exists between the pair of leg portions when viewed in the third direction (since the leg portions as defined do not change with respect to each other between housed and unfolded states, the connection portion also cannot change with respect to the leg portions due to such a change in state and therefore remains existent between the pair of leg portion when viewed in any direction, including the third direction)
but fails to explicitly teach that a tripod that supports the tray is able to be connected.
Zhao explicitly teaches that a tripod that supports the tray is able to be connected (see Fig. 5).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a tripod attachment portion of Zhao in the tray of Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song for the purpose of optionally attaching a tripod thereby achieving increased tray stability and providing additional customization for the end user.
Regarding claim 9, Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song discloses the tray for fusion splicing work according to claim 1 as discussed above,
wherein the tray main body (12) includes
a first attachment portion which is provided on one of the pair of long wall portions(any physical surface is an attachment portion, including the surfaces provided on one of the pair of long wall portions) , and
a second attachment portion which is provided on both of the pair of short wall portions and to which a strap put around a neck of the operator is able to be attached (a portion of the short wall portions, as defined, is interpreted as second attachment portions since a user could attach a neck strap at said portions).
Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song is silent to the concept of attaching a belt to put around a waist of the operator.
Zhao teaches an attachment portion to which a belt put around a waist of the operator is able to be attached (see Fig. 7 which shows a neck and waist strap).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the waist belt of Zhao in the tray of Eslambolchi/Stanford/Song for the purpose of being able to carry the splice tray thereby achieving greater mobility of the operator.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eslambolchi et al. in US Patent 6,179,278 B1 (hereinafter "Eslambolchi") and in view of Liguo et al. in CN 210742585 U (hereinafter "Liguo") and in further view of Song in CN 112255731 A (hereinafter "Song").
Regarding claim 1, Eslambolchi discloses a tray (fiber optic cable splicing work station 10) for fusion splicing work which is used for fusion splicing work for an optical fiber (see Abstract), comprising:
a tray main body (12) including a pair of long wall portions opposing each other and extending along a first direction (see Annotated Fig. 1), and a pair of short wall portions opposing each other and extending along a second direction intersecting with the first direction (see Annotated Fig. 1), the tray main body (12) being provided with a placement portion (18) on which a fusion splicer (20) is able to be placed within a rectangular region (see how 18 is rectangular in Fig. 1) defined by the pair of long wall portions and the pair of short wall portions (see Annotated Fig. 1); and
a first body contact member (a single leg 40 as in Annotated Fig. 1) including an outer surface (any outer surface of 40) configured to come into contact with a body of an operator (an exemplary foot, leg, or hand may come into contact with 40 during use) using the fusion splicer (20) and attached to the tray main body (12) on a side of one long wall portion of the pair of long wall portions (leg 40 is attached to a long wall portion in Fig. 1),
wherein the first body contact member (40) is able to be transitioned between an unfolded state in which the outer surface is unfolded in a third direction intersecting with the first direction and the second direction (see Annotated Fig. 1 where the unfolded state is shown), and a housed state in which the first body contact member is housed from the unfolded state (see Col. 3 lines 15-16 which implies that a housed state exists),
wherein the tray main body (12) includes a first region (work surface 16) in which the placement portion (18) is provided and a second region (the underside of 12 which is opposite to 16) on a side opposite to the first region (16) in the tray main body (12) in the third direction (see Annotated Fig. 1),
wherein the first body contact member (40) is connected to the tray main body (12) with a hinge mechanism (since 40 is foldable/collapsible, 40 is interpreted as inherently having a hinge mechanism) in the second region (see Annotated Fig. 1 where 40 is connected to the underside of 12),
wherein the tray for fusion splicing work further comprises a second body contact member attached to the tray main body on a side of the one long wall portion of the pair of long wall portions (a second leg is interpreted as the second body contact member which is attached to the interpreted tray main body 12 and is contacted by a hand when assembled into the unfolded state; the attachment is on a right side of the one long wall portion of the pair of long wall potions wherein the first body contact member is interpreted as being on the left side in the annotated Fig. 1 of Eslambolchi provided with the Response to Arguments above), and
the second body contact member is extended in the third direction (both leg portions interpreted as first and second body contact members extend in the third direction, see the annotated figure below) on a side opposite to the first body contact member in the unfolded state (when the leg portions are unfolded, the leg portions 40 interpreted as first and second body contact members exist on opposite sides in a left-right opposition; see the interpreted first and second body contact members in annotated Figure 1 above; see additional annotated Fig. 1 above highlighting left-right opposition).
Eslambolchi fails to disclose that the first body contact member:
includes a pair of shaft portions,
wherein each of the shaft portions is inserted into a recess provided in the second region to function as the hinge mechanism.
Liguo teaches a similar table set-up with a first body contact member that:
includes a pair of shaft portions (supporting leg 4 includes two interpreted shaft portions connected by an integral supporting crossbar, each shaft portion is also interpreted as comprising hinges 10 and thus functioning as a hinge mechanism; see Fig. 3-4 and 8),
wherein each of the shaft portions is inserted into a recess provided in the second region to function as the hinge mechanism (Fig. 7 clearly shows that a portion of legs 4 including hinges 10 extends into a recess formed on the underside of the table which is akin to Eslambolchi’s second region; when the table is in the folded state, all of legs 4 and hinges 10 are included in the recess, see Fig. 11)
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the shaft portions of Liguo in the body contact members of Eslambolchi for the purpose of pivotably fixing the shaft portions in a single dimension thereby achieving increased product longevity, ease of storing, usability, and portability while increasing the strength of the body contact member.
Eslambolchi/Liguo fails to disclose that the second body contact member is detachably attached.
Song teaches legs that can be detachably attached (see Fig. 2, 4, and 7 where convex shell 401 is used as an attachment means into a portion of first platen 1; note that the internal spring allows for compression so that the legs may be removed; “the purpose of rapidly installing and detaching the convex shell 401 is achieved”, wherein the convex shell is at the top of the leg 6).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the detachably attached legs of Song as a feature of the second body contact member of Eslambolchi/Liguo for the purpose of being able to remove the second body contact member thereby achieving increased mobility of the user when moving the tray or to extend product life by adding the ability to easily replace broken legs.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARBY M THOMASON whose telephone number is (703)756-5817. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm.
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, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at (571) 272-2397. 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.
/DARBY M. THOMASON/Examiner, Art Unit 2874
/UYEN CHAU N LE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights