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 .
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being clearly anticipated by Lombardi (US 3972047; cited by Applicant). With respect to claims 1, 7, 17, Lombardi discloses a method and apparatus including a submersible vehicle with a body, an antenna platform 6 to float an antenna 15, 16 on the water surface, a cable 5 (with conductors 17) to connect with a connector on the body 21 and the antenna platform 15, 17, a cable manager with a base 2 coupled with the body, a cable guide (reel 4) coupled with the base, a set of carriers (resilient pinch rollers 7, 8) coupled with the base and a set of springs (take up reels 10, 11) form a set of spring loaded elements due to the effect of take up spring 9 coupled with the base, the set of springs providing retracting forces on the set of carriers, the set of retracting forces provided by the set of springs being strong enough to move the set of carriers away from the cable guide and retract the cable while the submersible is on land and further weak enough to allow the set of carriers to move toward the cable guide and dispense the cable while the vehicle is submerged in water and buoyant force from the antenna platform exceeds the set of retracting forces. The method of claim 17 inherently follows from the apparatus of Lombardi. With respect to claim 2, note Lombardi, floatation member 6 and loops 15, 16. With respect to claims 3, 5, note Lombardi, 17; Figure 5. With respect to claim 4, note Lombardi, 15, 16. With respect to claim 6, note Lombardi, Figure 4. With respect to claim 8, note Lombardi, Figure 8. With respect to claim 16, note Lombardi, all of the Figures.
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) 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lombardi (US 3972047; cited by Applicant) in view of Williams et al (US 6463868; cited by Applicant). With respect to claims 9-11, Lombardi does not disclose multiple carriers. Williams et al teach multiple carriers 48, 50 (Figures 3, 4). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the device of Lombardi with multiple carriers as taught by Williams et al with a high likelihood of success for improved reliability via force distribution. The combination combines known features to achieve predictable results. Further a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have years of experience and advanced degrees. Such a person of ordinary skill in the art would be familiar with various cable handling systems and would have found the combination to have been obvious.
Claims 12-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Strang (US 1936463) teaches a take up cable device with springs 49, 50.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN AVILA whose telephone number is (571)272-6678. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 6-4.
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STEPHEN AVILA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3617
/STEPHEN P AVILA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615