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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wadsworth et al (2009/0291570 from WO 2011/017669 cited in PCT 237 of 7-22-24).
Wadsworth discloses a surge protector structurally configured to protect Ethernet equipment (fig.7, 143) from an electric surge (para 0052), comprising: a housing portion configured to have a first housing portion and a second housing portion (fig. 1: 110, the housing including a front part and a back part); a surge protection module structurally configured to be disposed within the housing portion and configured to be electrically coupled with an input Ethernet cable and with an output Ethernet cable (para 0132, “surge protection module 3160 can be at least partially located in the interior cavity of housing 2510”); a ground plug portion structurally configured to include a panel portion (fig.3:330, fig. 17: 1730), and a ground portion (fig.7, 1313, 750 and para 0054); wherein the second housing portion is structurally configured to include an electrical coupling portion (fig.2, 1311,1312 and fig. 7, 764,420); wherein the ground portion is structurally configured to include a proximate end extending beyond a first side of the panel portion and a distal end extending beyond a second side of the panel portion (fig. 17: 17313); wherein the ground portion is structurally configured to extend from the second side of the panel portion (para 0054, “ground prong”); wherein the proximate end of the ground portion is structurally configured to be electrically coupled with the electrical coupling portion, and the distal end of the ground portion is structurally configured to be electrically coupled with a ground of an electrical wall outlet (para 0139); wherein the second housing portion is configured to define a port on a rear exterior side of the housing portion such that the port is structurally configured to receive the panel portion of the ground plug portion (fig. 23); wherein the electrical coupling portion of the second housing portion includes a first end structurally configured to extend beyond an interior side of the second housing portion and a second end; wherein the second end of the electrical coupling portion is a ring such that at least a portion of the ring is structurally configured to extend beyond the rear exterior side of the second housing portion (para 0080); wherein the ground plug portion is structurally configured to mechanically couple the housing portion to an electrical wall outlet (para 0142); and wherein the ground portion and the electrical coupling portion of the housing portion are structurally configured to electrically couple to a ground of an electrical wall outlet via the ground plug portion when the housing portion is coupled to the electrical wall outlet such that an electrical surge on the input Ethernet cable is directed to the ground of the electrical wall outlet so as to protect equipment that is electrically connected with the output Ethernet cable from the electrical surge (paras, 0060,0062).
Claim 1 differs from the Wadsworth in that the ground portion is structurally configured to be coupled with a printed circuit board via the electrical coupling portion and also by not including the ground portion configured to include a dummy portion.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the invention to use the teachings of Wadsworth to meet the claims because using a printed circuit board to connect electrical circuit elements is conventional practice in the art and the use of dummy portions is known when connecting a non-data power source (such as a cell phone charger) to a device plug having power and data terminals.
The same reasoning applies, with the necessary changes having been made, to the subject matter of claims 7 and 15, which are also considered obvious.
With regard to claims 2,8 and 17, see para 0139, “surge protection module 3160 can be configured to protect against voltage surges above approximately 700 volts”.
With regard to claims 3,9 and 18, see para 0140, “fuses 3161,3164 and 6163 can be thermal cutoff fuses rated at 15 amps”.
With regard to claims 4,12 and 22, see fig. 23, 2300.
For claims 5,6,13,14 and 21: see fig 27: 2731-2734- showing a different configuration of plugs.
For claims 10 and 19, see fig. 1, 110, “the housing including a front and back part”.
For claims 11 and 20, see para 0139, electrical coupler 2620 and electrical outlets 2541 and 2542.
For claim 16, see fig. 7, 143,750,330,1313.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN W JACKSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2051. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-3:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-272-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SWJackson
January 7, 2026
/STEPHEN W JACKSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838