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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 November 25, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s Amendment filed on November 24, 2025 has been fully considered and entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: “each of the arc sections has different radius” in lines 1-2 of claim 18 should be – each of the arc sections has a different radius--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 5, which depends from claim 1, recites the limitation “wherein the first extension is configured to attached the central shutter pair to the adapter housing”. Claim 1 recites the limitation “wherein the link element includes a first extension extending from the link element and configured to secure the central shutter pair to the adapter housing” in lines 9-10 of claim 1. Since attach and secure are considered to be synonyms, claim 5 fails to further limit claim 1.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ezawa Katsuya (JP 2002-116350 A).
Regarding claims 1-3 and 5-16; Ezawa Katsuya discloses a fiber optic adapter (1; see Figures 1 and 2) comprising:
an adapter housing (3, 3’) comprising a top wall, a bottom wall, two opposing sidewalls, and a partition wall (17) extending from the top wall to the bottom wall and dividing the housing into two channels (6), and
a central shutter pair (5, 5’) mounted to the partition wall (17), the central shutter pair (5, 5’) having a first arm (14) and second arm (14) configured to extend into the two channels (6) respectively (see Figures 1 and 2),
wherein the central shutter pair (5, 5’) is provided with a link element (13) connecting the first and second arms (14), and the link element (13) is configured and shaped to receive the partition wall (17),
wherein the link element (13) includes a first extension (18/19) extending from the link element (13) and configured to secure/attach the central shutter pair (5, 5’) to the adapter housing (3, 3’);
wherein the first and second arms (14) are sized and shaped to cooperatively close at least one channel (6, 6’; the arms 14 cooperate with the adapter housing 3, 3’ to close at least one channel 6), and at least one of the first arm or second arm (14) is configured to be resiliently movable in a direction to open the channel (6) upon insertion of a fiber optic connector (2);
further comprising a first shutter (5) and a second shutter (5’) attached to the two opposing sidewalls (17, the sidewalls are part of opposing housing sections (3, 3’) and extend in opposite directions from a center of the adapter) each of the first and second shutters (5, 5’) having a first member and a second member (14), wherein the first member is configured to extend into an adjacent channel (6; the term “adjacent” simply implies that the channels are “nearby”);
wherein the adapter housing includes a first window (groove to receive locking piece 19; the groove is not pictures; see the description of locking piece 19 of the extension 18/19) on the top wall or bottom wall to accommodate the first extension (18/19);
wherein the first extension (18/19) is a clip having a main body (the main body extending from portion 13) and at least a wing (18/19 form a wing) extending from the main body (see Figure 2);
the first extension includes a tab (19) to secure the central shutter pair (5, 5’) to the adapter housing (3, 3’);
the first extension (18/19) is configured to engage the top wall or bottom wall of the adapter housing (locking pieces 19 engage a locking groove (not illustrated) in the top and bottom walls);
wherein the link element (13) includes a second extension (18/19) extending from the link element (13) in the opposite direction to the first extension (18/19) and configured to engage the adapter housing (3, 3’);
wherein the first and second arm (18/19) are arranged at respective sides of the link element (13);
wherein the central shutter pair (5, 5’) is made of elastically resilient material (shielding plates 14 elastically deform; see the abstract);
wherein the central shutter pair (5, 5’) is made of sheet metal (metal; see the description of Figures 1-4);
wherein the link element (13) is formed as a U-shape (see Figure 2, the link element has a U-shape from which the metal plates 14 extend).
wherein the adapter housing (3, 3’) includes a plurality of partition walls (17) to divide into a plurality of channels (6; two channels are formed by partition wall 17 in portion 3 of the housing and two channels are formed by partition wall 17 in portion 3’ of the housing; see Figure 1);
wherein the central shutter pair (5, 5’) is attached to each of the plurality of partition walls (17).
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.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ezawa Katsuya (JP 2002-116350 A) in view of Loder et al. (US 6,789,950 B1).
Regarding claim 17; Ezawa Katsuya discloses the fiber optic adapter according to claim 16 as applied above, but fails to disclose wherein each of the first and second arms is formed with one or more arc sections.
Loder et al. teaches an alternative shape of first and second arms (344) of a shutter (340) that attaches to a divider wall (356; see Figure 14). Before the effective filing date of the present invention, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to alternative form the first and second arms of the shutter of Ezawa Katsuya with one or more arc sections, since this was a known alternative shape of shutter arms in the prior art, one of ordinary skill could have combined the elements by known coupling methods with no change in their respective functions to yield predictable results. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 18 is 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record, which is the most relevant prior art known, does not disclose or render obvious the fiber optical adapter defined by claim 18, wherein each of the arc sections has a different radius and smoothly connect with each other in combination with all of the limitations of base claim 1 and all of the limitations of intervening claims 16 and 17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ishii Takuji (JP 2008-046146 A), see the entire document, including Figures 1-7, shutter 11, arms 13, linking part 12, with extensions 15 that form U-shape, and a plurality of channels and partition walls in Figure 7; and
Sanders et al. (US 9,196,997 B2); see the entire document, in particular Figures 20 and 22 which illustrate shutters engaging a partition wall.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE R CONNELLY whose telephone number is (571)272-2345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.
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/MICHELLE R CONNELLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874