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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Document number 7 in the IDS is an invalid patent number. The entry has been lined through and not considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 12-19 currently depend from claim 10, but it is clear that these claims should all depend from claim 11. Examination will be carried out as if these claims all depend from claim 11.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "the first and third pivot surfaces" and "the third and fourth pivot surfaces". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 10 recites the limitation "the spring clip". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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, 5-9, 11, 12 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lei et al (WO 2020/057528 A1) and the corresponding translation.
Lei teaches:
1/11. A two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly (Figs. 1-3), comprising:
an adapter body (1) having a main opening (through the middle) to receive at least one fiber optic connector (not shown), the main opening surrounded circumferentially by a top side (at 13), a bottom side (opposite 13), a first side (at 14) and a second side (opposite 14) between the top side and the bottom side (see Fig. 1), the first side and the second side on opposing sides of the main opening (see Fig. 1), the adapter body (1) further comprising:
a first pivot wall (the part of 1 immediately behind 11) adjacent the first side (see Fig. 1) and extending longitudinally away from a forward facing surface around the main opening (see Fig. 1), the first pivot wall being solid between a top edge and a bottom edge (the side behind 11 is solid), wherein the first pivot wall includes a pair of pivot surfaces (two 11s) (first and second pivot surfaces) to respectively receive a first shutter (4) adjacent the top edge (first pivot surface) and a second shutter (2) adjacent the bottom edge (second pivot surface) (see Fig. 1);
a second pivot wall (opposite the first, not shown, but it’s the same as the first pivot wall) adjacent the second side and extending longitudinally away from the forward facing surface around the main opening (see Fig. 1), the second pivot wall being solid between a top edge and a bottom edge (the side behind 11 is solid), wherein the second pivot wall includes a pair of pivot surfaces (two 11s) (third and fourth pivot surface) to respectively receive the first shutter (4) adjacent the top edge (third pivot surface) and the second shutter (2) adjacent the bottom edge (fourth pivot surface) (see Fig. 1);
a first latch arm (12) extending longitudinally away from the first pivot wall (see Fig. 1) and away from the main opening (see Fig. 1), the first latch arm (12) configured to engage a mating fiber optic connector (not shown, first paragraph of the detailed description),
a second latch arm (other 12) extending longitudinally away from the second pivot wall (see Fig. 1) and away from the main opening (see Fig. 1), the second latch arm (12) also configured to engage the mating fiber optic connector (not shown, first paragraph of the detailed description), wherein the first pivot wall and the second pivot wall are each positioned between the main opening and the respective first latch arm and the second latch arm in a longitudinal direction (see Fig. 1);
a first shutter (4) positioned on the first pivot surface adjacent the top edge of the first pivot wall and on the third pivot surface adjacent the top edge of the second pivot wall (see Fig. 1);
a second shutter (2) positioned on the second pivot surface adjacent the bottom edge of the first pivot wall and the fourth pivot surface adjacent the bottom edge of the second pivot wall (see Fig. 1), each of the first shutter (4) and the second shutter (2) moveable between an open position and a closed position (paragraph six of the detailed description); and
a retention cap (3) attached to the adapter body (1) enclosing the first pivot wall, the second pivot wall, the first latch arm, the second latch arm, the first adapter shutter and the second adapter shutter (see Fig. 3), wherein the first shutter (4) and the second shutter (2) pivot at least partially within the retention cap (3) and at least partially at respective pivot surfaces of the respective pivot walls (paragraphs 1 and 6 of the detailed description).
2. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly of claim 1, wherein when the first shutter (4) and the second shutter (2) are in a closed position and engaged to each other (paragraph six of the detailed description), the first latch arm (12) and the second latch arm (12) are positioned fully forward of the first shutter (4) and the second shutter (2) (see Fig. 3).
3/12. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein the first pivot wall and the second pivot wall are each positioned between the main opening and the respective first latch arm (12) and the second latch arm (12) in a longitudinal direction (see Fig. 1).
5/14. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein the first and second shutters (4, 2) each have a surface (planar surfaces facing down in Fig. 1) to receive a fiber optic ferrule (not shown) disposed within the at least one fiber optic connector (not shown) when inserted through the retention cap (3).
6/15. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein the retention cap (3) has surfaces to engage the first shutter (4) at the first and third pivot surfaces (top ones) and the second shutter (2) at the second and fourth pivot surfaces (bottom ones) (paragraph two of the detailed description).
7/16. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein each of the first and second shutters (4, 2) have a flat surface at distal ends to engage one another in a closed position (see Fig. 1, paragraph six of the detailed description).
8/17. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein the retention cap (3) has openings (part of 34) to receive posts (14) on the adapter body (1) to secure the retention cap (3) to the adapter body (1) (paragraph eleven of the detailed description).
9/18. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein the first and second shutters (4, 2) have an outwardly extending bump (bottom face has a portion that can be “a bump” that can be seen in Fig. 1) and to engage an inner housing of the fiber optic connector to orient the fiber optic connector within the fiber optic adapter assembly is a functional limitation and while features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. In re Schreiber, 128 F.3d 1473, 1477-78, 44 USPQ2d 1429, 1431-32 (Fed. Cir. 1997); In re Swinehart, 439 F.2d 210, 212-13, 169 USPQ 226, 228-29 (CCPA 1971);< In re Danly, 263 F.2d 844, 847, 120 USPQ 528, 531 (CCPA 1959). "[A]pparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does." Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Bausch & Lomb Inc., 909 F.2d 1464, 1469, 15 USPQ2d 1525, 1528 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (emphasis in original).
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.
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.
Claims 4, 10, 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Tanaka et al (US 6,866,424 B2).
Lei teaches the two-piece fiber optic adapter previously discussed.
Lei does not teach expressly:
4/13. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, further comprising a spring clip positioned around a portion of the adapter body, the spring clip including a plurality of fingers moveably contacting each of the first shutter and the second shutter.
10/18. The two-piece fiber optic adapter assembly according to claim 1/11, wherein the spring clip has a tab to be inserted into a corresponding receptacle on the adapter body.
Tanaka teaches a fiber optic adapter assembly (Figs. 6-8) comprising a spring clip (51) positioned around a portion of adapter body (14) including a plurality of fingers (57) moveably contacting two shutters (53A-B) and wherein the spring clip (51) has a tab (58) to be inserted into a corresponding receptacle on the adapter body (14) and wherein the spring clip (51) has a plurality of fingers (55, 57) to engage the first shutter (53A) and a plurality of fingers (55, 57) to engage the second shutter (53B) (Fig. 8); and
wherein the spring clip (51) has a tab (55) to be inserted into a corresponding receptacle (14o) on the adapter body (14).
Lei and Tanaka are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, fiber optic adapter assemblies.
At the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the spring assemblies of Lei to use the spring clip type as taught by Tanaka.
The motivation for doing so would have been to allow for electromagnetic wave shielding (Tanaka, C10 L29-37).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references teach different configurations of shutters paired with adapters and caps: US 9933586, US 10101539, US 10545295, US 10802224, US 2022/0011520.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LEPISTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1946. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on 571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN A LEPISTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874