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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
There are 2 objections to the drawings:
1. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitations:
“wherein the reflector has a cylindrical shape and converts light incident on the reflector into light traveling parallel to a first direction, and the lens has a cylindrical shape and converts light incident on the lens into light traveling parallel to a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction” (claim 1);
“wherein the first direction is perpendicular to both the direction of light incident on the reflector and the direction of reflection” (claim 2);
“wherein the second direction is perpendicular to both the direction of light incident on the lens and the first direction” (claim 3);
“wherein the light emitted through the lens has a wider width in the second direction than in the first direction and travels in parallel” (claim 4);
must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). The figures currently only show the first and second directions being parallel, not perpendicular, see figures 11A and 13. No new matter should be entered.
2. The drawings are objected to because not every line, number and letter is durable, clean, sufficiently dark, dense, uniformly thick, and/or well defined. The weight of all lines and letters is not durable enough to permit adequate reproduction, see 37 CFR 1.84(l). Every single drawing is deficient.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 3: there’s a grammatical error in the phrase “a direction of traveling of light.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (U.S. Patent 10,976,507, hereinafter referred to as “Kim”). Kim anticipates claims:
1. An optical connector (see figure 1), comprising:
an optical boundary surface (the outer surface of collimations lens 160 is interpreted as the optical boundary surface) on which light emitted from an optical fiber is incident (see figure 1);
a reflector (reflection prism 170 is interpreted as the reflector) changing a direction of traveling light incident through the optical boundary surface (see figure 1); and
a lens (focusing lens 180 is interpreted as the lens) emitting light reflected through the reflector outside (see figure 1),
wherein the reflector has a cylindrical shape (see figure 1, the reflecting surface of prism 170 is shown to have the same shape as a vertical cross-section of a cylinder) and converts light incident on the reflector into light traveling parallel to a first direction (see figure 1, the downward direction is interpreted as the first direction), and the lens has a cylindrical shape (see figure 1, the lens has a curved shape, the outside of a cylinder has a curved shape) and converts light incident on the lens into light traveling parallel to a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction (see figure 1; the light converted by the lens has directional vector values in both the first direction and a second perpendicular direction, resulting in converging light and meeting the requirement of the claim).
2. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to both the direction of light incident on the reflector and the direction of reflection (see figure 1).
3. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to both the direction of light incident on the lens and the first direction (see figure 1, the second direction can be interpreted in and out of the page, meeting the limitation).
4. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the light emitted through the lens has a wider width in the second direction than in the first direction and travels in parallel (this functionality can be met by the beam shape and direction of the input light and is thusly an intended use of the structure).
5. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the reflector is a prism in a form of a cylindrical lens (see figure 1, the reflector is a prism and is interpreted as in a form of a cylindrical lens based on its shape as previously discussed).
6. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the lens is a cylindrical lens (the lens is interpreted as a cylindrical lens based on its shape as previously discussed).
7. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the direction of light incident on the lens is changed by the reflector to be incident on the optical fiber (see figure 1).
8. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the optical connector is bottom-to-bottom coupled to another optical connector (see figure 1; there are two connectors shown, and they’re interpreted as being bottom-to-bottom coupled).
9. The optical connector of claim 8, wherein the optical connector, when coupled to another optical connector, has a lens of the optical connector facing a lens of the another optical connector (see figure 1).
10. The optical connector of claim 8, comprising: parts coupled in a gradient structure in opposite directions to each other when coupled with another optical connector (this claim is interpreted and met by the reference in the situation where when the optical connector of claim 8 is not coupled with another optical connector).
11. The optical connector of claim 10, wherein the parts coupled in a gradient structure in opposite directions to each other are a coupling protrusion and a front side part (see figure 1, this limitation is an intended use and is not required).
12. The optical connector of claim 8, comprising guide parts formed at opposite inclinations to each other to guide smooth coupling when coupled with another optical connector (see figure 1; the surfaces holding the lenses are interpreted as guide parts formed at opposite inclinations).
13. The optical connector of claim 1, wherein the optical connector is coupled with a plurality of optical fibers, comprises reflectors in equal numbers as the optical fibers, and comprises the one lens (see figure 1, two fibers, two reflectors, one lens).
14. The optical connector of claim 1, comprising a body part (first body 311, see figure 6, is interpreted as the body part) and a cover part (first cover is interpreted as the cover part).
15. The optical connector of claim 14, wherein the cover part and the body part have protrusions and grooves fittedly coupled to each other (see figure 6).
16. The optical connector of claim 14, wherein the body part comprises an optical fiber guide (313) capable of seating at least one optical fiber.
17. An optical cable module comprising the optical connector of claim 1 (see figure 1, the structures shown are interpreted as an optical cable module).
18. An optical transceiver module comprising the optical connector of claim 1 (see figure 1; the structures shown are interpreted as being an optical transceiver module).
19. An active optical cable (see figure 1), comprising: an optical cable module comprising the optical connector of claim 1 (see figure 1); and an optical transceiver module comprising the optical connector of claim 1 (see figure 1).
20. An active optical cable, comprising: two optical cable modules (see figure 10A, the components inside 1010 and 1020 are interpreted as the two optical cable modules); and
an optical transceiver module (the outer housing portions of 1010 and 1020 are interpreted as the optical transceiver modules) comprising two insertion holes (the interior of the structures are interpreted as two insertion holes), wherein the optical cable module comprises the optical connector of claim 1 (see figure 1 and claim 1 above), the insertion hole allows the optical cable modules to be coupled one by one, and the insertion hole comprises the optical connector of claim 1.wherein the optical cable module comprises the optical connector of claim 1, the insertion hole allows the optical cable modules to be coupled one by one, and the insertion hole comprises the optical connector of claim 1 (see figure 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M BEDTELYON whose telephone number is (571)270-1290. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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.
/John Bedtelyon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights