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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on February 12, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
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, 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Leclair et al. (US Patent 11,079,559, hereinafter referred to as Leclair). Leclair anticipates claims:
1. A telecommunication tray assembly (see figures 5 and 6), comprising:
a base structure (PCB 54 is interpreted as the base structure) having a front end (the right end as seen in figures 5 and 6 is interpreted as the front end), a rear end (the left end as seen in figures 5 and 6 is interpreted as the rear end) opposite the front end, and a length extending from the front end to the rear end (the span between the ends is interpreted as the length);
a faceplate assembly (the faceplates 30 of each of the USS 10 modules are interpreted as the faceplate assembly) attached to the base structure (see figures 5 and 6), the faceplate assembly defining a first opening configured to receive a first type of optical module (see figure 6, the USS 10 on the right is interpreted as the first opening and first type of optical module) and a second opening configured to receive a second type of optical module (the USS 10 on the left is interpreted as the second opening and second type of optical module);
a first port supported by the base structure and aligned with the first opening (see figure 6, the ports are shown in the faceplate on the right), the first port configured to receive the first type of optical module and having a first leading edge offset from the front end by a first distance (see figure 6); and
a second port supported by the base structure and aligned with the second opening (see figure 6, the ports are shown in the faceplate on the left), the second port configured to receive the second type of optical module and having a second leading edge offset from the front end by a second distance larger than the first distance (see figure 6, the second leading edge is further to the left than the first leading edge, making the second distance larger than the first distance).
9. The telecommunication tray assembly of claim 1, further comprising a first optical module of the first type of optical module positioned through the first opening of the faceplate assembly and into the first port and a second optical module of the second type of optical module positioned through the second opening of the faceplate assembly and into the second port (see figure 6), the first optical module having a first optical port and the second optical module having a second optical port, the first optical port and the second optical port being outside of a boundary of the faceplate assembly (see figures 5, 6 and 10) and spaced a fifth distance from the faceplate assembly (see figure 6 and claim 7 that describes the QSFP modules for the interfaces shown in the figures, the distance between the faceplate assembly and the and second optical ports is interpreted as the fifth distance).
10. The telecommunication tray assembly of claim 9, wherein the first optical module is a Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable optical module (see figure 6 and claim 7), and the second optical module is a Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable Double Density optical module (see figure 6 and column 11, lines 11-19).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record, which is the closest prior art to the subject matter of the claims, does not disclose the limitations “wherein the faceplate assembly has a first frontal section aligned with the front end of the base structure and a second frontal section offset from the front end of the base structure by a third distance greater than the first distance, the first frontal section defining the first opening, the second frontal section defining the second opening” (claim 2). Claims 3-8 depend upon claim 2. There is nothing on the record that would suggest such differences would be obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Lastly, one having ordinary skill in the art does not possess any general knowledge or known motivations to find such differences obvious in view of the prior art of record.
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.
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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.
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/John Bedtelyon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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