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 .
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-16), and with traverse of species A in response/amendment is acknowledged. The examiner currently vacates species requirement. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by Applicant(s) in the information Disclosure Statement(s) have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form(s) PTO-1449).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-2 and 10-16 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Ho” et al., US 20200064564 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Ho teaches an MPO connector (see abstract and figs. 1-84) comprising:
a multifiber ferrule (i.e., 150, 155); a main body receiving the multifiber ferule (see fig. 42: figs. 24-42 and related ferrule inside the main housing), the main body having opposing side walls on opposite sides of the multifiber ferrule (see parag. 0181), each of the opposing side walls defining a latch recess (3831c 3831d), the latch recesses of the opposing side walls configured for receiving opposing latch arms of a mating receptacle 4235 (parag. 0247-0248);
an outer housing (i.e., 180, shown in fig. 1) having an interior receiving a portion of the main body (see main body within the adapter/receptacle 4235 and se fig. 1 and see at least parag. 0135; also figs. 1-24 and corresponding ferrule parags.), the outer housing being movably connected to the main body for longitudinal movement in relation to the main body through a range of motion that includes a front position and a rear position (see figs. 1-7), the outer housing having opposing side portions configured to cover the opposing latch arms of the mating receptacle received in the latch recesses of the opposing side walls of the main body when the outer housing is in the front position and to uncover the opposing latch arms as the outer housing slides backward from the front position toward the rear position (see at least figs. 1-5 and parag. 0180-0184); and
a push-pull boot 4312 having a front end portion received in the interior of the outer housing, the front end portion being linked to the opposing side portions of the outer housing such that the outer housing moves backward in relation to the main body when the push-pull boot is pulled backward (see at least figs, -17, 38-42 and parag. abstract and 0248).
However, in embodiment figs. 42, Ho does not show the outer housing as depicted in figs. 1-12. Nonetheless; Ho states that the receptacle/adapter is within the outer housing of the connector in fig. 1-12, but not shown (see at least parag. 0183). Nonetheless, all embodiments of Ho are closely interrelated and thus It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Ho’s an embodiment by incorporating a related another embodiment so as to show the covering of the outer housing over the main body to provide an optical connector that a user can easily change the polarity of the connector assembly (at least parag. 0011).
The statements advanced in rejection of claim 1, above, as to the applicability and disclosure of Ho and the motivation are incorporated herein in rejection of the following claims as follows:
2. Original) The MPO connector of claim 1, wherein the front end portion of the push-pull boot comprises opposing side tabs 2510 (see fig. 25).
10. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 1, wherein the outer housing comprises top and bottom portions extending widthwise between the opposing side portions, wherein the top and bottom portions define rear cutouts opening rearwardly toward the push-pull boot (see at least figs. 1-12).
11. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 1, wherein the front portion of the push-pull boot defines a central opening and comprises top and bottom walls above and below the central opening and opposing side walls on opposite sides of the central opening (see at least figs. 42, 1-12).
12. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 11, wherein the top and bottom walls of the front portion comprise external central bosses and opposing external recessed regions on opposite sides of the external central bosses 4213a,b (see at least figs. 42).
13. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 11, wherein the side walls comprise central longitudinal grooves and opposing side tabs projecting outward from the central longitudinal grooves (see at least figs. 1-12).
14. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 1, further comprising a polarity change system including upper and lower polarity keys slidably connected to the main body (see at least fig. 24 and parag. 0226-0227).
15. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 1, further comprising a single polarity key fixed on the main body (see at least fig. 24 and parag. 0227).
. 16. (Original) The MPO connector of claim 1, wherein the push-pull boot comprises a “strain relief” portion (i.e., 506 ) and a solid tube extending rearward from the strain relief portion (see fig. 5; parag. 0187).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 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.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
Prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. In accordance with MPEP 707.05 the following references are pertinent in rejection of this application since they provide substantially the same information disclosure as this patent does. These references are:
US 20190391343 A1
US 20180172942 A1
US 20190170957 A1
US 20200049904 A1
US 20190170949 A1
US 20210302666 A1
US 20190154930 A1
US 20210191050 A1
US 20230358973 A1
US 20200064564 A1
US 20200003963 A1
US 20150177463 A1
US 20190137694 A1
US 20240069290 A1
US 20230204872 A1
US 20190243072 A1
US 20240036266 A1
US 20140169727 A1
US 20210149120 A1
US 20210141167 A1
US 20100220961 A1
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEH C KIANNI whose telephone number is (571)272-2417. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-19.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAVEH C KIANNI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874