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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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 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 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Arroyo et al (US 4,909,592). Arroyo teaches:
Claim 1: An optical fiber cable (60, Figs. 7-8) comprising:
a plurality of optical fibers (25);
a cable sheath (73) covering the plurality of optical fibers (25); and
a plurality of tension member groups (two sets of 77, 79) embedded in the cable sheath (73),
wherein each of the plurality of tension member groups includes a plurality of tension members (77, 79),
wherein the plurality of tension members (77, 79) are not in contact with each other (see Fig. 8),
wherein each of the plurality of tension member groups includes three or more tension members (77, 79) (see Fig. 8), and all of the three or more tension members (77, 79) are arranged along a same circumferential circle of the cable sheath (73) in a cross section perpendicular to an axial direction of the optical fiber cable (60) (see Fig. 8), and
wherein adjacent tension member groups among the plurality of tension member groups are separated from each other (see Fig. 8).
Claim 3: The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein when an outer diameter of the tension member is R, a shortest distance D between the adjacent tension member groups satisfies a condition of D > 3R (see Fig. 8, the distance between member groups is much greater than 3 times the radius of each member).
Claim 4: The optical fiber cable according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of tension member groups are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the cable sheath (73) (see Fig. 8 – two groups spaced apart and centered on a vertical axis of the cable as oriented in the figure).
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arroyo as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sahoo et al (US 11,156,792 B2).
Arroyo teaches the optical fiber cable previously discussed.
Arroyo does not teach expressly wherein a shortest distance between adjacent tension members among the plurality of tension members provided in each of the plurality of tension member groups is 0.05 mm or more.
Sahoo teaches an optical fiber cable (100, Figure) comprising: a plurality of optical fibers (102); a cable sheath (106) covering the plurality of optical fibers (102); and a plurality of tension member groups (112a-b, 112c-d) embedded in the cable sheath (106), wherein each of the plurality of tension member groups (112a-b, 112c-d) includes a plurality of tension members (112a-d), wherein the plurality of tension members (112a-d) are not in contact with each other (see Figure), wherein the plurality of tension member groups (112a-b, 112c-d) are arranged along a circumferential direction of the cable sheath (106) in a cross section perpendicular to an axial direction of the optical fiber cable (100) (see Figure), and wherein adjacent tension member groups (112a-b, 112c-d) among the plurality of tension member groups are separated from each other (see Figure);
wherein a shortest distance between adjacent tension members among the plurality of tension members provided in each of the plurality of tension member groups is 0.05 mm or more (C8 L38-43).
Arroyo and Sahoo are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, optical fiber cables.
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 cable of Arroyo to use the distance between tension members to be 0.05mm or more.
The motivation for doing so would have been to induce better flexibility to the optical fiber cable (C8 L38-43).
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 9AM-6PM 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 at 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
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