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 .
Preliminary Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of the preliminary amendment filed 12 January 2024.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 8-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsubara et al. (USPGPUB 2016/0216459, from hereinafter “Matsubara”) in view of Nagato et al. (JP2011075688, from hereinafter “Nagato”).
Regarding claims 1-2, Matsubara teaches discloses an optical connector 401 (corresponding to the "optical connector system") comprising a plug 451 (corresponding to the "first optical connector module") and a receptacle assembly 407 (corresponding to the "second optical connector module"), wherein the plug 451 is provided with a plug 15 (corresponding to the "first optical connector") that is attached to a leading end of an optical cable 13 (corresponding to the "first optical transmission path"), and a plug holder 465 (corresponding to the "housing"), the receptacle assembly 407 is provided with a receptacle 21 that is fitted with the plug 15 and attached to a substrate 17 (corresponding to the "substrate") and an optical waveguide 27 (corresponding to the "second optical waveguide part") layered on the substrate 17, and a receptacle housing 463 (corresponding to the "casing") that is separated from the receptacle 21 and attached to the substrate 17, and a leading end of the receptacle housing 463 is located closer to the plug 451 side than a leading end of the receptacle 21 (see paragraphs [0146]-[0180] and fig. 12-18).
Matsubara fails to specifically teach the particulars of the mating directions.
Nagato teaches in paragraphs [0025]-[0031] and fig. 4-10 projections 18C that engage with engagement grooves 18B formed on the inner wall surface of the upper housing member 3B1 and the inner wall surface of the lower housing member 3B2.
In the technical field of optical connectors, it is well known to provide, on a housing of one connector module, a protruding part that is located closer to another connector module side than the leading end of an optical connector to connect to a casing of the other connector module, as disclosed by Nagato. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teachings of Nagato within Matsubara, as a person skilled in the art could easily apply this well-known feature of mating connectors to provide the plug holder 465 with a protruding part, a leading end of which is located closer to the receptacle assembly 407 side than the leading end of the plug 15 so that the connections are made efficiently.
Regarding claims 3-4, Matsubara fails to teach “first supporting portion located remoter from the substrate than the second optical connector and supporting the protrusion of the housing in a direction away from the substrate.”
Nagato teaches locking recesses 4Aa illustrated in fig. 4, which correspond to the "first support parts." Providing a plurality of locking recesses 4Aa along the fitting direction is also a design change that a person skilled in the art could make, as appropriate (see paragraphs 30-31).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Nagato within Matsubara in order to have additional stability with the locking recesses and hence more security for the apparatus overall.
Regarding claim 8, Matsubara fails to teach that the housing includes a supported portion located at an outer edge of the protrusion in a direction orthogonal to the mating direction.
Nagato teaches that the locking structure of the supported portion (i.e. locking recesses 4Aa and the locking members 4Ba) could be changed, as appropriate, by a person skilled in the art, and changing the recess/projection relationship so that a supported part is on the opposite side of the substrate 17 or orthogonally, is a design change that a person skilled in the art could make, as appropriate (see paragraphs 30-31).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a different configuration that is an art recognized equivalent for a complete, dynamic system.
Regarding claims 9-11, Matsubara fails to teach locked portions.
Nagato, as discussed above, teaches in Figure 4 locking structures and recesses that can double as support systems and locking portions. Hence, the locking structure of the locking recesses 4Aa and the locking members 4Ba in document 2 corresponds to the "lock structure." The specific structure of the lock structure could be changed, as appropriate, by a person skilled in the art.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the use of locked portions to doubly ensure that the apparatus is secure and able to be utilized to its fullest extent. It is also obvious to have different patterns of locking (i.e. single structure in different areas) so that the item is able to keep its integrity.
Regarding claims 12-13, Matsubara/Nagato teaches wherein the casing includes a second supporting portion located closer to the substrate than the second optical connector and supporting the first optical connector module in a direction away from the substrate and wherein the leading end of the casing in the mating direction is located at an end of the casing that is located remote from the substrate, and wherein the second supporting portion is located further on a second-optical- connector-module side than the leading end of the casing and is configured to guide, on a substrate side, the first optical connector module (see fig. 12-13 and 18, paragraphs 152-161).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 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 limitations wherein a first support part is configured so as to extend while curving toward a substrate side from a ceiling part that faces a second optical connector on the opposite side of a second base part from the substrate is not disclosed in any the prior art, and would not be obvious to a person skilled in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: USPGPUB 2023/0354541 to Cole et al.
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/LISA M CAPUTO/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874