DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2012/0027364 A1.
Claim 1: '364 discloses a sealing structure for an optoelectronic transceiver device, the optoelectronic transceiver device comprising (see mainly figs. 3 and 5):
a main board 22,
a load board 20 disposed on the main board,
a processing unit 46 disposed on the load board (shown in fig. 5), and
at least an optical fiber assembly 36 connected to the processing unit,
the sealing structure comprising:
a first casing 26;
a second casing 24 disposed on the load board and assembled with the first casing such that a part of the optical fiber assembly and the processing unit are arranged between the first casing and the second casing, wherein at least a notch portion (not numbered, but visible in fig. 3) is arranged between peripheral portions of the first casing and the second casing; and
a sealing element comprising at least a retaining block 18 positioned in the notch portion and encompassing a part of the optical fiber assembly extending out of the notch portion ([0033]).
Claim 14: The notch portion comprises a first notch and a second notch (see fig. 3), the first notch is disposed on the first casing 26, the second notch is disposed on the second casing 24 and corresponding to the first notch, and the retaining block 18 is positioned between the first notch and the second notch.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-13 and 15-18 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 claim 1 and all applicable intervening claims. Claims 19-20 are allowed.
Regarding claim 2, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest a sealing strip with a sealing block, in combination with all the other recited elements. Claims 3-9 ultimately depend from claim 2.
Regarding claim 10, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest the recited groove, filling port, and sealing material. Claims 11-12 ultimately depend from claim 10.
Regarding claim 13, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest that the first and second casings are soldered or welded together so that the retaining block is in an airtight arrangement with the first casing and the second casing. In contrast, '364 uses screws 28 to secure its casings together and does not appear to be concerned with airtightness.
Regarding claim 15, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest the recited functional lines arranged in the specific recited manner.
Regarding claim 16, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest the recited specific structure for its retaining block 18. Claim 18 depends from claim 16.
Regarding claim 17, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest an optoelectronic transceiver module comprising a base and a waveguide device disposed in the base. '364 is silent as to any waveguide devices.
Regarding independent claim 19, the applied '364 reference does not disclose or suggest the recited waveguide device as mentioned above, in combination with all the other recited elements. Claim 20 depends from claim 19.
Contact Information
Examiner: 571-272-2360
Examiner's direct supervisor: 571-272-2397
Official correspondence by fax: 571-273-8300
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/Michael Stahl/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874