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, “Remarks” received 15 July 2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of Claims 17-20 under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) (see Remarks at I) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of Claims 17-20 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of Claims 1-11 under 35 U.S.C. §102 or §103 in view of U.S. Patent No. 8,639,075 to Burnett (“US1”) (see Remarks at II.1.2)-3) and III.1-2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejections of Claims 1-11 have been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejection of Claims 12-20 under 35 U.S.C. §102 in view of US1 are not persuasive. Applicant argues that US1 does not describe the empty space free from any material having stiffness greater than 60 Newton per meter (N/m) as claimed in independent Claims 12 and 16 (see Remarks at II.1). While Claims 12 and 16 describe regions of empty space formed between the armor layer and the plurality of the optical fibers, neither of these claims includes any reference to the empty space being free any material having stiffness greater than 60 N/m. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Each of Claims 13, 14, and 17 each include a reference to either
“the empty space [being] free any material having stiffness greater than 60 N/m,” or
“the empty space [as] partially filled with the one or more deformable layers where each deformable layer of the one of more deformable layers has a stiffness that is less than or equal to 60 N/m.”
The reasons set forth in Applicant’s arguments relating to Claim 1, which includes a similar limitation, are persuasive when applied to Claims 13-14 and 17. Therefore, the rejections of Claims 13-14 and 17 are withdrawn.
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 12, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US1.
Regarding Claim 12, US1 describes an optical fiber cable (see Figs 1-2 and 7) comprising:
a plurality of optical fibers (105, 705);
an armor layer (145 or 175) that surrounds the plurality of optical fibers such that an empty space (110, 735) is formed between the armor layer and the plurality of optical fibers, where the empty space has regions of free space (see Figs 1 and 7 and (see Col 6 Ln 47-Col 7 Ln 18); and
a sheath (115) that surrounds the armor layer.
Regarding Claim 15, US1 describes the optical fiber cable further comprising a water blocking tape (135) and/or a water swellable yarn (120) in the empty space.
Regarding Claim 16, US1 describes an optical fiber cable (see Figs 1, 2, and 7) comprising:
a plurality of optical fibers (102a-102n);
an armor layer (145 or 175) that surrounds the plurality of optical fibers forming regions of empty space (110, 735) between the armor layer and the plurality of optical fibers (see Figs 1 and 7 and (see Col 6 Ln 47-Col 7 Ln 18); and
a sheath (115) that surrounds the armor layer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are allowed.
Claims 13-14 and 17-20 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.
Regarding independent Claim 1 or dependent Claims 13, 14, or 17, the prior art of record does not describe or reasonably suggest all of the limitations of the claims, as discussed above herein.
Claims 2-11 depend from Claim 1 and are therefore allowable for at least the same reasons.
Claims 18-20 depend from Claim 17 and are therefore allowable for at least the same reasons.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY RAHLL whose telephone number is (571)272-2356. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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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/JERRY RAHLL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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