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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-10 are currently pending.
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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102)(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0005001 (Kewitsch).
Regarding claim 9, Kewitsch discloses a connector connecting method of a distribution device comprising a plurality of ports, the connector connecting method comprising:
reading a tag attached to each of connectors connected to the plurality of ports and detecting identification information recorded on the tags (claim 6: An RFID (radio frequency identification) tracking system for physical network connectivity assets within a data center, for automatically discovering and tracking a connection configuration for network cables terminated in connectors that are connected at their endpoints to specified receiving ports, the system comprising: one or more equipment racks including a plurality of networked devices therein with a plurality of receiving ports; one or more robot modules, each comprising a controller module, an actuable RFID probe, an optical scanner, a battery module, and a wireless communication module; a distributed multiplicity of the network cables, each cable including a miniature RFID tag with less than 5 mm readout range and attached in a vicinity of endpoint(s) of network cables; the actuable RFID probe being able to move in close proximity to each receiving port based upon pre-determined receiving port locations, such that RFID tag identifiers are read out; and a remote management server which includes data of the RFID tag identifiers associated with each cable, said identifiers providing data for said server for uniquely identifying a particular receiving port based upon data in a stored database of the receiving port locations);
transmitting the detected identification information to a server device ([0077] The robot scanning system 327 includes both RF and optical scanning capabilities. A centralized server 415 processes the scan data and communicates with the controller module 405 of the robot scanning system 327 through a wireless communications link);
transmitting port information of the port to which the connector is connected to the server device (Fig. 1; [0034] When the reader selects a particular antenna for readout, the system thereby knows the location of the tag to within several mm, and based on this location it can correlate the tag identifier with a particular port 320; [0035] Optical scanning allows the location of the connector ports 320 to be determined, referenced, and stored within the database, enabling comparison to future measurements at the same port to determine if the connection status has changed).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowed.
Claim 10 is 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2019/0280438 (German et al.) discloses automated capture of information about fixed cabling;
US 2019/0109801 (Scarpin et al.) discloses system for identification of the pairs of ports and of the respective patch cords in patch panels of telecommunication networks;
US 2015/0060539 (Thompson) discloses telecommunications systems with managed connectivity;
US 2015/0052272 (Malone et al.) discloses inferring physical layer connection status of generic cables from planned single-end connection events.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KERRI L MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)270-1840. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 am - 3:30 pm.
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/KERRI L MCNALLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686