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 .
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) 1 as best understood and is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Flickinger et al. (US 6517382).
As per claim 1: Flickinger et al. discloses a communication connector apparatus (as shown in figs. 8A-B) comprising: a circuit substrate 10 having a substrate-side connector 90 mounted thereon (see fig. 7); and a relay connector 40 including a connection port (see fig. 9, wherein the connector interface 49 depicted in FIG. 9 is an adapter interface for an MT-RJ style fiber connector) to which a device-side connector of a communication conductive path is to be connected (wherein connector interfaces include adapters for the MT-RJ style connectors and the HSSDC2 copper connectors), and being attachable to and removable from the substrate-side connector 90 (see fig. 8B, wherein the contact pads and/or their proximity to the edge portion of the module circuit board 96 is varied to control the order in which the contact pads electrically couple to the receptacle connector 90. For example, a grounding contact pad could be extended to the edge of the circuit board 96 to ensure that it makes contact with the receptacle connector 90 before the remaining contact pads, which could be spaced from the edge of the circuit board 96 to ensure subsequent contact).
Claim(s) 1-7 are as best understood and are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pepe et al. (US 2010/0221951).
As per claim 1: Pepe et al. discloses a communication connector apparatus 10 comprising: a circuit substrate 104 having a substrate-side connector 106 mounted thereon (wherein the contact subassembly 100 includes a circuit board 104 and one or more electrical connectors 106 mounted to the circuit board 104); and a relay connector 120 including a connection port 70 to which a device-side connector of a communication conductive path is to be connected (see Para. [0044], fig. 9), and being attachable to and removable from the substrate-side connector 106 (wherein edge contacts 126 may be mated with the contacts 110 of the contact subassembly 100 by plugging the edge 128 of the circuit board 122 into the opening 108 of the electrical connector 106. The edge contacts 126 are electrically connected to the rear mating connectors 70 via the circuit board 122).
As per claims 2-7: Pepe et al. discloses the communication connector apparatus 10 ,and further discloses a housing 30 configured to accommodate the circuit substrate 104 and the relay connector 120, wherein the housing 30 includes a housing body (not label, see figs. 8-9) that is open on a front side thereof (as shown in fig. 9), and a front cover 32 that is attachable to and removable from the opening of the housing body (as shown in fig. 9), the relay connector 120 includes a hood portion (not label, see figs. 10-11) configured to surround the connection port 70, and the front cover 32 has a connection opening formed therein to expose the hood portion to an exterior of the housing 30 (as shown in figs. 10-11); and
further comprising a housing 30 configured to accommodate the circuit substrate 104 and the relay connector 120, wherein the relay connector 120 includes a hood portion (not label, see figs. 10-11) configured to surround the connection port 70, the housing 30 has a connection opening (as shown in fig. 9, wherein the cover 32 is having openings to accommodate the relay connectors) formed therein to expose the hood portion to an exterior of the housing (as shown in figs. 10-11), and the connection opening is provided with a movable cover 32 that is displaceable so as to change an opening region of the connection opening (as shown in figs. 9-11); and
wherein the movable cover 32 is linked to the housing 30 via a hinge (not label, see fig. 9, wherein both side of the movable cover is having hook to attach to the housing); and
further comprising a housing 30 configured to accommodate the circuit substrate 104 and the relay connector 120, wherein the relay connector 120 includes a hood portion (not label, see figs. 10-11) configured to surround the connection port 70, the housing 30 has a connection opening formed therein to expose the hood portion (not label, see figs. 10-11) to an exterior of the housing 30, and a covering portion 32 configured to cover a part of the connection opening is provided as a single piece with the hood portion (as shown in figs. 10-11); and
wherein the relay connector 120 includes an outer conductor 126/128, and a sub-substrate 122 configured to be connected to the substrate-side connector 106, and the outer conductor is disposed so as to cover the sub-substrate (640) (as shown in fig. 20); and
wherein the circuit substrate 104 is provided with a holding member 108 configured to hold the relay connector 120 in a positioned state (as shown in fig. 5).
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.
Claim(s) 8 is as best understood and is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pepe et al. (US 2010/0221951) in view of Flickinger et al. (US 6517382).
As per claim 8: Pepe et al. discloses the communication connector apparatus 10, and the relay connector 120 includes an outer conductor 126/128, the outer conductor 126/128 is connected to the holding member 108 (see figs. 5, 9), and the holding member 108 is made of a conductive material (since the circuit board 122 of the interface connector assembly 120 is loaded into the opening 108 of the electrical connector 106), has a box shape (see fig. 5). However, Pepe et al. does not explicitly disclose wherein the holding member is connected to a ground circuit of the circuit substrate, and covers the relay connector.
Flickinger et al. discloses wherein the holding member 24 is connected to a ground circuit of the circuit substrate 10 (see fig. 1, wherein a plurality of elongated members 70 which extend down from the housing past the bottom wall and are electrically connected to the housing, and conducted harmlessly to ground via the elongated members 70) in order to provide a safety and circuit stability within the connector and to the mating connector as well.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to further modify the communication connector apparatus of Pepe et al. by having the holding member is connected to a ground circuit of the circuit substrate, and covers the relay connector as taught by Flickinger et al. in order to provide a safety and circuit stability within the connector and to the mating connector as well.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANG H NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-0288. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.H.N/ Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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