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 .
Election
Applicant’s election without traverse of group II (claims 10-18) in the reply filed on 9/6/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-9 stand withdrawn from consideration.
Drawings
Figure 12 is objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because it uses 176 to designate both a first sealing member and a second sealing member. It appears that the left instance of 176 should be replaced with 170.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because it is missing "first" before "optical fiber connector" in line 11.
Claim 13 is objected to because line 8 recites "the accommodating space" instead of "another accommodating space", and because it is missing "second" before "optical fiber connector".
Claims 11-18 are technically objected to by dependence from claim 10.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 15 is indefinite because there is insufficient antecedent basis for "the front end portion of the inner housing" as recited in line 11. No inner housing or front end portion thereof are mentioned earlier in claim 15 or in parent claim 10. It appears that the first instance of "the" in line 11 should be replaced with "a", and the second instance of "the" in line 11 should be replaced with "an".
Claim 16 is indefinite because there is insufficient antecedent basis for "the respective polarity portions" or for "the two hook elements". Ancestor claims 15 and 10 do not mention that there are multiple polarity portions or multiple hook elements. It appears that "the" should be deleted from line 1 of claim 16, and "the two" should be deleted from line 2 of claim 16.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-18 would be allowable if the objections and indefiniteness rejections above are overcome. US 2019/0285808 A1 (already of record) and US 4725117 (newly cited) are regarded as the closest prior art of record. '808 discloses an optical fiber adapter including several of the elements of claim 10 (see e.g. figs. 1A-1B, 3-5, 12A.1-12C), but does not disclose or suggest the recited hook element. '117 discloses an optical fiber adapter including several of the elements of claim 10 (see e.g. figs. 6-8) but does not disclose or suggest the recited keyway opening for receiving a key portion of the first optical fiber connector.
Conclusion
The additional references listed on the attached 892 form disclose other examples of adapters.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Mike Stahl at 571-272-2360. 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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/Michael Stahl/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
