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 § 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.
Claims 1-3 and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 5,863,083 (“GIEBEL”) in view of US 2003/0063868 (“FENTRESS”).
Regarding claim 1, GIEBEL teaches a pulling grip (2, 6) for routing at least one fiber optic cable (22) along a pathway of a fiber optic network (col. 4, lines 42-55), the at least one fiber optic cable including an outer jacket and a plurality of optical fibers carried within the outer jacket (col. 1, lines 33-41), at least one strength member (25) extending along a length of the at least one fiber optic cable, and at least one connection interface (20) terminating the plurality of optical fibers, the pulling grip comprising: a foldable body (6) having a proximal end (8) and a distal end (10) and defining an opened position (FIGs. 2, 3) and a closed position (FIG. 1), wherein in the opened position the foldable body is configured to receive the at least one connection interface between the proximal end and the distal end of the foldable body (FIG. 3), wherein in the closed position the foldable body forms an elongate tubular member (FIG. 1) defining an interior cavity (FIG. 2), and wherein the foldable body is configured to receive the at least one connection interface within the interior cavity in the closed position such that the pulling grip at least partially encloses the at least one connection interface (FIG. 3); and a pulling band (4) connected to or connectable to the foldable body and configured such that a tensile load imposed on the pulling grip is transferred to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable along a load path that bypasses the at least one connection interface (col. 6, lines 57-65).
GIEBEL does not teach that the pulling band is configured to be releasably connected to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable. FENTRESS teaches a pulling band (55) that is configured to be releasably connected to at least one strength member (30) of at least one fiber optic cable (54; FIG. 5; par. [0075]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the pulling band of GIEBEL so as to be configured to be releasably connected to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable, as taught by FENTRESS. The motivation would have been to reduce the tensile load transferred to the connection interface.
Regarding claim 13, GIEBEL teaches a fiber optic cable assembly for routing along a pathway of a fiber optic network (col. 4, lines 42-55), the fiber optic cable assembly comprising: at least one fiber optic cable (22), comprising: an outer jacket and a plurality of optical fibers carried within the outer jacket (col. 1, lines 33-41); at least one strength member (25) extending along a length of the at least one fiber optic cable; and at least one connection interface (20) terminating the plurality of optical fibers, and a pulling grip (2, 6) connected to the fiber optic cable assembly, wherein the pulling grip comprises: a foldable body (6) having a proximal end (8) and a distal end (10) and defining an opened position (FIGs. 2, 3) and a closed position (FIG. 1), wherein in the opened position the foldable body is configured to receive the at least one connection interface between the proximal end and the distal end of the foldable body (FIG. 3), wherein in the closed position the foldable body forms an elongate tubular member (FIG. 1) defining an interior cavity (FIG. 2), and wherein the foldable body is configured to receive the at least one connection interface within the interior cavity in the closed position such that the pulling grip at least partially encloses the at least one connection interface (FIG. 3); and a pulling band (4) connected to or connectable to the foldable body and configured such that a tensile load imposed on the pulling grip is transferred to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable along a load path that bypasses the at least one connection interface (col. 6, lines 57-65).
GIEBEL does not teach that the pulling band is configured to be releasably connected to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable. FENTRESS teaches a pulling band (55) that is configured to be releasably connected to at least one strength member (30) of at least one fiber optic cable (54; FIG. 5; par. [0075]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the pulling band of GIEBEL so as to be configured to be releasably connected to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable, as taught by FENTRESS. The motivation would have been to reduce the tensile load transferred to the connection interface.
Regarding claim 16, GIEBEL teaches a method of attaching a pulling grip (2, 6) to at least one fiber optic cable (22), the pulling grip including a foldable body (6) and a pulling band (4), and the at least one fiber optic cable including an outer jacket and a plurality of optical fibers carried within the outer jacket (col. 1, lines 33-41), at least one strength member (25) extending along a length of the at least one fiber optic cable, and at least one connection interface (20) terminating the plurality of optical fibers, the method comprising: arranging the foldable body of the pulling grip in an opened position (FIGs. 2, 3); positioning the at least one fiber optic cable relative to the foldable body such that the at least one connection interface is located between a proximal end (8) and a distal end (10) of the foldable body (FIG. 3); connecting the pulling band to the at least one strength member of the at least one fiber optic cable (col. 6, lines 57-65); arranging the foldable body of the pulling grip in a closed position (FIG. 1), wherein in the closed position the foldable body defines an elongate tubular member (FIG. 1) having an interior cavity (FIG. 2), and wherein the at least one connection interface is located within the interior cavity such that the pulling grip at least partially encloses the at least one connection interface (FIG. 3).
GIEBEL does not teach releasably securing the foldable body in the closed position. FENTRESS teaches releasably securing a foldable body in a closed position (FIG. 5; par. [0075]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date to modify the method of GIEBEL by releasably securing the foldable body in the closed position, as taught by FENTRESS. The motivation would have been to reduce the tensile load transferred to the connection interface.
Regarding claim 2, GIEBEL teaches that the foldable body includes a plurality of planar panels in a side-by-side arrangement, and wherein each of the plurality of planar panels is adjoined to at least one adjacent planar panel by at least one bend region that allows adjacent planar panels to fold relative to each other (FIG. 2).
Regarding claim 3, GIEBEL teaches that the foldable body is formed from a monolithic sheet of a material.
Regarding claim 10, FENTRESS teaches that the pulling band is slidably connected to or connectable to the foldable body such that the pulling band is adjustable relative to the foldable body (par. [0075]; FIGs. 5, 6).
Regarding claim 11, GIEBEL teaches that the pulling grip includes at least one fastener to selectively secure the foldable body in the closed position (col. 5, lines 11-24; FIG. 4).
Regarding claim 12, FENTRESS teaches that the pulling grip includes an end cap for closing off the interior cavity at the proximal end of the foldable body, the end cap includes an aperture through which the pulling band is configured to extend to an exterior of the pulling grip, and the end cap is integrally formed with the foldable body (FIG. 35; par. [0130]).
Regarding claim 14, FENTRESS teaches that the at least one fiber optic cable includes a plurality of fiber optic cables (FIG. 20).
Regarding claim 15, FENTRESS teaches that the pulling band is connected to the at least one strength member of one or more of the plurality of fiber optic cables (FIGs. 34, 35; pars. [0129]-[0131]).
Regarding claim 17, FENTRESS teaches that the method further comprises connecting the pulling band to the foldable body (FIG. 5).
Regarding claim 18, GIEBEL teaches that arranging the foldable body of the pulling grip in the opened position includes arranging the foldable body in a generally planar configuration (FIG. 3).
Regarding claim 19, GIEBEL teaches that arranging the foldable body of the pulling grip in the closed position includes folding the foldable body about a plurality of bend regions in the foldable body to define the elongate tubular member (FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 20, FENTRESS teaches that the at least one fiber optic cable includes a plurality of fiber optic cables (FIGs. 34, 35), and wherein the positioning step is repeated for each of the plurality of fiber optic cables (pars. [0129]-[0131]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record, whether taken individually or in combination, when considered in light of the claimed subject matter as a whole as interpreted in light of the Specification as originally filed, fails to disclose or render obvious that the pulling band is connected to or connectable to the foldable body at one or more locations between the first end and second end of the pulling band and between the proximal end and distal end of the foldable body so that an overlapping length of the pulling band extends along at least a portion of a length of the foldable body.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY M BLEVINS whose telephone number is (571)272-8581. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached at 571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JERRY M BLEVINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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