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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Efremkin, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0100839 A1.
With regard to claim 1, Efremkin figs. 10 and 10A discloses an optical fiber cable that connects a light source (laser source) and a treatment device (700 with distal end 706), the optical fiber cable comprising: a connector connected to the light source (where unlabeled tube and fiber 708 connect to laser source); an optical fiber (708) having one end fixed to the connector and the other end fixed to the treatment device; and a protective tube (unlabeled tube between laser source and hand-held device 740) and covers the optical fiber (708) from the connector to the treatment device (700/706), the protective tube being fixed to the connector but being not fixed to the treatment device, wherein the protective tube and the optical fiber (706) are not fixed to each other [0099].
Efremkin does not expressly disclose that the that has a bending rigidity of the protective tube is larger than a bending rigidity of the optical fiber. Generally optical fibers are thin glass or thin plastic which is transparent and does not have high structural rigidity [0030], while protective tubing generally has higher structural rigidity to protect the optical fibers and other components within the tube against damage. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that in the Efremkin optical fiber cable, the protection tube has a bending rigidity larger than a bending rigidity of the optical fiber so that the protection tube protects the optical fibers from damage.
With regard to claim 2, Efremkin discloses that since the optical fiber (708) is longer than the protective tube, the optical fiber is disposed in a state of being bent in the protective tube [0099].
With regard to claim 3, Efremkin discloses that an end part of the protective tube on a treatment device side is fitted to a fixing member (hand-held device 740 fixes the protective tube the treatment device 700/706) fixed to the treatment device (700/706) in a rotatable manner around an axis [0099].
With regard to claim 4, Efremkin discloses that a fitting member (hand-held device 740 fixes the protective tube the treatment device 700/706) that is fitted to the fixing member so as not to come off from the fixing member is provided at the end part of the protective tube on the treatment device side [0099].
With regard to claim 5, Efremkin discloses that an inner diameter of the protective tube larger than an outer diameter of the optical fiber, however it does not expressly disclose the ratio of inner diameter to outer diameter.
One skilled in the art would understand that the ratio of inner diameter of the protective tube and the outer diameter of the optical fiber would be selected such that the optical fiber had freedom to move within the tube without becoming tangled. Therefore an optical ratio between the inner diameter of the protective tube and the outer diameter of the optical fiber would be selected. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for one skilled in the art to select an optical ratio between the inner diameter of the protective tube and the outer diameter of the optical fiber, such as equal to or more than 1.2 times an outer diameter of the optical fiber, to allow for protection of the optical fiber while preventing tangling.
With regard to claim 6, Efremkin discloses that a part of the optical fiber cable is fixed in a state of forming a loop having a radius equal to or larger than an allowable bending radius of the optical fiber (looping around a spool shown in figs. 5 and 5A).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Thomas A Hollweg whose telephone number is (571)270-1739. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4.
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, Matthew W Such can be reached at (571)272-1570. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THOMAS A HOLLWEG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights