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) 1-6, 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2014084783 A1.
Regarding claim 1, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses a hybrid SPE connector unit 100, comprising:
a housing 410 having a PCB side (bottom side of 410 in fig. 4) with a mechanical interface (bottom of 120 in fig. 1) and an electrical interface 170 for mounting and connecting the hybrid SPE connector unit to a PCB (see fig. 1 and 3a);
a male hybrid SPE input connector 190 mounted on the housing; and
at least one female SPE output connector mounted on the housing and selected from a group of connectors including a female SPE only connector 180 and a female hybrid SPE connector 180 (page 7, lines 11-16).
Regarding claim 2, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses the at least one female SPE output connector is smaller than the male hybrid SPE input connector (see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, the recitation “a PoDL functionality” has not been given a significant patentable weight since it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
Regarding claim 4, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses the electrical interface 170 has a plurality of data lines and a plurality of power lines that are separate from one another.
Regarding claim 5, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses the electrical interface 170 has a plurality of electrical contacts arranged at a contact pitch.
Regarding claim 6, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses the data lines and the power lines are spaced apart from one another by more than the contact pitch.
Regarding claim 9, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses a circuit board 110, 210.
Regarding claim 10, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses a component selected from a group including electric component 250.
Regarding claim 11, WO 2014084783 A1 discloses the component 250 is mounted on a circuit board.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 8, 12-20 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form.
Conclusion
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Tdt
10/5/2026
/THO D TA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
