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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zou (U.S. Patent Application Pub. 2008/0095535 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zou teaches in FIG. 3 and [0056] OTN network 3 which comprises devices 6 and 7. Zou teaches in FIG. 4 and paragraph [0057] a service signal processing method comprising: receiving a service signal (a user equipment receives a service signal); mapping the service signal to a first frame (the user equipment—shown at left-hand side of FIG. 3—maps the service signal to a MAC frame) destined for a device in an optical transport network (OTN); and sending a second frame to an optical line terminal (OLT) in the OTN (the MAC frame is encapsulated in a GTC frame which is transported over the OTN from device 6 to device 7; device 7 sends a second frame—a GTC frame to OLT 2), wherein the first frame is encapsulated in the second frame (FIG. 4 teaches that the GTC frame encapsulates the MAC frame).
Regarding claim 2, Zou teaches in FIG. 4 that the MAC frame is a payload of the GTC frame.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 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.
Claims 7-20 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-10, filed 1 September 2026, with respect to claims 7-8 and 17-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 7-8 and 17-20 has been withdrawn.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHI K LI whose telephone number is (571)272-3031. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:53 a.m. -3:23 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, David Payne can be reached at 571 272-3024. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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skl25 September 2026
/SHI K LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
