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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Italy on July 06, 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the IT102023000014184 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 05, 2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on July 05, 2024. These drawings are acceptable.
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) 1-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Murthy et al. (US Patent 10,261,278, hereinafter referred to as “Murthy”). Murthy anticipates
1. A cable module (optical fiber cable 200 is interpreted as the cable module) comprising
- a sheath (fourth layer 248 is interpreted as the sheath) defining a cable module interior;
- N first optical fibers (see figure 2, one group of fibers 244 inside one of the buffer tubes 242 is interpreted as the N first fibers) extending longitudinally through the cable module interior, each of the N first optical fibers having a unique color selected among C different colors (see column 7, lines 32-48), wherein N and C are both integers higher than 1 (in this case they’re both 12);
- M second optical fibers (see figure 2, one group of fibers 238 inside one of the buffer tubes 236 are interpreted as the M second optical fibers) extending longitudinally through the cable module interior, each of the M second optical fibers having a unique color selected among said C different colors (see column 7, lines 32-48), wherein M is an integer higher than 1 (in this case it’s 12);
wherein the N first optical fibers all have a first diameter S1 (S1 is interpreted as the diameter of the layer 246 and is interpreted as the outer extent diameter of any of the fibers N) and the M second optical fibers all have a second diameter S2 (S2 is interpreted as the diameter of the layer 240 and is interpreted as the outer extent diameter of any of the fiber M) different from the first diameter S1 (see figure 2).
2. The cable module according to claim 1, wherein C < N+M <= 2*C (met as detailed in the rejection of claim 1).
3. The cable module according to claim 1, wherein N, M and C are equal to each other and the N first optical fibers respectively have the same colors as the M second optical fibers (see column 7, lines 32-48).
4. The cable module according to claim 1, wherein the N first optical fibers and the M second optical fibers are all devoid of identifying markings (see figure 2).
5. The cable module according to any of previous claims claim 1, wherein the first diameter S1 differs from the second diameter S2 by at least 10% of the greater of the first diameter S1 and the second diameter S2 (see the Summary section which gives diameters of the buffer tubes, outer diameter of the cable, and the strength member which allows for the calculation of the values of S1 and S2 and this percentage is met).
6. The cable module according to claim 1,wherein the first diameter S1 is equal to about 245 pm or 200 pm (S1 is interpreted as being about these values).
7. The cable module according to claim 1,wherein the second diameter S2 is equal to about 200 pm or 180 pm or 160 pm (S2 is interpreted as being about these values).
8. The cable module according to claim 1, also further comprising L third optical fibers (see figure 2, a different one of the groups of fibers 244 inside one of the buffer tubes 242 is interpreted as the L third fibers) extending longitudinally through the cable module interior, wherein L is an integer at least equal to 1 and each of the L third optical fibers has a unique color selected among said C different colors (see column 7, lines 32-48), an identifying marking (their buffer tube is interpreted as an identifying marking) and a third diameter S3 equal to the first diameter S1 (see figure 2, S3 is interpreted the same way as S1).
9. The cable module according to claim 8, wherein L is equal to N and the L third optical fibers respectively have the same colors as the N first optical fibers (this is the case as interpreted).
10, 14 and 15. The cable module according to claim 8,also further comprising K fourth optical fibers (see figure 2, one group of fibers 238 inside one of the buffer tubes 236 are interpreted as the K fourth optical fibers) extending longitudinally through the cable module interior, wherein K is an integer at least equal to 1 and each of the K fourth optical fibers has a unique color selected among said C different colors (see column 7, lines 32-48), an identifying marking (their buffer tube is interpreted as an identifying marking) and a fourth diameter S4 equal to the second diameter S2 (see figure 2, S4 is interpreted the same way as S2).
11. The cable module according to claim 10, wherein K is equal to M and the K fourth optical fibers have the same colors as the M second optical fibers (this is how the fibers are interpreted as detailed previously).
12. The cable module according to claim 10, wherein K is equal to L and the L third optical fibers and the K fourth optical fibers all have the same identifying marking (they’re equal and both have buffer tube identifying markings).
13, 16-18. An optical cable comprising:
- a cable jacket (fifth layer 250 is interpreted as the cable jacket) defining a cable interior and at least one cable module according to claim 1, 8, 10 and 14, extending longitudinally through the cable interior (see figure 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN M BEDTELYON whose telephone number is (571)270-1290. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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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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/John Bedtelyon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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