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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because not every line, number and letter is durable, clean, sufficiently dark, dense, uniformly thick, and/or well defined. The weight of all lines and letters is not durable enough to permit adequate reproduction, see 37 CFR 1.84(l).
All drawings are objected to and have this deficiency.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as amended. If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either Replacement Sheet or New Sheet pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification - Abstract
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 6, 9, 11, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5, line 2: the phrase “a plurality of drop cables” should instead read “the plurality of drop cables” as this limitation is first introduced in claim 1, upon which claim 5 depends.
Claim 6, line 2: the phrase “are cylindrical shaped” appears to contain a typographical error, and the examiner believes should be “is cylindrical shaped” as it is referring to each one of a plurality, each of which is singular. If applicant believes the examiner is incorrect, this objection can be withdrawn without amendment.
Claims 6 and 19, line 3: the phrase “the plurality of longitudinal compartments” lacks antecedent basis and is instead interpreted as stating “a plurality of longitudinal compartments.”
Claim 9, line 3: the phrase “the plurality of fingers” lacks antecedent basis and is instead interpreted as “a plurality of fingers.”
Claim 11, line 3: the phrase “the threaded portion” lacks antecedent basis and is instead interpreted as “a threaded portion.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lazic (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0365717, hereinafter referred to as “Lazic”). The claims contain reference numerals corresponding to applicants’ figures, but in the following rejection these are replaced by reference numerals from the prior art along with comments of the examiner’s interpretation to help clearly convey the examiner’s position and facilitate item-to-item matching for claim limitations and teachings in the prior art. Lazic anticipates claims:
A high-density fiber enclosure (see figures 1-10, all the structures shown are interpreted as forming the high-density fiber enclosure) comprising:
a housing (the mast 53 is interpreted as the housing, see figure 10);
one or more inlet ports (the bottom opening of the mast 53 is interpreted as the inlet port) configured to receive one or more cables (feeder cable 10 is interpreted as the cable) in the housing; and
one or more output ports (the rest of the mast 53 above the bottom opening is interpreted as the output port);
one or more port glands (the cable breakout assembly 1 is interpreted as the port gland) adapted to be inserted into the one or more output ports (see figure 10), each port gland of the one or more port glands is configured to receive a plurality of drop fiber cables (the optical fibers, see paragraph 0028, are interpreted as the plurality of drop fiber cables),
wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands further comprising:
a first end (the right end, as seen in figure 1, is interpreted as the first end) that is at least partially embedded inside the one or more output ports (see figure 10), wherein the first end is defined by a first area (A1, the right side opening of the upper 6 and lower 7 casings is interpreted as the first area);
a second end (the left end, as seen in figure 1, is interpreted as the second end) that is defined by a second area (A2, the left side opening of the upper 6 and lower 7 casings is interpreted as the second area), wherein the second area (A2) is greater than the first area (A1) (see figures 1 and 2); and
a connecting passage (see figures 1 and 2, the interior space of the assembly 1 is interpreted as the connecting passage) between the first end and second end,
wherein the connecting passage is configured to allow passage of a plurality of optical fibers (see paragraph 0028), such that a numerical count of a plurality of drop fiber cables is equal to a numerical count of the plurality of optical fibers (see figures 1-10 and paragraph 0028).
2.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein the connecting passage has a plurality of longitudinal compartments (second conduits 15 are interpreted as the longitudinal compartments) such that each longitudinal compartment of the plurality of longitudinal compartments is configured to house one optical fiber (see figures 1 and 2, since the second conduits 15 are intended to house optical fibers, they’re configured to house one optical fiber).
3.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 2, wherein each longitudinal compartment of the plurality of longitudinal compartments (see figure 2) is separated from one another.
4.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 2, wherein each longitudinal compartment of the plurality of longitudinal compartments has at least one walled region (the wall of the second conduit is interpreted as the walled region) and an open peripheral zone (the opening inside the conduits 15 is interpreted as the open peripheral zone) defining an area of the connecting passage (see figures 1 and 2, these portions define their portion of the area of the connecting passage).
5. The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein the second end (see figures 1 and 2, the left end) comprising a plurality of outlets (the output of each of the second conduits 15 is interpreted as the plurality of outlets) adapted to connect a plurality of drop cables.
6.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands are cylindrical shaped (see figures 1 and 2), and each port gland of the one or more port glands comprising the plurality of longitudinal compartments (second conduits 15 are interpreted as a plurality of longitudinal compartments) that are separated from one another (see figure 2, the compartments are different elements are therefore separated).
7.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands further comprising a shoulder (mounting system 37 is interpreted as the shoulder) at the second end (see figures 9 and 10) to restrict an insertion of a port gland of the one or more port glands into the output port at a predefined position (see figure 10).
8.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands further comprising a plurality of fingers (flexible fins 34 are interpreted as the plurality of fingers) disposed on a periphery of the first end (see figures 1 and 2).
9.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein the high-density fiber enclosure further comprising a cylindrical sealing element (see figures 1 and 2; the external jacket of cable 10 is interpreted as the cylindrical sealing element) configured to be inserted into the plurality of fingers (see figures 2 and paragraph 0033) of a port gland of the one or more port glands.
10.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands further comprising a threaded portion (bolts 40 are interpreted as the threaded portion) at the first end (see figures 1-10, all components of the device are interpreted as being “at” all the other portions) to removably engage the one or more port glands inside the housing (see figures 1-10 and paragraph 0037).
11.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein the high-density fiber enclosure further comprising one or more coupling nuts (see figures 3 and 4 and paragraph 0037; the bolts 40 couple with the brackets 39, and the brackets 39 are therefore interpreted as coupling nuts), and each coupling nut of the one or more coupling nuts is adapted to be engaged with the threaded portion of a port gland of the one or more port glands to removably engage the port gland of the one or more port glands inside the housing (see paragraph 0037).
12.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 1, wherein an output ratio of the high-density fiber enclosure is less than 200 (see figure 2, the output ratio is 1:12 by visual count, which is less than 1 which is less than 200).
13. A high-density fiber enclosure (see figures 1-10, all the structures shown are interpreted as forming the high-density fiber enclosure) comprising:
a housing (the mast 53 is interpreted as the housing, see figure 10);
one or more inlet ports (the bottom opening of the mast 53 is interpreted as the inlet port) configured to receive one or more cables (feeder cable 10 is interpreted as the cable) in the housing; and
one or more output ports (the rest of the mast 53 above the bottom opening is interpreted as the output port);
one or more port glands (the cable breakout assembly 1 is interpreted as the port gland) adapted to be inserted into the one or more output ports (see figure 10), each port gland of the one or more port glands is configured to receive a plurality of drop fiber cables (the optical fibers, see paragraph 0028, are interpreted as the plurality of drop fiber cables),
wherein an output ratio of the high-density fiber enclosure is less than 200 (see figure 2, the output ratio is 1:12 by visual count, which is less than 1 which is less than 200).
14. The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 13, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands comprising:
a first end (the right end, as seen in figure 1, is interpreted as the first end) engaged with the one or more output ports, wherein the first end is defined by a first area (A1, the right side opening of the upper 6 and lower 7 casings is interpreted as the first area);
a second end (the left end, as seen in figure 1, is interpreted as the second end) that is defined by a second area (A2, the left side opening of the upper 6 and lower 7 casings is interpreted as the second area), wherein the second area is greater than the first area (see figures 1 and 2); and
a connecting passage (see figures 1 and 2, the interior space of the assembly 1 is interpreted as the connecting passage) between the first end and second end, wherein the connecting passage is configured to allow passage of a plurality of optical fibers (see paragraph 0028), such that a numerical count of a plurality of drop fiber cables is equal to a numerical count of the plurality of optical fibers (see figures 1-10 and paragraph 0028).
15.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 13, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands further comprising a shoulder (mounting system 37 is interpreted as the shoulder) at the second end (see figures 9 and 10) to restrict an insertion of a port gland of the one or more port glands into the output port at a predefined position (see figure 10).
16.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 14, wherein the connecting passage has a plurality of longitudinal compartments (second conduits 15 are interpreted as the longitudinal compartments) such that each longitudinal compartment of the plurality of longitudinal compartments is configured to house one optical fiber (see figures 1 and 2, since the second conduits 15 are intended to house optical fibers, they’re configured to house one optical fiber).
17.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 14, wherein each longitudinal compartment of the plurality of longitudinal compartments is separated from one another (see figure 2).
18.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 13, wherein the second end (see figures 1 and 2, the left end) comprising a plurality of outlets (the output of each of the second conduits 15 is interpreted as the plurality of outlets) adapted to connect a plurality of drop cables
19.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 13, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands are cylindrical shaped (see figures 1 and 2), and each port gland of the one or more port glands comprising the plurality of longitudinal compartments (second conduits 15 are interpreted as a plurality of longitudinal compartments) that are separated from one another (see figure 2, the compartments are different elements are therefore separated).
20.The high-density fiber enclosure of claim 13, wherein each port gland of the one or more port glands further comprising a threaded portion (bolts 40 are interpreted as the threaded portion) at the first end (see figures 1-10, all components of the device are interpreted as being “at” all the other portions) to removably engage the one or more port glands inside the housing (see figures 1-10 and paragraph 0037).
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.
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, 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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