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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS's) submitted comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement; please see attached forms PTO-1449.
Drawings
The drawings submitted have been reviewed and determined to facilitate understanding of the invention. The drawings are accepted as submitted.
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.
Claims 74-81, 83-86, and 88-89 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 5,809,192 to Manning et al. (“US1”), cited in Applicant’s IDS received 02 October 2024.
Regarding Claim 74, US1 describes a fiber optic connector assembly (see Figs 1-4 and 11), comprising:
a fiber optic arrangement configured to be pushed or pulled through a duct, the fiber optic arrangement including:
an optical cable (shown in Fig 3) defining a longitudinal axis;
a ferrule (16) that holds a distal end of an optical fiber extending from a terminated end of the optical cable;
a ferrule hub (17) that carries the ferrule;
a spring (20) positioned proximal to at least a portion of the ferrule hub along the longitudinal axis; and
a protrusion (19/33 or alternatively 25/35) positioned proximal to at least a portion of the ferrule hub along the longitudinal axis and protruding radially away from the longitudinal axis;
a proximal housing (40) including an axial slot (54) extending along an entire length of the proximal housing parallel to the longitudinal axis, an opening and latch members (33 or alternatively 44); and
a distal housing (51), the latch members of the proximal housing being configured to hold the proximal housing to the distal housing by sliding the distal housing toward the proximal housing along the longitudinal axis,
wherein the proximal housing is configured to be inserted over the optical fiber by passing the optical fiber through the axial slot perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and such that the spring is positioned within the proximal housing (see Col 4 Lns 23-54); and
wherein the opening of the proximal housing is configured to receive the protrusion to limit movement along the longitudinal axis of the proximal housing relative to the fiber optic arrangement (see Col 4 Ln 55-Col 5 Ln 26).
Regarding Claim 75, US1 describes the protrusion as an alignment member (see Col 4 Ln 55-Col 5 Ln 26).
Regarding Claim 76, US1 describes the protrusion including a ramp (33) and a shoulder (flat surface shown opposite 20 in Figs 4-6).
Regarding Claim 77, US1 describes the protrusion including a shoulder (flat surface shown opposite 20 in Figs 4-6).
Regarding Claim 78, US1 describes the protrusion protruding from a keying member (25) of the fiber optic arrangement.
Regarding Claim 79, US1 describes the keying member includes two protrusions (35) protruding radially away from the longitudinal axis.
Regarding Claim 80, US1 describes the protrusion (35) is positioned distal to the spring along the longitudinal axis (see Fig 4).
Regarding Claim 81, US1 describes the latch members positioned on opposite sides of a circumference of the proximal housing (see Figs 2, 4, 6).
Regarding Claim 83, US1 describes the latch members include ramp surfaces and shoulders (see Fig 11).
Regarding Claim 84, US1 describes the latch members configured to be received in apertures of the distal housing (see Fig 11).
Regarding Claim 85, US1 describes the latch members including distal facing shoulders (see Fig 11).
Regarding Claim 86, US1 describes the latch members configured to be received in slots of the distal housing (see Fig 11).
Regarding Claim 88, US1 describes a protective arrangement configured to enclose the fiber optic arrangement (see Fig 7).
Regarding Claim 89, US1 describes the fiber optic arrangement is configured to be pushed or pulled through the duct while enclosed in the protective arrangement (see Fig 7).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 82 and 90 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US1 as applied to Claim 73 above.
Regarding Claim 82, US1 does not describe the latch members have arrow shapes. However, arrow shapes are well-known in the art for latch members in optical connector assemblies. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the latch members of US1 with an arrow shape. The motivation for doing so would have been to make a simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.
Regarding Claim 90, US1 does not specifically describe the proximal housing defining a trumpet shape. However, trumpet shapes are well-known in the art for optical connector pieces that allow for insertion of a ferrule or plug. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to form the proximal housing of US1 such that it defines a trumpet shape. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow for passive alignment during insertion of the ferrule of US1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 87 is 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.
Claim 87 describes the distal housing including tapered slits leading from proximal ends of the distal housing to the apertures.
These limitations represent subject matter not described or reasonably suggested, in conjunction with the further limitations of the present claims, by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY RAHLL whose telephone number is (571)272-2356. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-5:00pm.
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.
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.
/JERRY RAHLL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights