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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 – 4 and 22 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious wherein the outer mounting body defines opposing first and second sides, wherein each of the first and second sides defined by the outer mounting body includes a protruding tab configured to interact with the telecommunications device during mounting of the outer mounting body into the opening defined by the telecommunications device.
The closest relevant prior art of record, Lu (U.S. PG Pub. # 2017/0090126 A1), fails to teach or suggest protruding tabs as claimed. Solheid et al. (U.S. PG Pub. # 2014/0241691 A1) teaches in fig. 97 that a structure such as that of ‘126 (662) is inserted into an adapter (682) that has tabs as claimed (1132) to interact with notches (1134). Thus, the outer mounting body itself does not have the tabs but the adapter does.
Thus, with no teaching from the prior art, and without the benefit of applicant's teachings, there is no motivation for one of ordinary skill in the art to combine/modify the prior art of record in a manner so as to create the claimed invention.
Claims 12 – 15, 17, 18, 21 and 23 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render obvious a fiber optic cassette comprising, among other things, wherein the adapter structure is configured for fixing an outer cable carrying fibers to the fiber optic cassette and directing the fibers within the outer cable into an interior of the cassette body. The closest relevant prior arts of record, Lu (U.S. PG Pub. # 2017/0090126 A1), teaches the crimp body (28) and outer mounting body (23) as claimed and Solheid et al. (U.S. PG Pub. # 2014/0241691 A1), teaches an adapter structure similar to that of ‘126 inserted into a cassette (1100, fig. 97) through an adapter (682). However, the adapter of ‘691 does not direct fibers within the outer cable (1138) into an interior of the cassette body as the fibers are to mate with another connector (662) (fig. 98, par. 0315) through the adapter (682).
Thus, with no teaching from the prior art, and without the benefit of applicant's teachings, there is no motivation for one of ordinary skill in the art to combine/modify the prior art of record in a manner so as to create the claimed invention.
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 1, 5, 7, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (U.S. PG Pub. # 2017/0090126 A1).
In Re claim 1, ‘126 teaches an adapter structure for fixing an outer cable carrying fibers to a telecommunications device and directing the fibers within the outer cable into the telecommunications device, the adapter structure comprising: a crimp body (28) defining a crimp portion (28b, par. 0043) and two flexible legs (42) extending away from the crimp portion; and an outer mounting body (23) comprising a through-hole (25), extending from one end to an opposite end of the outer mounting body, wherein the two flexible legs of the crimp body fit into one end of the through-hole, wherein each of the two flexible legs includes an outwardly protruding tab (43) that catches against an internal catch (receptacle, par. 0046) of the outer mounting body after insertion of the crimp body into the outer mounting body to limit removal of the crimp body from the outer mounting body, wherein the outer mounting body is configured for mounting into an opening defined by the telecommunications device (adapter, par. 0037).
‘126 is expressly silent to the two flexible legs configured to flex toward and away from each other wherein the two flexible legs of the crimp body flex toward each other during insertion.
However, it is well known in the art that arms of a crimp body structure such as that of ‘126 flex inward through contact of the protruding tabs with an inner wall of the outer mounting body until the protruding tabs latch outwardly into the receptables of the outer mounting body, whereby the arms move outwardly to seat the protruding tabs within the receptacles so as to prevent removal of the crimp body.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘126 to make the arms 28 to flex inward and outward so as to allow for the protruding tabs to engage with the receptacles of the outer mounting body so as to ensure optimum connection between the outer mounting body and the crimp body as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp.
In Re claim 5, ’126 teaches wherein the outwardly protruding tab defined by each of the two flexible legs defines a tapered front profile and a rear flat face for engaging with the outer mounting body of the adapter structure (fig. 12).
In Re claim 7, ‘126 teaches wherein the crimp portion defines outer surface texturing for crimping the outer cable.
In Re claim 11, ‘126 teaches wherein the outer mounting body is configured for mounting in an opening designed for mounting a duplex LC adapter, a simplex SC adapter, or an MPO adapter (par. 0003, fig. 9).
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 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin (U.S. Patent # 9,933,582 B1).
In Re claim 1, ‘582 teaches an adapter structure for fixing an outer cable carrying fibers to a telecommunications device and directing the fibers within the outer cable into the telecommunications device, the adapter structure comprising: a crimp body (20) defining a crimp portion (23) and two flexible legs (24) extending away from the crimp portion, the two flexible legs configured to flex toward and away from each other (col. 3, lines 12 – 13); and an outer mounting body (60) comprising a through-hole, extending from one end to an opposite end of the outer mounting body, wherein the two flexible legs of the crimp body fit into one end of the through-hole and flex toward each other during insertion, wherein each of the two flexible legs includes an outwardly protruding tab (27) that catches against an internal catch (62) of the outer mounting body after insertion of the crimp body into the outer mounting body to limit removal of the crimp body from the outer mounting body, wherein the outer mounting body is configured for mounting into an opening defined by the telecommunications device (col. 5, lines 16 – 28).
In Re claim 5, ‘582 teaches wherein the outwardly protruding tab defined by each of the two flexible legs defines a tapered front profile and a rear flat face for engaging with the outer mounting body of the adapter structure (fig. 2b).
In Re claim 7, ‘582 teaches wherein the crimp portion defines outer surface texturing for crimping the outer cable (fig. 2a, 2b).
In Re claim 8, ‘582 teaches wherein the crimp portion is cylindrical (fig. 2a).
In Re claim 11, ‘582 teaches wherein the outer mounting body is configured for mounting in an opening designed for mounting a duplex LC adapter, a simplex SC adapter, or an MPO adapter (col. 5, lines 66 – 67).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAD SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1294. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 5.
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/CHAD H SMITH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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