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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 04/24/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-8 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ding (CN 116184561).
Regarding claims 1-3, 8 and 13-14, Ding discloses a method of manufacturing an optical fiber (title), the method comprising:
drawing a glass fiber from a glass preform (2) (Fig. 3) that is arranged in a glass furnace (3) (Fig. 3);
drawing the glass fiber (5) out of the glass furnace (Fig. 3) applying a fiber coating (503) to the glass fiber; page 8, paragraph (4-5)
Ding discloses coating the fiber with a fluorine dopant that modifies refractive index (page 7, paragraph 4) the coating having an acrylic base material with a fluorine as a dopant where the fluorine diffuses throughout the base material given the broadest reasonable interpretation
Page 6-7 indicates 502-503 being acrylic ester can be light curing coating, comprising a fluorine-containing acrylic ester monomer and other acrylic ester silicone polyimide polymers comprising fluorine and repeats throughout the translation doping fluorine into the coating or layer on the fiber (see at least claim 7) and Ding states a coating can be one or multiple layers (last paragraph of page 5). Ding discloses light curing an acrylic thus UV cured at least partially.
Thus applying one or more dopants to a base material of the fiber coating to modify a refractive index of the fiber coating.
Regarding claim 4, Ding also suggests the coating comprising chrolrosilane, or chlorine, (page 6; second to last paragraph)
Regarding claim 5, Ding discloses the one or more dopants include at least one of fluorine to decrease the refractive index of the fiber coating (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 7, Ding discloses applying the one or more dopants to the base material of the fiber coating includes mixing the base material with a dopant medium of the one or more dopants to produce a doped base material see claim 1.
Ding discloses applying the fiber coating to the glass fiber includes applying, by a coating machine (601) or applicator, the doped base material to the glass fiber to form a coated glass fiber (Fig 1 and 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 9-12 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 prior art does not indicate dopants that include at least one of sulfur hexafluoride, silicon tetrafluoride, or titanium tetrachloride in addition to the limitations of claim 1 requiring steps specifically on a glass fiber.
Regarding claims 9 and 11-12 the prior art does not disclose applying the fiber coating to the glass fiber includes applying, by a coating applicator, the base material to the glass fiber to form a coated glass fiber. Therefore the coating being a base material on the fiber and applying the one or more dopants to the base material of the fiber coating includes exposing the coated glass fiber to a gaseous dopant medium such that the one or more dopants diffuse into the base material of the fiber coating of the coated glass fiber and a secondary coating and doping and curing.
Claim 10 is objected to but allowed at least for including all of the limitation of claim 9 and claims 9 depends from.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JODI COHEN FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)270-3966. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 am-4 pm.
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JODI COHEN FRANKLIN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1741
/JODI C FRANKLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1741
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