Patent Application 18310168 - OPTICAL AND COPPER COMPOSITE TERMINAL BOX - Rejection
Patent Application 18310168 - OPTICAL AND COPPER COMPOSITE TERMINAL BOX
Title: OPTICAL AND COPPER COMPOSITE TERMINAL BOX
Application Information
- Invention Title: OPTICAL AND COPPER COMPOSITE TERMINAL BOX
- Application Number: 18310168
- Submission Date: 2025-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Effective Filing Date: 2023-05-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Filing Date: 2023-05-01T00:00:00.000Z
- National Class: 385
- National Sub-Class: 135000
- Examiner Employee Number: 77832
- Art Unit: 2874
- Tech Center: 2800
Rejection Summary
- 102 Rejections: 0
- 103 Rejections: 2
Cited Patents
The following patents were cited in the rejection:
Office Action Text
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
Information disclosure statement filed 5/01/2023 has been considered.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Republic of Korea on 10/14/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 10-2022-0131935 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication No. US 2007/0272440 A1 to Grunwald et al. (hereinafter “Grunwald”) in view of US Patent No. 10,001,617 B2 to Clatanoff et al. (hereinafter “Clatanoff”).
Regarding claim 1, Grunwald discloses an optical and copper composite terminal box (10 in Fig. 1) comprising: a terminal box body (18 in Fig. 1); a splitter (not explicitly drawn but fully disclosed in paragraph [0033]) connectable to optical cables which is provided on one side in the terminal box body (i.e. 34 in Figs. 1-2); and a copper cable connection device (66, 68 in Fig. 2) which is disposed in the terminal box body adjacent to the splitter and is connectable to a copper cable forming a different signal from the optical cable (paragraph [0033]).
Although the splitter of Grunwald would likely have a lead-in terminal and output terminals, the disclosure of Grunwald does not explicitly mention the existence of such lead-in terminal or output terminals connectable to optical cables, as claimed in the present application. On the other hand, such splitter arrangement is known in the art. For example, Clatanoff discloses a fiber optic splitter having a lead-in and a plurality of output (990, 910, 915 in Fig. 11B) connectable to optical fibers (column 4, lines 4-26). Such a splitter arrangement would have been readily recognized as advantageous and desirable to one of ordinary skill in the art because it would allow for transmitted optical signals to be routed to multiple drop locations for increase network capacity and scalability. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of Grunwald to have a splitter with a lead-in terminal and plurality of output terminals, in the manner claimed the present application.
Regarding claim 2, Grunwald discloses an optical and copper composite terminal box as discussed above regarding claim 1. In addition, Grunwald discloses a mounting case with a plate (i.e. 44 in Fig. 1-2) which rotates by an action of a hinge (Fig. 1; 45 in Fig. 2). However, it does not explicitly disclose that the mounting case is a splitter case. On the other hand, the use of the mounting case for having a splitter would have been fully within the scope of the invention of Grunwald. It is well known in the art to have optical fiber splitters in a case, so as to protect fragile optical fiber interconnection. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of Grunwald to have the splitter installed in a splitter case, in the manner claimed in the present application.
Regarding claim 3, Grunwald discloses further comprising a fusion splicing tray (50 in Fig. 1) which is provided in the terminal box body at a position corresponding to the mounting plate (40 in Fig. 1-2) and in which cables that another core of the plurality of cores included in the optical cable is fused to any one core of a plurality of cores included in another optical cable are disposed (paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 6, Grunwald in view Clatanoff renders the claimed terminal box of claim 1 obvious as discussed above. In addition, Grunwald discloses a plurality of cable lead-in parts provided on a sidewall of the terminal box body and through which optical and copper cables enter (34 in Fig.1 ). Also, Grunwald discloses at least one terminal box fixing member provided on a rear surface of the terminal body (36 in Fig. 1).
However, it does not explicitly disclose a plurality of cable holders provided on a peripheral support part of the cable lead-in parts as claimed in the present application. On the other hand, such a cable holder is known in the art. For example, Clatanoff discloses such cable holders disposed on the peripheral support part of the cable lead-in parts (779 and 793 in Fig. 9). Such cable holders would have been readily recognized as advantageous and desirable to one of ordinary skill in the art because it would allow for effective strain relief for the optical and copper cables entering the terminal box, and prevent any unintentional pulling of the cables. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of Grunwald to have cable holders in the manner claimed in the present application.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grunwald in view of Clatanoff, as applied to claim 1, and in further view of US Patent Application Publication No. US 2021/0195801 A1 to Verran et al. (hereinafter “Verran”).
As discussed above, Grunwald in view Clatanoff renders the claimed terminal box of claim 1 obvious. However, Grunwald does not explicitly disclose a slide cover slidably coupled to the terminal body, as claimed in the present application. On the other hand, the use of a slide cover is known in the art. For example, Verran discloses a distribution point unit for fiber optic and copper lines, wherein the cover is a slidable cover coupled to a terminal body (Fig. 2). One of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize such a slidable cover as advantageous and desirable, since it would allow for complete access to the internal components of the distribution point unit from both the front and back of the device at the same time. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the present application to modify the device of Grunwald to have a slide cover in the manner claimed in the present application.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: as discussed above, an optical and copper composite terminal box comprising a terminal box body, a splitter having a lead-in terminal and output terminals connectable to a plurality of cables, and a copper cable connection device which is disposed in the terminal box body adjacent to the splitter is obvious in view of the cited prior art. However, none of the prior art fairly teaches or suggests such a terminal box further comprising a slide cover, slide guide rails which are provided on both side surfaces of the terminal box body and guide a sliding operation of the slide cover; and a rotatable cover support which is rotatably coupled to the terminal box body and supports an opened state of the slide cover, in the manner claimed in the present application.
Claim 7-11 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: as discussed above, an optical and copper composite terminal box comprising a terminal box body, a splitter having a lead-in terminal and output terminals connectable to a plurality of cables, and a copper cable connection device which is disposed in the terminal box body adjacent to the splitter is obvious in view of the cited prior art. However, none of the prior art fairly teaches or suggests such a terminal box wherein the copper cable connection device includes: a device body having an assembly part that is allowed to be assembled to the terminal box body; copper cable connection parts which are provided on the device body and to which a plurality of copper cables are connected at different positions; and a copper cable disconnection part which is disposed between the copper cable connection parts and connects between the copper cables or disconnects between the copper cables, in the manner claimed in the present application.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUNG H PAK whose telephone number is (571)272-2353. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7AM- 5PM.
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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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/SUNG H PAK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
