`
`In the latest Office Action, the Examiner rejected claims 1-4 and 9-11 under the
`
`judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable
`
`over claim 20 of US. Patent No. 6,650,622. Claims 1-5, 11, 13 and 14 were rejected
`
`under 35 USC 102(e) as being anticipated by De Bruycker et al (US. Patent No.
`
`6,272,219). Claim 6 was rejected as being obvious under 35 USC 103(a) over De
`
`Bruycker, while claims 7, 8 and 12 were rejected as being obvious over the combination
`
`of De Bruycker in view of Williams (US. Patent No. 5,216,704). For the reasons set
`
`forth below, reconsideration of this application is respectfully requested.
`
`Double Patenting
`
`While Applicant makes no admission about the obviousness of the claims, a
`
`Terminal Disclaimer is being submitted herewith to render this objection moot.
`
`Claim Reiections — 35 USC S 102
`While De Bruycker can loosely be characterized as a network, it is not the type of
`
`network that includes dedicated cables to each piece of equipment on the network. De
`
`Bruycker is a telephone communication system in which a telephone company location
`
`100 communicates with a customer premise 200 through a complex switching network,
`
`typically referred to as a PSTN (which stands for Public Switched Telephone Network).
`
`Serial No. 10/668,708
`
`Page 8 of 12
`
`
`
`Wikipedia explains the operation of a PSTN as follows:
`
`Routing in the PSTN
`
`From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
`
`Jump to: navigation, search
`
`In the context ofthe public switched telephone network, routing is the process by which
`telephone calls are routed around the telephone network. Telephone exchanges are connected
`together with trunks. Each call that is to be routed contains a destination number that has two
`parts, a prefix which generally identifies the geographical location of the destination telephone,
`‘
`and a number unique within that prefix that determines the precise destination.
`
`The exchange uses pre-computed routing tables, which are generated by batch processing at
`central locations based on the known topology of the network, the numbering plan, and analysis
`of traffic data. These are then downloaded to telephone exchanges at intervals. There may be
`several alternative routes to any given destination, and the exchange can select dynamically
`between these in the event of link failure or congestion.
`
`Because of the hierarchical nature of the numbering plan, and its geographical basis, most calls
`can be routed based only on their prefix. Exceptions include intelligent network services with
`non-geoggaphical numbers, such as toll-free or freephone calling.
`
`Routing in circuit-switched networks involves creating a path from one customer to another for
`the duration of each call. Routing decisions are an important part of this process as they
`determine which channels or circuits are used to connect the customers for the duration of the
`call. In a PSTN exchange, routing is typically performed using a routing table that contains the
`pre-defined routes for a connection. In such a system, alternative routes exist, which are
`-
`specified in the routing tables [1].
`
`In determining routing plans, special attention is paid for example to ensure that two routes do
`not mutually overflow to each other, otherwise congestion will cause a destination to be
`completely blocked.
`
`According to Braess' paradox, the addition of a new, shorter, and lower cost route can lead to an
`increase overall congestion [1, 2]. The network planner must take this into account when
`designing routing paths.
`
`One approach to routing involves the use of Dynamic Alternative Routing (DAR) [l]. DAR
`makes use of the distributed nature of a telecommunications network and its inherent
`randomness to dynamically determine optimal routing paths. This method generates a
`distributed, random, parallel computing platform that minimises congestion across the network,
`
`Serial No. 10/668,708
`
`Page 9 of 12
`
`
`
`and is able to adapt to take changing traffic patterns and demands into account [1]. (emphasis
`added)
`
`Of particular importance is the statement that there may be “several alternative routes to
`
`a given destination". Thus, there is no one-to—one or dedicated physical cable wires that
`
`connect the telephone company location 100 to the customer premise 200. Since there
`
`are no dedicated cable wires, Applicant’s technique for identifying equipment on a
`
`network by varying the electrical characteristics across the wires cannot be
`
`implemented in De Bruycker. This is because there simply are no dedicated wires in a
`
`telephone switching network.
`
`Claim 1 has been amended for clarification purposes and should not be
`
`considered as narrowing the scope of the invention. Claim 1 clearly now calls for each
`
`piece of equipment to be connected to the central module by its own cable.
`
`For
`
`example, claim 1 calls for “a first cable having wires therein connected between the
`
`central module and the first piece of equipment". Claim 1 goes on to recite "a second
`
`cable having wires therein connected between the central module and the second piece
`
`of equipment.” Claim 1 further recites that a remote module is utilized in generating “a
`
`variable impedance across at least a pair of wires in the first cable to define a first multi-
`
`bit signal associated with a first piece of equipment."
`
`In the preferred embodiment this
`
`multi-bit signal provides an identification signal uniquely associated with the first piece
`
`of equipment. A second piece of equipment can also be uniquely identified by "a
`
`second remote module utilized in generating a variable impedance across at least a pair
`
`of wires in the second cable to define a second multi-bit signal associated with the
`
`second piece of equipment". Thus, communication between the central module and
`
`Serial No. 10/668,708
`
`Page 10 of 12
`
`
`
`0
`
`various pieces of equipment on the network can be implemented in an eloquently
`
`simple but effective manner.
`
`This structure and mode of operation is simply not
`
`disclosed or suggested by De Bruycker. Thus, the § 102 rejection should be removed.
`
`Claim Reiections — 35 USC § 103
`
`Claims 6-8 and 12 depend from claim 1. Thus, they are distinguishable at least
`
`for the reasons set forth above in connection with claim 1.
`
`In addition, the Examiner
`
`appears to be using an impermissible hindsight approach in which to reject
`
`these
`
`claims. For example, claim 6 not only calls for the central module to be able to identify
`
`the existence of the piece of equipment, it also calls for the central module to be able to
`
`identify the location of the equipment without power being applied to the equipment.
`
`This is not disclosed or suggested by De Bruycker. Claim 7 calls for the power
`
`demodulator
`
`in the remote module to demodulate the power signal
`
`“to detect
`
`information sent from the central module”. Claim 7 further recites that “information can
`
`be bi-directionally transmitted between the central module and the remote modules.”
`
`The additional reference to Williams (US. Patent No. 5,216,704) fails to disclose this
`
`structure or mode of operation. Williams’ power sink 54 cannot be reasonably
`
`construed as a “power modulator". Even if it is a power demodulator it does not function
`
`in the manner recited in claim 7. Claim 8 further calls for the central module to block
`
`network information from being communicated to a piece of equipment that does not
`
`send the proper signal backto the central module. This recitation is not remotely
`
`suggested in any of the references cited by the Examiner.
`
`Serial No. 10/668,708
`
`-
`
`Page 11 of 12
`
`
`
`Request for Interview
`
`It is submitted that this amendment and response should place this application in
`
`condition for allowance and such action is respectfully requested.
`
`In the event that the
`
`Examiner does not issue a Notice of Allowance in the next communication, Applicant
`
`requests an interview to discuss this application before any other type of communication
`
`is issued.
`
`For the foregoing reasons, it is believed that this application is now in condition
`
`for allowance and such action is respectfully requested.
`
`Respectfully submitted,
`
`By:
`
`
`
`[firsts ”Mfifiéfifi'fl V
`
`Dated:
`
`75/ 5, 2008
`
`HARNESS, DICKEY & PIERCE, P.L.C.
`PO. Box 828
`Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48303
`(248) 641-1600
`‘
`
`GGS/slm
`
`Serial No. 10/668,708
`
`Page 12 of 12