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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hofle, U.S. Patent 5,489,173.
Regarding Claim 1, Hofle teaches:
a male connector (1) comprising a batten interface portion (3) for attachment to a
batten, and a female connector interface portion (2/17) for engaging a female connector; and
a female connector (12) comprising a support structure interface portion (see below) for attaching to a support structure and a male connector interface portion (see below) for engaging the male connector, the male connector interface portion including a retainer (16) and a resilient clip (5) comprising of an aperture (see below),
wherein at least part of the female connector interface portion is received in the aperture and the clip biases the female connector interface portion against the retainer when in use (Fig. 2).
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Regarding Claim 2, Hofle teaches:
The aperture in the resilient clip captures and releasably secures the female connector interface portion against movement relative to the female connector (see elements 2, 16, 17, see Fig. 2).
Regarding Claim 3, Hofle teaches:
The retainer comprises a pair of arms extending from a base of the female connector to define a channel dimensioned for receiving the female connector interface portion of the male connector (see below).
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Regarding Claim 4, Hofle teaches:
Each arm includes a projection which extends inwardly into the channel (see above).
Regarding Claim 5, Hofle does not explicitly set forth the functions of this claim, however, these functions are considered inherent because of the structure disclosed. Fig. 2 clearly shows the resilient clip flexing so that the female connector interface portion is brought into contact with the projections. In order to insert the male connector into the channel the resilient clip must necessarily deform towards the base to accommodate the structures.
Regarding Claim 6, Hofle teaches the limitations of this claim if the Y-axis is established as “into the page” in Fig. 2 and the X-axis is the lateral left-right direction in the Fig. 2.
Regarding Claim 7, Hofle teaches the projections restricting movement in the Z-axis which would be “up” in Fig. 2.
Regarding Claim 8, Hofle teaches the aperture restricting movement of the male connector out of the channel because element 7 flexes into interference with the male connector along the Z-axis which prevents movement in the Y-axis, see Fig. 2.
Regarding Claim 9, see element 9 of the resilient clip which is curved.
Regarding Claim 10, Hofle teaches the male connector interface portion having a recess (see channel above) which receives the resilient clip. Since Claim 10 does not depend from Claim 3 the channel can also be interpreted as “a recess”.
Regarding Claim 11, Hofle teaches these limitations because the projections (see above) can be interpreted as “tabs” and extend in to the recess (see rejection of Claim 10) to frictionally retain the resilient clip within the recess. Note that Claim 11 does not depend from Claim 4 and can therefore be interpreted as “tabs”.
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.
Claim(s) 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hofle ‘173.
Regarding Claims 12-20, Examiner notes that the method step limitations are considered obvious over the prior art in view of rejections of the structural limitations previously set forth. Although the prior art does not explicitly set forth the method steps as claimed when the method steps essentially set forth the provision and use of an apparatus, as intended by its structure, then such method steps are considered obvious when the structure of the apparatus has been demonstrated as obvious or anticipated by the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW J SULLIVAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5218. The examiner can normally be reached IFP, Typically M-Th, 8:00-6:00, regular Fr availability.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jason San can be reached at 571-272-6531. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW J SULLIVAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/SPE, Art Unit 3677
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