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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Pronto (U.S. Patent No. 5,428,508) in view of Lu et al. (U.S Patent No. 6,662,431) in further view of Zhu (U.S. Patent No. 8,267,725). Pronto discloses a pin (107) having a Z shape with first (207) and second plates (203) that overlap when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the first plate; a third plate (201); a first bend (209) connecting the first and the second plates; a second bend (205) connecting the second and the third plates; wherein the first and third plates overlap when viewed in the direction perpendicular to the first plate.
Pronto discloses substantially the claimed invention except for a first notch in the first tip of the first plate and a first slot in the first bend.
Lu teaches a pin (14) having a z shape and including a first notch (40) in a first tip (Fig. 7) of a first plate (12) and a first bend (Fig. 7) in the pin, the pin comprising: second (middle part of 14), and third plates (part of 14 opposite to 12); a first bend (Fig. 7) connecting the first and the second plates; a second bend (Fig. 7) connecting the second and the third plates; wherein the first plate including a first notch (40), the first and the second plates are parallel or substantially parallel (curved part of the middle of 14), a module (Fig. 3) comprising: a substrate (36); the pin of mounted to the substrate; and a wire (32) wound around the pin, a transformer (20); wherein the wire is a winding of the transformer, an additional pin (Fig. 5); wherein the wire is wound around the additional pin, the wire is soldered to the pin, a casing (10) that surrounds the substrate.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the pin of Pronto by including a first notch in the first tip of the first plate and a first slot in the first bend as taught in Lu in order to wrap wires to the pin, making it suitable for use with transformers.
The combination of Pronto and Lu discloses substantially the claimed invention except for the pin having a first slot in the first bend in the pin and a second slot in the second bend in the pin.
Zhu teaches a pin (2) having a first slot (between 234) in a first bend (232) in the pin, a second slot (between 231) in a second bend (231) in the pin, a second notch (notches surrounding 22) is in a second tip (Fig. 4) of the pin.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the pin of Pronto and Lu by including a first slot in the first bend in the pin and a second slot in the second bend in the pin as taught in Zhu in order to improve the flexibility capabilities of the pin.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 3 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWIN A LEON whose telephone number is (571)272-2008. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee S Luebke can be reached on (571)272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDWIN A. LEON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833