Notice of 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 .
Specification
A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed, providing informative value in classifying and searching.
The following title is suggested: See MPEP § 606.01.
WIRE CONNECTOR HAVING A THREE PART SEAL RETAINER
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claimed first and second insertion holes must be shown or the features cancelled from claim 2.
See MPEP § 608.02(d)
Although the specification identifies (42a, 42b, 52A, 52B) as insertion holes, they are not in fact “holes” by any stretch of the definition of such; which is understood as an opening through something hence bound by a defined area. Furthermore, the claimed introducing grooves (43a, 43b, 53A, 53B) are adjacent said holes where a “groove” by definition is bound by two sides as in a furrow or channel which is what is depicted in FIG. 4, which negates the existence of any “hole”.
“Any structural detail that is of sufficient importance to be described should be shown in the drawing.” (Ex parte Good, 1911 C.D. 43, 164 O.G. 739 (Comm’r Pat. 1911).
“The question is not whether one skilled in the art can decipher the invention, but whether the drawing is so clearly and artistically executed as to facilitate a ready understanding of the invention both at the time of examination and in searches afterward in which reference to the patent must be made.”
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in response to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application.
No new matter should be entered in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(e).
If the changes are not accepted by the Examiner, the Applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 2-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without clarity on the “second introducing groove”, which is critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claims in a manner consistent with the disclosure.
Paragraph [0038] provides antecedent basis for first introducing grooves 43a, 43b extending from the first insertion holes 42a, 42b, within the first retainer.
Paragraph [0040] contradicts the precedent set in paragraph [0038] by citing “the second insertion hole 42b via the second introducing groove 43b”, also as part of the first retainer.
Compounding this matter is the fact that Claim 2 ascribes the second insertion hole and second introducing groove as part of the second retainer.
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible such errors which hinder the overall clarity. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting all remaining errors and ambiguity in the specification such as those instances depicted above while taking great care in not introducing any new matter.
For examination purposes, FIG. 4 will be used as guidance with respect to those instances of ambiguity.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 - § 103
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.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Okabe Toshiaki (JP 10 012 317) [IDS filed March 28 2023].
With respect to Claim 1; Okabe Toshiaki discloses a connector 1, comprising: a housing 2 including an accommodating portion [occupied by 3], a wire 4b penetrating through the accommodating portion [Fig. 7]; a sealing member 3 for sealing between an inner surface of the accommodating portion and an outer peripheral surface of the wire [Figs. 4, 6]; and a retainer 11 for retaining the sealing member 3 by being fixed to the housing 2, the retainer including a first retainer 12 and a second retainer 13 overlapping in a length direction of the wire with respect to the sealing member [Fig. 7].
With respect to Claim 2 as best understood; Okabe Toshiaki discloses the first retainer 12 includes a first insertion hole / groove 17a, 17b the wire 4b being inserted through the first insertion hole / groove; and the second retainer 13 includes a second insertion hole / groove 22, the wire 4b being inserted through the second insertion hole / groove, and extending in a direction different from that of the first hole / groove [Fig. 1].
With respect to Claim 3; Okabe Toshiaki discloses the housing 2 includes a first locking protrusion 6a, 6b and a second locking protrusion [forming 5a] on a peripheral surface, the first retainer 12 includes a first body portion 16a. 16b overlapping the sealing member 3 in the length direction of the wire 4b and a first mounting portion 18a-c for mounting the first body portion 12 on the housing 2 by being engaged with the first locking protrusion 6a, 6b, and the second retainer 13 includes a second body portion overlapping the first body portion in the length direction of the wire [Fig. 7] and a second mounting portion 21a, 21b for mounting the second body portion on the housing 2 by being engaged with the second locking protrusion [forming 5a].
With respect to Claim 4; Okabe Toshiaki discloses first 6a, 6b and second [forming 5a] locking protrusions are arranged to be shifted in a circumferential direction of the housing 2, and the first 18a-c and second 21a, 21b mounting portions are arranged to be shifted in the circumferential direction of the housing [Fig. 1].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form or amended into the respective independent base claim including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 5; allowability resides at least in part with the prior art not showing or fairly teaching a wire connector comprising a housing including a sealing member fixed to the housing by a retainer which includes first and second retainers which overlap in a length direction of the wire with both retainers having mounting portions which engage respective locking protrusions on the housing such that the second retainer includes a locking/covering portion covering the first mounting portion of the first retainer in conjunction with ALL the remaining limitations within claims 1, 3 and 5.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure: US 10,573,988 Mellott et al. discloses a wire connector having two analogous retainers (24), (32), (30). However the analogous “first retainer” (24) does not mount to the connector housing.
Conclusion
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/VANESSA GIRARDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833