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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-5, 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a, 1) as being anticipated by Yamakami (U. S. Patent 7,931,481).
For claim 1, Yamakami figure 9 includes a connector 100 having a connector body 130 which facilitates connector to a cable. The connector also includes one row of pins at 164, 174 extending from the body and that include first and second group of pins 164d, 174d that extend in opposite directions and are adapted for connection to a host board 114 by solder joints, figure 17. While contacts 164, 174 extend along spaced lines they are readable as forming a single row with two groups of pins of different shapes.
For claim 2, the host board is a pcb 114. For claim 3, the pins 174d are readable as J-pin and those at 164d are read at L-pins.
For claim 4, the Yamakami contacts are readable as forming a single row. Claim 5, the groups may be selected to be of equal numbers. For claims 8, 9, the directions of the pins and location of the vias facilitates connection of the pins to the vias, see figure 17. Claim 10, rejected as in case of claim 1 but with figure 9 connector 100 read as first connector and body 130 read as first body.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamakami.
For claim 6, Yamakami discloses the claimed invention except Yamakami does not disclose the connector body 130 to have an axis of symmetry and with first and second group of pins being on opposite sides of such axis. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Yamakami so as to form the Yamakami device as that would provide balance of use of contacts circuit board vias. Presence of both type pins on each side of the axis does not avoid the rejection.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamakami in view of Mac Mullin (U. S. Patent 6,537,086).
For claim 7, Yamakami discloses the claimed invention except for Yamakami body 130 lacks use of pegs. Mac Mullin uses a body with pegs at 462. It would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Yamakami to form such pegs on body 130 as taught by Mac Mullin so as to enable it to be aligned to the pcb.
Claims 11-20 are allowable.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Neil Abrams whose telephone number is (571-272-2089. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TC Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NEIL ABRAMS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834