DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on December 20, 2023 has been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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) 1-8, 10, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Flechl (US 11,279,253).
Flechl discloses an electric vehicle charging system comprised of an electrical connector 2 configured for emitting or receiving electricity from the electric vehicle charging station. The electrical connector including a base 1 and an array of coaxial electrical contacts 4, the base, supporting the connector 2, having a height, a width and a length. The height being less than the width and the length, as the base is a flat piece of supporting metal. A center axis of the electrical connector extending in a direction of the height, each of the contacts being mounted on the base to be radially elastic with respect to the center axis to radially press against a further electrical connector mated therewith. Figure 11 shows the radial and coaxial arrangement of the electrical connector tabs to charge the electric vehicle.
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) 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Flechl (US 11,279,253).
Flechl discloses the electric vehicle charging system as described above. However, Flechl does not specifically show distinct first and second electrical connectors. Flechl only shows a single electrical connecter. It would have been an obvious multiplication of parts to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add a second electrical connector with the expected result of providing the second connector to act as a back up to the first connector in the event of a failure or to acts as a second charging port for a vehicle to increase the speed and efficiency to which the vehicle charges.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 11-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
December 18, 2025
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