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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on October 13, 2025 has been entered.
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) 1 - 11, 13 - 15, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Silbereisen et al., US 7,955,038 in view of Tisol, JR., US 2015/0089778.
Regarding claim 1, Silbereisen discloses a fastener [for fastening a fastening attachment to a carrier], the fastener comprising: a support disc (4) having a support disc supporting surface (bottom side) at a lower side; and an engaging mechanism (5) [for connecting the fastening attachment], the engaging mechanism (5) extending from the support disc supporting surface (see figure 1), and the engaging mechanism (5) comprising: a rod (5) connected to the support disc supporting surface (figure 1) at a proximal end; a head (9) disposed at a distal end of the rod (5), wherein the head (9) comprises a pair of long walls (see an annotated figure 2 below) and a pair of short walls (see the annotated figure 2 below); a pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) disposed on the rod (5) and comprising support member supporting surfaces (17) facing the support disc (4), and a pre-assembling clamping space (see figure 1) being defined between the support member supporting surfaces (17) and the support disc (4) [for clamping at least a portion of a thickness of the fastening attachment]; and a pair of limiting projections (7, 8) disposed on the rod (5) between the support member supporting surfaces (17) and the support disc supporting surface in a height direction of the rod (5), wherein each limiting projection (7, 8) of the pair of limiting projections (7, 8) is disposed above a short wall of the pair of short walls (see the annotated figure 2) and substantially centered radially (at the center of the fastener and substantially radial from the center with reference to the members 14, 15; see figure 3) between the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15).
Silbereisen does not explicitly disclose wherein a pair of windows extend through the rod (5) into a cavity within the rod (5) and wherein the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) are configured to deflect into corresponding ones of the pair of windows. Tisol, JR. teaches a fastener wherein a pair of windows (122) extend through the rod (110) into a cavity (see figure 2) within the rod (110) and wherein the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) are configured to deflect into corresponding ones of the pair of windows (122). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fastener of Silbereisen to include windows as taught by Tisol, JR. in order to provide support members that are more deflectable and thus making the insertion of the fastener easier.
Claim language set in brackets [] set forth above and below in this office action are considered by the examiner to be intended use that fails to further limit the structure of the claimed invention. Since the claimed invention is directed solely to that of the fastener, the prior art must only be capable of performing the functional recitations in order to be applicable, and in the instant case, the examiner maintains that the turn-lock fastener taught by Silbereisen (US 7,955,038) and Tisol, JR. (US 2015/0089778), is indeed capable of the intended use statements. Note that it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations.
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Regarding claim 2, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 1. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the head (9) has a substantially rectangular cross section (figure 2), and a dimension of the rod (5) in a direction parallel to a length direction of the head (9) is smaller than that of the head (9) in the length direction (see figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 2. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the deflectable support members (14, 15) of the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) are respectively disposed above a long wall (see an annotated figure 2 below) of a pair of long walls (see the annotated figure 2) of the head (9), and the support member supporting surfaces (17) of the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) extend outwardly beyond a corresponding long wall (annotated figure 2) in a direction parallel to a width of the head (9).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 3. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) further comprises: connecting ends (see the annotated figure 2) opposite to the support member supporting surfaces (17), and the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) being connected to the rod (5) at the connecting ends (annotated figure 2), wherein the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) overhang toward the support disc (4) from the connecting ends (annotated figure 2) to the support member supporting surfaces (17) to enable the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) to be deflectable about the connecting ends (annotated figure 2) toward or away from the rod (5); and outer walls 16 extending obliquely outwardly from the connecting ends (annotated figure 2) to the support member supporting surfaces (17) with respect to the rod (5).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 1. Silbereisen further discloses wherein a shoulder (see an annotated figure 4 below) is formed at a connection position of the rod (5) and the support disc supporting surface (the bottom side of 4), and the shoulder (the annotated figure 4), the support disc supporting surface (112) and the support member supporting surfaces (17) define the pre-assembling clamping space (see figures 1 and 4).
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Regarding claim 6, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 1. Tisol, JR. further teaches wherein the deflectable support members (150, 160) of the pair of deflectable support members are at least partially located in the windows (122) of the pair of windows respectively when the deflectable support members are not deflected (figure 2).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 1. Tisol, JR. further teaches wherein the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) at least partially enter the cavity through the pair of windows (122) when the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) are deflected due to a force applied toward the rod (110).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 1. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the pair of limiting projections (7, 8) is offset from the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) in a rotation direction of the fastener (1).
Regarding claim 9, Silbereisen discloses a fastener connecting assembly [to be fastened to a carrier], wherein the fastener connecting assembly comprises: a fastener (1) and a fastening attachment (20), wherein the fastener (1) has a pre-assembling position and a fastening position relative to the fastening attachment (20), and the fastener (1) is rotatable relative to the fastening attachment (20) between the pre-assembling position in which the fastener (1) is connected to the fastening attachment (20) to form the fastener connecting assembly, [and the fastening position in which the fastener connecting assembly is fastened to the carrier]; wherein the fastener (1) comprises: a support disc (4) having a support disc supporting surface (bottom side) at a lower side; and an engaging mechanism (5) for connecting the fastening attachment (20), the engaging mechanism (5) extending from the support disc supporting surface (figure 1), and the engaging mechanism (5) comprising: a rod (5) connected to the support disc supporting surface (figure 1) at a proximal end; a head (9) having a substantially rectangular cross section disposed at a distal end of the rod (5), wherein a dimension of the rod (5) in a direction parallel to a length direction of the head (9) is smaller than that of the head (9) in the length direction; a pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) disposed on the rod (5) and comprising support member supporting surfaces (17) facing the support disc (4), and a pre-assembling clamping space (see figure 4) being defined between the support member supporting surfaces (17) and the support disc (4); and a pair of limiting projections (7, 8) disposed on the rod (5) between the support member supporting surfaces (17) and the support disc supporting surface in a height direction of the rod (5), and the limiting projections (7, 8) of the pair of limiting projections being respectively located above a short wall (see the annotated figure 2) of a pair of shorts walls of the head (9) to be offset from the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) in a rotation direction of the fastener; and the fastening attachment (20) comprises: a fastening attachment opening (21), the fastening attachment opening (21) being substantially a cuboid (see figure 2), and the fastening attachment opening (21) being sized to allow the head (9) to be inserted through the fastening attachment opening (21) to enable the fastening attachment opening (21) to surround at least a portion of the rod (5); and a pair of fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) in communication with the fastening attachment opening (21), wherein the fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) of the pair of fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) at least partially receive the limiting projections (7, 8) of the pair of limiting projections (7, 8) when the fastener is in the fastening position (figure 3), wherein at least a portion of a thickness of the fastening attachment (20) is clamped in the pre-assembling clamping space (see figure 4) when the fastener (1) is in the pre-assembling position, and the fastening attachment opening (21) is configured to provide a rotation space for the rod (5) so as to allow the fastener (1) to be rotated between the pre-assembling position and the fastening position.
Silbereisen does not explicitly disclose wherein a pair of windows extend through the rod (5) into a cavity within the rod (5) and wherein the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) are configured to deflect into corresponding ones of the pair of windows. Tisol, JR. teaches a fastener wherein a pair of windows (122) extend through the rod (110) into a cavity (see figure 2) within the rod (110) and wherein the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) are configured to deflect into corresponding ones of the pair of windows (122). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fastener of Silbereisen to include windows as taught by Tisol, JR. in order to provide support members that are more deflectable and thus making the insertion of the fastener easier.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 9. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the deflectable support members (14, 15) of the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) are respectively located above a long wall (see the annotated figure 2) of a pair of long walls (the annotated figure 2) of the head (9), and the support member supporting surfaces (17) of the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) respectively extend outwardly beyond the long walls (see the annotated figure 2) of a pair of long walls (the annotated figure 2) of the fastening attachment opening (21) in a direction parallel to a width of the fastening attachment opening (21) when the fastener (1) is in the pre-assembling position.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 10. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) further comprises: connecting ends (see the annotated figure 2) disposed opposite to the support member supporting surfaces (17), and the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) being connected to the rod (5) at the connecting ends (the annotated figure 2), wherein the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) overhang toward the support disc (4) from the connecting ends (the annotated figure 2) to the support member supporting surfaces (17) to enable the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15) to be deflectable about the connecting ends (the annotated figure 2) toward or away from the rod (5); and outer walls (16) extending obliquely outwardly from the connecting ends (the annotated figure 2) to the support member supporting surfaces (17) with respect to the rod (5).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 9. Silbereisen further discloses wherein a shoulder (see the annotated figure 4) is formed at a connection position of the rod (5) and the support disc supporting surface (the bottom side of 4), and the shoulder (see the annotated figure 4), the support disc supporting surface (112) and the support member supporting surfaces (17) define the pre-assembling clamping space (see figures 1 and 4).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener connecting assembly according to claim 9. Tisol, JR. further teaches wherein the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) are at least partially located in the pair of windows (122) when the deflectable support members (150, 160) are not deflected.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener connecting assembly according to claim 9. Tisol, JR. further teaches wherein the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) at least partially enter the cavity (figure 2) through the pair of windows (122) when the pair of deflectable support members (150, 160) is deflected due to a force applied toward the rod (110).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener connecting assembly according to claim 9. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the fastening attachment (20) further comprises a pair of second rotation guiding grooves (between 23 & 25 and 24 & 26) in communication with one fastening limiting groove of the pair of fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) and the fastening attachment opening (21) to enable the limiting projections of the pair of limiting projections (7, 8) to respectively rotate into the fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) of the pair of fastening limiting grooves through the pair of second rotation guiding grooves (see figure 3) when the fastener (1) is rotated from the pre-assembling position to the fastening position.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener connecting assembly according to claim 19. Silbereisen further discloses wherein the fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) of the pair of fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) are respectively provided with fastening limiting walls (25, 26) to restrict the fastener (1) from excessively rotating beyond the fastening position from the pre-assembling position; and the bottoms (surfaces) of the pair of second rotation guiding grooves (between 23 & 25 and 24 & 26) are higher than the bottoms of the pair of fastening limiting grooves (23, 24) to restrict the reverse rotation of the fastener (1) from the fastening position to the pre-assembling position.
Claim(s) 12 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Silbereisen et al., US 7,955,038 in view of Tisol, JR., US 2015/0089778 as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Leverger et al., US 2019/0118731.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. teaches the fastener according to claim 11. The combination does not expressly teach the fastening attachment as claimed.
Leverger teaches a fastening attachment (24) comprising an outer frame (50) having a first engagement surface (50a) and a second engagement surface (on the other side of 50 that is opposite to 50a) that are opposite to each other, [the first engagement surface (50a) and the second engagement surface (opposite to 50a) being respectively configured to be engaged with the carrier and the support disc (28)], and the fastening attachment opening (24a) running through the first engagement surface (50a) and the second engagement surface (see figure 7); a pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) disposed on the first engagement surface (50a) with each pre-assembling limiting groove (56) respectively disposed at one long wall (see figures 6 - 8) of the pair of long walls (see figure 6) of the fastening attachment opening (24a), and the pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) being in communication with the fastening attachment opening (24a), wherein the pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) of the pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) at least partially respectively receive the deflectable support members (36, 38) of the pair of deflectable support members (36, 38) when the fastener (22) is in the pre-assembling position; and a pair of first rotation guiding grooves (54) disposed on the first engagement surface (50a) with each first rotation guiding groove (54) respectively being in communication with one pre-assembling limiting groove (56) of the pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) and with the fastening attachment opening (24a) to enable the deflectable support members (36, 38) of the pair of deflectable support members (36, 38) to respectively rotate out of the pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) through the pair of first rotation guiding grooves (54) when the fastener (22) is rotated from the pre-assembling position to the fastening position.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the connecting assembly of the combination of Silbereisen and Tisol, JR. to include a fastening attachment as taught by Leverger in order to provide a more secured attachment for the fastener.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Silbereisen, Tisol, JR. and Leverger teaches the fastener connecting assembly according to claim 12. Leverger further teaches wherein the pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) of the pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56) are respectively provided with pre-assembling limiting walls (55) to respectively restrict the pair of deflectable support members (14, 15 of Silbereisen) from leaving the pair of pre-assembling limiting grooves (56).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 and 18 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the reasons for allowance are evident of record, i.e., see the Office action mailed on January 14, 2025 (page 15).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 - 15, 17, 19 and 20 have been considered but are not persuasive in view of the new ground of rejection as set forth above. Applicant has requested an interview; however, the examiner suggests applicant to request the interview after the mailing of this Office action since it would be more productive.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROWLAND DO whose telephone number is (571)270-5737. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:30 - 7:00 PT.
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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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/R.D./ Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677