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
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 1-3, 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (US 6,623,299).
Regarding claim 1: Liu teaches a connector 1 (Fig. 1) comprising: a housing (at 30; Fig. 1) that is formed of multiple parts (see Fig. 2 for multiple parts forming the connector housing), having at least a first housing part 30 and a second housing part 11 that are connected to one another (see Figs. 1-3); first contact elements 12 and second contact elements (at 22; Fig. 3) that are soldered to one another (Col. 3, lines 47-50) at contact points (at 211; Fig. 4) arranged in the housing in order to establish an electrical connection (see Fig. 4); first lines 21 that are connected to the first contact elements 12 (see Fig. 4 for electrical and physical connection of first line 21 and first contact element 12); second lines 21 that are different from the first lines (e.g. there are multiple lines and some can be interpreted as first and second lines) and are connected to the second contact elements or whose ends (at 21; Fig. 3) form the second contact elements (e.g. the ends of second lines for second contact elements; see Fig. 3); and a casting resin (e.g. melted plastic material located within cover 30; see Fig. 4 and Col. 3, lines 52-58) that at least partially surrounds the first and second contact elements and surrounds at least the contact points between the first and the second contact elements (see Fig. 4 and Col. 3, lines 52-58), the contact points being provided in or on the first housing part 30 (see Fig. 4), wherein the casting resin (e.g. melted plastic) is connected to the first housing part 30, so as to insulate at least the contact points that are provided in or on the first housing part 30 (see Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 2: Liu teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the casting resin (e.g. melted plastic) has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is equal or nearly equal to a coefficient of thermal expansion of a first material from which the first housing part 30 is made (e.g. melted plastic of cover 30 is made of the same material as housing part 30 and therefore would have the same coefficient of thermal expansion).
Regarding claim 3: Liu teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the second housing part 11 is made of a second material (at 13 is part of second housing part 11; see Figs. 1-3) that has a modulus of elasticity that is lower than the modulus of elasticity of the first material (e.g. the material of housing portion 13 would be deformed due to barbs 1211; Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 5: Liu teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches wherein the connector includes a printed circuit board 13 (Fig. 2), and wherein the first contact elements 12 are attached to the printed circuit board 13 and the first lines are designed as conductive traces on the printed circuit board (see Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 6: Liu teaches all the limitations of claim 5 and further teaches wherein a connection point or connection points between the first contact elements 12 and the first lines 21 is surrounded by the casting resin (see Fig. 4 and Col. 3, lines 52-58).
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.
Claims 4, 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (US 6,623,299), in view of Hayes (US 4,810,208).
Regarding claim 4: Liu teaches all the limitations of claim 1.
Liu does not explicitly teach and further teaches wherein the second housing part has connecting elements or snap hooks that are elastically deformable to establish the connection of the second housing part to the first housing part and/or to another object.
Hayes teaches a second housing part 100 has connecting elements or snap hooks 106 that are elastically deformable to establish a connection of the second housing part to a first housing part 2 (see Figs. 1-4) and/or to another object.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be able to modify the invention with the second housing part has connecting elements or snap hooks that are elastically deformable to establish the connection of the second housing part to the first housing part and/or to another object as taught by Hayes into the connector of Liu in order to achieve the advantage of securely connecting multiple housing components to each other.
Regarding claim 7: Liu teaches all the limitations of claim 1.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the second housing part has snap hooks that are elastically deformable to establish the connection of the second housing part to the first housing part, the snap hooks being connected to detent projections of the first housing part.
Hayes teaches a second housing part 100 has snap hooks 106 that are elastically deformable to establish the connection of the second housing part to a first housing part 2, the snap hooks 106 being connected to detent projections 34 of the first housing part (see Figs. 1-4).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to be able to modify the invention with the second housing part has snap hooks that are elastically deformable to establish the connection of the second housing part to the first housing part, the snap hooks being connected to detent projections of the first housing part as taught by Hayes into the connector of Liu in order to achieve the advantage of securely connecting multiple housing components to each other.
Regarding claim 8: Liu, in view of Hayes, teaches all the limitations of claim 7 and Hayes further teaches wherein the second housing part 100 has additional snap hooks (e.g. bottom hooks; Fig. 1) that are elastically deformable to establish a connection of the second housing part to another object (see Fig. 4).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Reference Liu (US 6,623,299) teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and specifically further teaches first lines 21 that are connected to the first contact elements 12 (see Fig. 4 for electrical and physical connection of first line 21 and first contact element 12); second lines 21 that are different from the first lines (e.g. there are multiple lines and some can be interpreted as first and second lines) and are connected to the second contact elements or whose ends (at 21; Fig. 3) form the second contact elements (e.g. the ends of second lines for second contact elements; see Fig. 3).
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 OSCAR C JIMENEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-0272. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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, Renee Luebke can be reached at (571) 272-2009. The 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.
/OSCAR C JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896
Prosecution Insights