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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites “a connection port through which a connecting portion of the inlet to be connected to an external charging connector is inserted,” but the inlet of claim 1 has only been recited as providing functional context to the grommet. As such the limitation renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the connecting portion inserted in the connection port is meant to be claimed as a part of the grommet or to provide more context to the intended use of the claimed grommet. For examination purposes, the claim will be interpreted as providing functional context to the grommet.
Claim 3 recites limitations pertaining to the to-be-locked portion of the inlet, but claim 1 only recites the inlet in functional relation to the claimed grommet. As such, the limitations pertaining to the inlet in claim 3 render the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the inlet is meant to be claimed as a part of the grommet or if claim 3 provides more context to the intended use of the claimed grommet. For examination purposes, the claim will be interpreted as providing functional context to the grommet.
Claim 8 recites, “a connecting portion to be connected to an external charging connector and a to-be-locked portion.” Since claim 8 claims an inlet assembly comprising an inlet and a connecting portion, the language, “to be connected”, (emphasis added) renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the external charging connector and the to-be-locked portion make up portions of the claimed inlet assembly or if they provide functional context to the intended use of the inlet assembly comprising the inlet and connecting portion. For examination purposes, it will be interpreted as providing functional context to the inlet assembly comprising an inlet including a connecting portion.
Claim 8 recites the limitation, "the outside of the grommet," in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For examination purposes, this limitation will be interpreted as, "an outside of the grommet."
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Shinjiro (JP2009252559A).
Regarding claim 1: Shinjiro (Figures 3-4) teaches a grommet comprising:
a main body portion (i.e. 10) configured to cover an inlet installed in a vehicle and a wiring member extending from the inlet (i.e. as 10 is configured); and
a locking portion (i.e. outer surface of 20) configured to be locked with a to-be-locked portion provided in the inlet (i.e. as outer surface of 20 is configured),
wherein the main body portion includes a connection port (i.e. 19) through which a connecting portion of the inlet to be connected to an external charging connector is inserted and an outlet port (i.e. 40) through which the wiring member (i.e. 99) is inserted,
the connection port is open in a first direction (i.e. to left of figure 4), and
the locking portion is capable of being locked with the to-be-locked portion in a circumferential direction around a rotation axis extending in the first direction when the inlet and the main body portion rotate around the rotation axis (i.e. as outer surface of 20 is capable of).
Regarding claim 2: Shinjiro (Figures 3-4) teaches the grommet according to claim 1, wherein the outlet port is open in a second direction (i.e. downward in figure 4) that intersects the first direction.
Regarding claim 3: Shinjiro (Figures 3-4) teaches the grommet according to claim 1, wherein a recessed portion recessed in the first direction is formed as the to-be-locked portion, and
the locking portion includes a protrusion (i.e. 18) that protrudes in the first direction from an end surface (i.e. 91) in the first direction of a portion of the main body portion constituting a peripheral edge (i.e. as 91 constitutes) of the connection port and that is capable of being fitted in the recessed portion (i.e. 18 capable of being fitted in such a recessed portion).
Regarding claim 6: Shinjiro (Figures 3-4, and 7) teaches the grommet according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion includes:
a connection tube portion (i.e. 20) extending in the first direction and including an internal space (i.e. 19) that serves as the connection port; and
a flange portion (i.e. 11) protruding around a portion of the connection tube portion that is on a leading end side with respect to an intermediate portion of the connection tube portion (i.e. as in figure 7).
Regarding claim 7: Shinjiro (Figure 7) teaches the grommet according to claim 6, wherein the locking portion is provided on the flange portion (i.e. as in figure 7).
Regarding claim 8: Shinjiro (Figures 3-4 and 7) teaches an inlet assembly comprising:
an inlet (i.e. 80) including a connecting portion (i.e. front of 80) to be connected to an external charging connector and a to-be-locked portion;
a wiring member (i.e. 99) extending from the inlet; and
the grommet according to claim 1 covering the inlet and the wiring member,
wherein the connecting portion extends to the outside of the grommet via the connection port (i.e. as in figure 4),
the wiring member extends to the outside of the grommet via the outlet port (i.e. as in figure 4), and
the locking portion (i.e. outer surface of 20 is configured to be locked in this manner) and the to-be-locked portion are locked in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis of the inlet and the main body portion, the rotation axis extending in the first direction.
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 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinjiro and Takeshi (JP2014053091A).
Regarding claim 4: Shinjiro teaches the grommet according to claim 1, but does not specifically teach wherein the main body portion includes a water drain port that is open in a third direction that intersects the first direction.
However, Takeshi (Figure 3) teaches wherein the main body portion (i.e. 70) includes a water drain port (i.e. 72) that is open in a third direction that intersects the first direction (i.e. as in figure 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the grommet taught by Takeshi to include a water drain port as taught by Shinjiro to manage the flow of water within the grommet.
Regarding claim 5: Shinjiro and Takeshi teach the grommet according to claim 4, Shinjiro (Figure 4) further teaches wherein the locking portion and the water drain port are provided on mutually opposite sides in the third direction with respect to the connection port (i.e. per the combination, 20 is mutually opposite from Takeshi’s 72 in the third direction).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY MANGOT whose telephone number is 703-756-5737. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm ET.
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/GREGORY L MANGOT/Examiner, Art Unit 2834
/CHRISTOPHER M KOEHLER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2834