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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 21 January 2026 have been fully considered but the amendment required a new reference, as shown below.
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.
Claims 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nogami (JP 2000-133342 A; English translation attached), in view of Ryu et al. (“Ryu”; US 2019/0058271).
Regarding claim 1: Nogami discloses a board connector (A, B; Fig. 1) to be fixed to a circuit board, comprising:
a terminal fitting (19, 31); and
a housing (50, 51), the terminal fitting being mounted in the housing,
the terminal fitting including:
a support receiving portion (20, 41) to be supported by the housing;
a connecting portion (24, 44) to be connected to the circuit board; and
a resiliently deformable resilient portion (23) provided between the support receiving portion and the connecting portion (Fig. 1), and
the connecting portion being pressed against the circuit board based on a restoring force of the resiliently deformed resilient portion (middle paragraphs of page 4 of the English translation).
Nogami does not explicitly disclose wherein the resilient portion includes: a first bent portion bent to be convex toward a front-lower side a second bent portion bent to be convex rearward and a third bent portion bent to be convex forward.
However, Ryu discloses wherein the resilient portion includes:
a first bent portion bent to be convex toward a front-lower side (A, in annotated Fig. 6 below, front and rear are relative to one another without further context in the claim);
a second bent portion bent to be convex rearward (B, below); and
a third bent portion bent to be convex forward (C, below).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the resilient portion of Nogami to have the bent portions of Ryu in order to form a stronger connection.
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Regarding claim 6: Nogami discloses the support receiving portion is wider in a lateral direction than the resilient portion (inherent as the resilient portion is internal to the support receiving portion).
Claims 2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nogami and Ryu as applied to claim 1, further in view of Hara et al. (“Hara”; US 2005/0221668).
Regarding claim 2: Nogami discloses a fixing member (56) to be mounted on the housing directly or via another member, the fixing member being fixed to the circuit board, the fixing member fixing the housing to the circuit board (10 ,40).
Nogami does not explicitly disclose discloses wherein:
the fixing member includes: a mounting portion to be mounted on the housing directly or via the other member; and a fixing portion to be inserted into and fixed in a hole provided in the circuit board, the fixing portion includes a pair of hooking pieces resiliently deformable by being inserted into the hole, and the pair of hooking pieces are fixed by being resiliently deformed in directions toward each other in an insertion process and being hooked to an edge part of the hole based on restoring forces.
However, Hara discloses wherein:
the fixing member (10, 20, 30) includes:
a mounting portion (3) to be mounted on the housing (11) directly or via the other member (12); and
a fixing portion (6) to be inserted into and fixed in a hole provided in the circuit board (Fig. 2-4),
the fixing portion includes a pair of hooking pieces (both 6, Fig. 3) resiliently deformable by being inserted into the hole (in 40, Fig. 1A), and
the pair of hooking pieces are fixed by being resiliently deformed in directions toward each other in an insertion process and being hooked to an edge part of the hole based on restoring forces (as the act of inserting will deform the hooking pieces 6 toward one another and then they will clip the edge of the circuit board once inserted).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the fixing member of Nogami to have the pair of hooking pieces of Hara in order to further fix the board connector to the board.
Regarding claim 4: Nogami discloses a plurality of the terminal fittings (19, Fig. 10) are mounted side by side along an alignment direction in the housing (in Fig. 1, the direction along 10, can be interpreted as the y axis of Fig. 10), and
the fixing member (56) is provided at a position overlapping a plurality of the connecting portions in the alignment direction (as it is positioned between both 19).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nogami, Ryu, and Hara as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Jones (US 2003/0171030).
Regarding claim 3: Nogami discloses a housing and a fixing member, but does not explicitly disclose a supporting member to be mounted on the housing, the supporting member supporting the fixing member, wherein: the supporting member includes a penetrating portion projecting toward a side opposite to the housing by being passed through the hole, a pressure receiving surface facing toward the circuit board is provided on a projecting end part of the penetrating portion, and the hooking pieces contact the circuit board and the pressure receiving surface of the penetrating portion based on restoring forces by resilient deformation of the hooking pieces.
However, Jones discloses a supporting member (10) to be mounted on the housing (when combined with the location of the fixing member of Nogami), the supporting member supporting the fixing member (12),
wherein:
the supporting member includes a penetrating portion (16, 17) projecting toward a side opposite to the housing by being passed through the hole (into board 50, when combined with Nogami, this is the opposite side of the housing),
a pressure receiving surface (16) facing toward the circuit board is provided on a projecting end part of the penetrating portion (Fig. 2, when inserted in Fig. 3), and
the hooking pieces (28) contact the circuit board and the pressure receiving surface of the penetrating portion based on restoring forces by resilient deformation of the hooking pieces (paragraph 0023).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the fixing member of Nogami to include the supporting member of Jones in order to increase the number of hooks in the connection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
The prior art of record, alone or in combination does not explicitly teach, suggest, or render obvious, at least to the skilled artisan the board connector of claim 5, specifically comprising:
wherein the first bent portion extends downward from a rear end of the support receiving portion, in the context of the other components in the claim.
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.
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/SEAN GUGGER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834