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)(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.
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Riach (US 8,714,291).
The Riach reference discloses a protective case 171 (see Figure 13) for a batteries (see electric cells 81, 82 in Figure 7) comprising a housing 172 with a bottom or base plate 193, a hinge or rotational shaft 191 and a door body 190, wherein the housing further defines an opening (proximate reference numeral 172 in Figure 13).
In regard to claim 10, see drive unit 39 with associated electric motor 44 in Figure 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The Yoda, Sadler et al., Beckley, Schemm et al., Hagarty et al., and Kunkle et al. references pertain to various protective case for batteries with similarities to that of Applicant’s.
Claims 2-9 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art of record, with the applied Raich reference being one of the closest prior art devices, alone or in combination, teach Applicant’s invention of a protective case with a housing closed by a door part inclusive of details regarding a labyrinth portion extending from an outer lateral surface of the housing, a bottom plate portion including a discharge channel extending to an edge thereof from a portion at which the housing overlaps the door part, or a rotational shaft portion with a first end inserted into a through hole in the bottom plate portion and a second end inserted into a recess on the top plate portion, as claimed. To modify the closest prior art device to have such features would involve teachings gleaned only from the instant application for patent.
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/STEVEN O DOUGLAS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612