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 Status
In response to the amendment filed 04/30/2026, claims 1, 6-8, 14-16, & 19 have been amended, claim 17 has been cancelled, and claims 1-16 & 18-20 are pending and under examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-16 & 18-19, found on pages 9-11, 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. The additional claim mapping in view of Tei teaches that any clamp halves may be arranged such that they are positioned in the lateral direction, allowing for side-to-side movement, in a direction parallel with core wires also arranged in the lateral direction.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 20, found on pages 12-13, argues that the method steps are performed in the non-claimed order recited by claim 20, and are considered nonobvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the steps of Liu, in view of Tominoi and Tei.
Respectfully, in response to the argument, such modification to the order of method steps is may be directly tied to the position of elements of the assembling device. Though the method as claimed is a variation of that of Liu’s, in view of Tei, automatic assembling device and method of operation, the claim does not provide a limitation regarding the position of clamps relative to one another nor to the housing. Liu teaches that all the clamps used in the device have the ability to open and close. One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the order in which the clamps are opened is dependent upon the relative placement and position of the clamps and current position of the housing. As explained in MPEP 2144.04(IV)(C), the changing of a sequence is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, changing the order of steps recited in a method in which they are performed to result in the same predictable outcome. In re Burhan’s, 154 F.2d 690, 69 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1946) states that selection of any order of performing process steps is prima facie obvious in the absence of new or unexpected results. Prior art Liu teaches the apparatus being able to perform both opening and closing sequences as well as a general step of inserting both ends. Thus, the Applicant’s specification fails to provide any new or unexpected results, and therefore would have been obvious in light of Burhan’s.
Furthermore, at least some of the steps of claim 20 do not have to be performed in the order presented. If the Applicant wishes to ensure that the order of operations matches the order of presentation, they are encouraged to amend the claim to reflect such intention.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 5-16, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al (C.N. Patent Application Publication 112909707 A) hereinafter Liu, and further in view of Tei et al (C.N. Patent Application Publication 102449861 A) hereinafter Tei.
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses an insertion device (Title: Automatic Assembling Device) for inserting a cable assembly (tail sleeve assembly, p. 4, ll. 22-25) into a housing (tail sleeve 20, p. 8, ll. 28-30), the cable assembly including a cable (wire whole 32, p. 9, ll. 33-35) and two terminals (connecting terminal 31, p. 9, ll. 33-35) crimped on two exposed core wires of the cable (wire branch 33, p. 9, ll. 33-35), comprising:
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a cable control module (automatic assembling device 10, p. 8, ll. 18-19; the device 10 includes claimed portions of the cable control module covered in this rejection; also see annotated FIG. 5 below) including:
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a terminal clamping device adapted to clamp to the two terminals (terminal positioning mechanism 500, p. 9, ll. 11); and
a core wire clamping device adapted to clamp to the two core wires (core wire positioning mechanism 600, p. 9, ll. 28), the core wire clamping device comprises a core wire clamp (branch locating component 620, p. 10, ll. 3-7) having a pair of core wire clamp halves adapted to be opened and closed (branching positioning 621 & lower positioning 623, p. 10, ll. 3-7), the two core wires are arranged side by side in a lateral direction and are held in a gap formed in between the pair of core wire clamp halves (annotated FIG. 9 below depicts two gaps formed by the clamp halves to hold terminals side by side); and
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a housing control module (automatic assembling device 10, p. 8, ll. 17-19; device 10 includes claimed portions of the housing control module covered in this rejection; also see annotated FIG. 5 above) including a housing clamping device adapted to hold the housing while the two terminals are inserted into the housing (tail sleeve locating mechanism 400, p. 12, ll. 32-34).
However, Liu fails to disclose the pair of core wire clamp halves are movable along the lateral direction to hold the two core wires.
Tei discloses an insertion device (Title: Terminal Inserting Device) wherein a pair of wire clamp halves are movable along the lateral direction to hold the two core wires (Though Tei discloses the use of clamps, namely the pair of divided guide part 78 in FIG. 5, that were originally mapped to the guide member halves, nevertheless teaches that clamp halves may be orientated in the lateral side-to-side direction than the vertical up-to-down direction).
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Liu discloses an automatic assembling device, used for inserting a cable assembly into a housing, comprising a plurality of elements such as the cable control module, a terminal clamping device, a core wire clamping device, and a housing control module adapted to hold the housing during assembly. Tei discloses a terminal inserting device, teaching that a clamp used in the assembly to hold a wire may be arranged such that it opens and closes in the lateral side-to-side direction. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the core wire clamp halves of Liu, namely the branching positioning clamps 621 & 623, and orient the halves to move in the lateral side-to-side direction, as implemented in the clamp of Tei, to achieve routine optimization. Such a change in clamping orientation would allow for advantages such as enhanced gripping position for various wire shapes and sizes, limitations in spatial freedom within the assembling device, and better alignment into a housing.
Regarding claim 2, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the housing control module includes a mobile seat (inserting rode 300, p. 12, ll. 42-44) movable along a longitudinal direction of the terminal relative to the terminal (inserting direction X, p. 8, ll. 25-26, “wherein the inserting rod 300 along the inserting direction is slidingly set on the inserting seat 200; the front end of the inserting rod 300 is formed with a locating groove 310”), the housing clamping device is installed on the mobile seat such that two terminals are insertable into the housing by driving the mobile seat (p. 12, ll. 27-31, “Referring to FIG. 13 and FIG. 16, one end of the inserting rod 300 is connected with the guide block 740, and the other end is correspondingly provided with a tail sleeve locating mechanism 400. The driving motor 710 through the nut slide block 730 and the guide block 750 drives the inserting rod 300 along the inserting direction linear movement and has a first stroke and a second stroke for a first stroke and performing a secondary insertion”).
Regarding claim 3, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 2, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the housing clamping device comprises:
a housing clamp (pressing sheet 410, p. 12, ll. 32-33) installed on the mobile seat and adapted to be opened and closed (move up and down, p. 12, ll. 32-33); and
a housing clamp driver (tail sleeve cylinder 420, p. 12, ll. 32-33) installed on the mobile seat and driving the housing clamp to open and close (p. 12, ll. 32-33, “drives the pressing sheet to move”).
Regarding claim 5, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 2, as detailed above, and Tei further discloses wherein the housing control module further includes a guide device (guide head 74, ¶ 56) installed on the mobile seat to guide front ends of two terminals into the housing (¶55, “a pair of guide head a party 74 in chamber 12 guide the terminal”).
Liu discloses an automatic assembling device, used for inserting a cable assembly into a housing, comprising a plurality of elements such as the cable control module, a terminal clamping device, a core wire clamping device, and a housing control module adapted to hold the housing during assembly. Tei discloses a terminal inserting device, comprising of a divided guide part with a shaped hole to guide terminals into an opening of a cavity. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take a guiding solution, namely, the divided guide part of Tei and implement the guiding part into the device of Liu to allow enhanced guidance of a terminal throughout the machine into the housing, achieving for proper positioning of a terminal equipped wire as well as suppressing the terminal insertion failure inside the chamber (Tei abstract & ¶8). (also refer to the rejection of claim 1, supra, as it is applicable to the rejection of claim 5 in the manner of achieving variation of clamping direction).
Regarding claim 6, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 5, as detailed above, and Tei further discloses wherein the guide device comprises:
a guide member including a pair of guide member halves (terminal insertion guide part 76 & its pair of divided guide part 78, ¶60) adapted to be opened and closed (¶57, “dividing guide part driving part 75 is through from the outside air pressure or electromagnetic force driving a pair of movable pieces 75b to make it close to or separated from each other”); and
a guide member driver driving the pair of guide member halves to open and close (dividing guide part driving part 75, ¶57), a semi-conical guide hole is formed on each of the pair of guide member halves, and when the pair of guide member halves are closed, a conical guide hole (tapered hole 77b, ¶60) for guiding the two terminals into the housing is formed. (Regarding the reason to combine references, refer to the rejections of claims 1 and 5, supra, as it is applicable to the rejection of claim 6 in the manner of utilizing a guide device to guide terminals and achieving variation of clamping direction).
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Regarding claim 7, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 6, as detailed above, and Tei further discloses wherein two semi- conical guide holes arranged side by side are formed on the pair of guide member halves, when the pair of guide member halves are closed, two conical guide holes arranged side by side are formed to guide the two terminals into two terminal slots of the housing (Tei teaches a pair of divided guide part 78 closing and forming the guide hole. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to subdivide/modify the structure to produce a plurality of guide holes. Such a modification is predictable and does not alter the function of the device and its method for inserting). (Regarding the reason to combine references, refer to the rejections of claims 1 and 5, supra, as it is applicable to the rejection of claim 7 in the manner of utilizing a guide device to guide terminals and achieving variation of clamping direction).
Regarding claim 8, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 6, as detailed above, and Tei further discloses wherein:
the pair of guide member halves are closed to form a conical guide hole (cone-shaped hole 77b, ¶61) that guides the terminals into the housing when inserting the front ends of the terminals into the housing (¶59, “the pair of divided guide part 78 of the front end… is bent to form a partition insertion guide 79.at its inner side surface portion. dividing the insertion guide 79 has extending along the extending direction of the chamber 12 and can be a side portion configured terminal sunken guide groove part 79a with respect to the guide groove part 79a are extended toward the opposite side of the chamber 12 of the tapered portion 79b”); and
after the front ends of the two terminals have been inserted into the housing, the pair of guide member halves are opened to allow the parts other than the front ends of the two terminals to be inserted into the housing (¶81, “terminal inserting guide part 76 upward retracting movement, and by a pair of clips 86, 87 to hold with terminal of wire 20 towards the chamber 12, 14 pressed, the terminal is pressed until the predetermined position within cavities 12, 14”).
Regarding claim 9, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 2, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the housing control module further comprises:
a fixed seat (inserting base 200, p. 8, ll. 25-26) on which the mobile seat is movably installed (p. 8, ll. 25-26, “slidingly set on the inserting seat”); and
a mobile seat driver (driving mechanism 700, p. 12, ll. 18) installed on the fixed seat and driving the mobile seat to move along the longitudinal direction of the terminal (inserting direction, p. 8, ll. 25-26).
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Regarding claim 10, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 9, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the mobile seat driver comprises:
a servo motor installed on the fixed seat (driving motor 710, p. 12, ll. 18-23); and
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a transmission mechanism (guide sliding block 750, p. 12, ll. 18-23) connected between an output shaft of the servo motor and the mobile seat, the transmission mechanism is adapted to convert a rotation of the output shaft of the servo motor (p. 12, ll. 18-23, “rotation movement”) into the linear movement (axial linear movement, p. 12, ll. 18-23) of the mobile seat.
Regarding claim 11, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 10, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the transmission mechanism comprises:
a lead screw drive mechanism having a lead screw and a nut threaded with the lead screw (screw 720 & nut sliding block 730, p. 12, ll. 18-23); and
Liu also discloses the output shaft of the servomotor and the nut of the lead screw drive mechanism (see supra), but does explicitly disclose a pulley drive mechanism connected between the output shaft of the servomotor and the lead screw of the lead screw drive mechanism. Instead, the nut of the lead screw drive mechanism is connected to the mobile seat.
The following common knowledge or well-known in the art statement is taken to be admitted prior art because applicant either failed to traverse the examiner’s assertion of official notice or that the traverse was inadequate: using a pulley drive mechanism was old and well known in the art before the effective filing date to transfer rotational energy between separate components. See MPEP 2144.03 Section C. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate a pulley drive mechanism to allow for alteration in torque and speed of transferred rotational energy.
Regarding claim 12, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the terminal clamping device comprises:
a terminal clamp including two terminal clamp halves adapted to be opened and closed (terminal positioning 510 and terminal lower positioning 530, p. 9, ll. 11-15); and
a terminal clamp driver driving the two terminal clamp halves to open and close to clamp or loosen the two terminals (first driving member 520 and second driving membe3r 540, p. 9, ll. 11-15).
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Regarding claim 13, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 12, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein:
two terminal positioning grooves adapted to position roots of two terminals are formed on one of the two terminal clamp halves (upper terminal groove 511 & lower terminal groove 531, p. 9, ll. 15-18, “one end of the terminal lower positioning 530 facing the terminal is formed with an upper terminal groove 511 of the connecting terminal 531 corresponding to the tail end of the cable; one end of the terminal lower positioning 530 facing the upper positioning 510 is formed with a lower terminal groove 531 of the connecting terminal 531 corresponding to the tail end of the cable”); and
two terminal positioning protrusions adapted to retain the roots of two terminals in the two terminal positioning grooves are formed on the other of the two terminal clamp halves (annotated FIG. 7 below depicts the upper clamp half 510 with protrusions).
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Regarding claim 14, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 12, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein:
the two terminals are arranged side by side in a first direction, the first direction vertical to the longitudinal direction of the terminal (annotated FIG. 15 below depicts the first direction and bottom two terminals being arranged side by side in the first direction); and
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the two terminal clamp halves are opened and closed in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the longitudinal direction of the terminal (p. 9, ll. 1-15, “moved up and down”).
Regarding claim 15, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the core wire clamping device further comprises:
A core wire clamp driver driving the pair of core wire clamp halves to open and close (upper driving member 622 & lower driving member 624, p. 10, ll. 3-7).
Regarding claim 16, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 15, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein:
the two terminals are arranged side by side in a first direction, the first direction vertical to the longitudinal direction of the terminal (annotated FIG. 15 above depicts the bottom two terminals being arranged side by side).
Regarding claim 18, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, as detailed above, and Liu further discloses wherein the cable control module further comprises:
a first cable support frame (core wire lower locating 613, p. 9, ll. 40-41) on which a cable positioning slot for positioning and supporting the cable is formed (lower core wire groove 613A, p. 9, ll. 40-41); and
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a second frame on which the terminal clamping device, the core wire clamping device and the cable support frame are installed (base 100, p. 8, ll. 19).
Regarding claim 19, Liu in view of Tei discloses the insertion device according to claim 1, as detailed above, and Liu discloses the core wire clamping device adapted to open (branching positioning 621 & lower positioning 623, p. 10, ll. 3-7; Liu discloses that each clamp portions 621 and 623 may be able to move up and down (vertically) from each other to allow for opening/closing on the wire).
Though Liu does not directly disclose the ability wherein the core wire clamping device is adapted to open to permit further insertion of the two terminals until the roots of the two core wires are inserted into the housing, Tei teaches a clamp that is abled to open to allow for further insertion of the terminal into the housing (¶81, “terminal inserting guide part 76 upward retracting movement, and by a pair of clips 86, 87 to hold with terminal of wire 20 towards the chamber 12, 14 pressed, the terminal is pressed until the predetermined position within cavities 12, 14”).
Liu discloses an automatic assembling device, used for inserting a cable assembly into a housing, comprising a plurality of elements such as the cable control module, a terminal clamping device, a core wire clamping device, and a housing control module adapted to hold the housing during assembly. Tei discloses a terminal inserting device, teaching that a clamp used in the assembly to hold a wire may be arranged such that it opens and closes in the lateral side-to-side direction such that the clamp is able to open to allow for further insertion of the terminal. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to take the core wire clamp halves of Liu, namely the core wire clamps, and have the halves abled to move, as implemented in the clamp of Tei, to achieve improved and secured insertion of the terminals, reducing the possibility of a manufacturing errors.
Claims 4 & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Tei, and further in view of Tominoi (E.P. Patent Application Publication 0041332 A2).
Regarding claim 4, Liu, in view of Tei, discloses the insertion device according to claim 3, and Liu further discloses wherein the housing clamp comprises:
a base fixed on the mobile seat(locating groove 310 on inserting rod 300, p. 13, ll. 6-7) and having a positioning groove for positioning the housing (locating cavity 311, p. 13, ll. 6-7);
However, Liu and Tei fail to disclose a clamping arm rotatably connected to the base and a connecting arm rotatably connected to the clamping arm wherein the housing clamp driver comprises a cylinder including a cylinder block rotatably connected to the mobile seat and a telescopic rod connected to the connecting arm
Tominoi discloses an insertion device (Title: Apparatus for, and a Method of, Inserting Electrical Terminals into an Electrical Connector Housing), wherein the housing clamp comprises:
a clamping arm rotatably connected to the base and adapted to be opened and closed relative to the base (recess 79, p. 4, ll. 38-40, “a piston-and-cylinder device 76 is arranged to open and close the terminal gripping arms 78, through a linkage 78’. Each arm 78 has, at its end remote from the housing 75’, two recesses 79 and 79’ having different configurations, each for receiving a terminal 3 in a different one of the two angular orientations”); and
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a connecting arm rotatably connected to the clamping arm (terminal gripping arms 78, p. 4, ll. 38-40), the housing clamp driver comprises a cylinder including a cylinder block rotatably connected to the mobile seat and a telescopic rod connected to the connecting arm (p. 4, ll. 33-36, “the slide base 71 carries the cylinder of a piston-and-cylinder device 72 for driving horizontally a slide 73 connected to a slide plate 77 which supports a terminal positioner 75 having a housing 75’. The slide plate 77 is driven horizontally by a piston-and-cylinder device 74 fixed to the slide 73, in turn horizontally to drive the positioner 75”).
Liu, in view of Tei, discloses an assembly device, used for inserting a cable assembly into a housing, comprising a cable control module, a plurality of clamps for control of the wire, and a housing control module adapted to hold the housing while the terminals are inserted into the housing during manufacturing. Tominoi discloses a method and apparatus for inserting terminals into housing using a plurality of piston-and-cylinder devices and blocks abled to slide and rotate a mobile seat and connecting arm. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the gripping methods of terminals taught by Tominoi, and applying it to the insertion device of Liu in view of Tei to reach predictable results, allowing for achievable variation in angular orientation of receiving terminals during the insertion process (Tominoi, p. 4, ll. 40). (Also refer to the rejection of claim 1, supra, as it is applicable to the rejection of claim 4 in the manner of achieving variation of clamping direction).
Regarding claim 20, Liu in view of Tei and Tominoi, discloses the insertion device, as detailed above, and all disclose a method for inserting a cable assembly into a housing with an insertion device comprising the steps of:
clamping the housing with a housing clamping device of a housing control module of the insertion device (Liu, FIG. 13 illustrates clamping the house with the housing clamping device, i.e., tail sleeve locating mechanism 400, of the housing control module in the annotated FIG. 5 above; see also supra rejection of claim 1 for further detail);
clamping roots of two terminals of the cable assembly with a terminal clamping device of a cable control module of the insertion device (Liu, FIG. 10 illustrates clamping the roots with the clamping device, i.e., terminal upper and lower location 510 and 530, respectfully);
inserting front ends of the two terminals into the housing by moving a mobile seat of the housing control module, the front ends of the two terminals inserted into the housing under the guidance of a guide device of the housing control module (Liu, FIG. 10 and 13 illustrates terminal insertion by moving the mobile seat; Tei, FIG. 5 illustrates how the guide head 74 aligns the terminals into the housing);
after the front ends of the two terminals are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat and opening the guide device (Liu, p. 12, II. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10; Tei, FIG. 5 illustrates a guide head 74 able to open and close);
further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until parts of the two terminals other than their roots are inserted into the housing (Liu, p. 12, II. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10);
after the parts of the two terminals other than their roots are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat, opening the terminal clamping device and clamping roots of the two core wires with a core wire clamping device of the cable control module (Liu, p. 10, ll. 38-45, “terminal locating mechanism 500 on the terminal 510 is moved upwards; terminal lower positioning 530 moves away from the connecting terminal 31”; Liu, p. 12, II. 27-35, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10);
further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the roots of the two terminals are inserted into the housing (Liu, p. 12, II. 27-35, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10);
after the roots of the two terminals are inserted into the housing, stopping the mobile seat and opening the core wire clamping device (Liu, p. 12, II. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10; Tei, FIG. 5 illustrates a guide head 74 able to open and close); and
further inserting the two terminals by moving the mobile seat until the roots of the two core wires are inserted into the housing (Liu, p. 12, II. 27-31, first and second stroke steps as illustrated in FIG. 10).
Liu discloses an automatic assembling device, used for inserting a cable assembly into a housing, comprising a plurality of elements such as the cable control module, a terminal clamping device, a core wire clamping device, and a housing control module adapted to hold the housing during assembly. Liu also discloses that the automatic assembling device possesses the capability of opening and closing clamps such that a wire being guided can be further inserted and secured into the housing. Tei discloses a terminal inserting device, teaching that a guide clamp used in the assembly such that it may be arranged to operate and guide a wire into a housing. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to utilize the clamps and their capabilities of opening and closing to guide a wire into a housing to achieve the same result of inserting terminals quickly and preventing connection failure (Tei, invention effect, ¶13-17). (Greater detail is provided in the “Response to Argument” section above regarding why it is obvious to modify the order of method steps to result in the same made product due to rearrangement of known elements).
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.
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 EUGENE REY D LEGASPI whose telephone number is (571)272-2956. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5PM.
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, Thomas Hong can be reached at (571) 272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/E.D.L./Examiner, Art Unit 3729 /THOMAS J HONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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