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 07/29/2025 regarding claims 1,3-5,7-10 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the argument that references Feng nor Fuqin discloses the limitation “the connection portion further including a connection arm connecting the first convex portion and the second convex portion, the connection arm being a flat plate structure, the connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure”, the examiner argues that Fig 4 of Fuqin reference does suggest connection portion further including a connection arm connecting the first convex portion and the second convex portion, the connection arm being a flat plate structure, the connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure. The feature 424 is interpreted as the connection arm and is flat plate structure while the connection between the arm 424 is a connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure”.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feng et al (WO 2022/006929 A1) in view of Fugin et al (CN 110381665 A).
Regarding claim 1, Feng et al disclose a flexible circuit board, comprising: a first fixation portion (Feng et al; Fig 4; first fixation portion 332); a second fixation portion having a height difference with the first fixation portion (Feng et al; Fig 4; second fixation portion 336 has a height difference with first fixation portion 332); and a connection portion connecting the first fixation portion and the second fixation portion (Feng et al; Fig 4; connection portion 335), the connection portion bending and extending from an end of the first fixation portion (Feng et al; Fig 4; connection portion 335), so that the connection portion forms a first convex portion higher than a plane where the first fixation portion is located (Feng et al; Fig 4; connection portion 335); but do not expressly disclose the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and upwardly from an end of the first fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a first convex portion higher than a plane where the first fixation portion is located; the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and downwardly from an end of the second fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a second convex portion lower than a plane where the second fixation portion is located, the connection portion further including a connection arm connecting the first convex portion and the second convex portion, the connection arm being a flat plate structure, the connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure. However, in the same field of endeavor, Fuqin et al disclose a system wherein the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and upwardly from an end of the first fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a first convex portion higher than a plane where the first fixation portion is located (Fuqin et al; Fig 6; connection portion 424 bends and extends obliquely and upwards from an end of the portion 66) the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and downwardly from an end of the second fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a second convex portion lower than a plane where the second fixation portion is located (Fugin et al; Fig 6; connection portion 422 bends and extends obliquely and downwards from an end of the portion 242) the connection portion further including a connection arm connecting the first convex portion and the second convex portion, the connection arm being a flat plate structure (Fugin et al; Fig 6; connection arm 424), the connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure (Fugin et al; Fig 6; connection portion connected to connection arm 424 formed to be a “C” shape structure). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Fugin as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Feng. The motivation to do so would have been to improve assembly efficiency (Fuqin et al; Page 1; lines 15-30).
Regarding claim 3, Feng et al in view of Fuqin et al disclose the flexible circuit board as described in claim 1, wherein the first convex portion is an arc structure. However, in the same field of endeavor, Fugin et al disclose a system wherein the first convex portion is an arc structure (Fuqin et al; Fig 6; upwards convex portion of connection portion 422 is an arc structure). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Fugin as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Feng. The motivation to do so would have been to improve assembly efficiency (Fugin et al; Page 1; lines 15-30).
Regarding claim 4, Feng et al in view of Fugin et al disclose the flexible circuit board as described in claim 2, wherein the second convex portion is an arc structure. However, in the same field of endeavor, Fuqin et al disclose a system wherein the second convex portion is an arc structure (Fuqin et al; Fig 6; downward convex portion of connection portion 422 is an arc structure). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Fugin as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Feng. The motivation to do so would have been to improve assembly efficiency (Fugin et al; Page 1; lines 15-30).
Claim(s) 5, 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al (CN 113794973 A) in view of Fugin et al (CN 110381665 A).
Regarding claim 5, Xiao et al disclose a multifunctional acoustic device, comprising: a frame (Xiao et al; Fig 1; frame 10); a magnetic circuit system secured to the frame (Xiao et al; Fig 2; magnetic circuit system 22); a sounding unit located on one side of the magnetic circuit system (Xiao et al; Fig 2; sounding unit 21); and a motor located on the other side of the magnetic circuit system (Xiao et al; Fig 2; motor system 11; 40), the motor comprising: a first housing having a receiving room and mounted with the magnetic circuit system (Xiao et al; Fig 2; receiving room inside housing 40); a vibration unit suspended in the receiving room (Xiao et al; Fig 2; vibration unit 40 suspended in receiving room inside housing 11), the vibration unit comprising: a supporting plate (Xiao et al; Fig 2; plate 11); and a coil fixed on the supporting plate (Xiao et al; Fig 2; coil 40); and a flexible circuit board (Xiao et al; Fig 2; flexible circuit board 25) an elastic support member connecting the vibration unit to the first housing (Xiao et al; Fig 6; elastic member 31); the flexible circuit board comprising: a first fixation portion located in the receiving room and connected with the coil (Xiao et al; Fig 2;
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; first fixation located in the receiving room 10a2); a second fixation portion having a height difference with the first fixation portion (Xiao et al; Fig 2;
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), the second fixation portion located out of the receiving room (Xiao et al; Fig 1;
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); and
a connection portion connecting the first fixation portion and the second fixation portion, the connection portion bending and extending (Xiao et al; Fig 2;
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) but do not expressly disclose obliquely and upwardly from an end of the first fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a first convex portion higher than a plane where the first fixation portion is located; the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and downwardly from an end of the second fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a second convex portion lower than a plane where the second fixation portion is located, the connection portion further including a connection arm connecting the first convex portion and the second convex portion, the connection arm being a flat plate structure, the connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure. However, in the same field of endeavor, Fuqin et al disclose a system wherein the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and upwardly from an end of the first fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a first convex portion higher than a plane where the first fixation portion is located (Fuqin et al; Fig 6; connection portion 424 bends and extends obliquely and upwards from an end of the portion 66) the connection portion bending and extending obliquely and downwardly from an end of the second fixation portion, so that the connection portion forms a second convex portion lower than a plane where the second fixation portion is located (Fugin et al; Fig 6; connection portion 422 bends and extends obliquely and downwards from an end of the portion 242) the connection portion further including a connection arm connecting the first convex portion and the second convex portion, the connection arm being a flat plate structure (Fugin et al; Fig 6; connection arm 424), the connection portion formed be a “C” shape structure (Fugin et al; Fig 6; connection portion connected to connection arm 424 formed to be a “C” shape structure). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Fugin as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Feng. The motivation to do so would have been to improve assembly efficiency (Fuqin et al; Page 1; lines 15-30).
Regarding claim 7, Xiao et al in view of Fuqin et al disclose the multifunctional acoustic device as described in claim 5, but do not expressly disclose wherein the first convex portion is an arc structure. However, in the same field of endeavor, Fuqin et al disclose a system wherein the first convex portion is an arc structure (Fuqin et al; Fig 6; upwards convex portion of connection portion 422 is an arc structure). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Fugin as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Xiao. The motivation to do so would have been to improve assembly efficiency (Fuqin et al; Page 1; lines 15-30).
Regarding claim 8, Xiao et al in view of Fuqin et al disclose the multifunctional acoustic device as described in claim 6, but do not expressly disclose wherein the second convex portion is an arc structure. However, in the same field of endeavor, Fuqin et al disclose a system wherein the second convex portion is an arc structure (Fuqin et al; Fig 6; downward convex portion of connection portion 422 is an arc structure). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Fuqin as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Xiao. The motivation to do so would have been to improve assembly efficiency (Fuqin et al; Page 1; lines 15-30).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al (CN 113794973 A) in view of Fugin et al (CN 110381665 A) and further in view of Yan et al (US 2020/0412221 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Xiao et al in view of Fuqin et al disclose the multifunctional acoustic device as described in claim 5, but do not expressly disclose wherein two sides of the first housing are symmetrically provided with a hollow part for the connection portion to extend out of the receiving room. However, in the same field of endeavor, Yan et al disclose a system wherein two sides of the first housing are symmetrically provided with a hollow part for the connection portion to extend out of the receiving room (Yan et al; Fig 4; hollow part on two symmetrically provided sides of housing 10). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the connection portion taught by Yan as connection portion in the circuit board taught by Xiao. The motivation to do so would have been to increase the drive force of the vibration motor (Yan et al; Para [0016]).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al (CN 113794973 A) in view of Fugin et al (CN 110381665 A) and further in view of Linghu et al (CN 110035362 A).
Regarding claim 10, Xiao et al in view of Fugin et al disclose the multifunctional acoustic device as described in claim 5, wherein the sounding unit comprises a diaphragm (Xiao et al; Fig 3; diaphragm 2121), a voice coil connecting to the diaphragm and driving the diaphragm to vibrate and sound (Xiao et al; Fig 3; voice coil 211), but do not expressly disclose and a printed circuit board powering for the voice coil, the printed circuit board comprising a third fixation portion located in the frame and connected with the voice coil, a fourth fixation portion located out of the frame and secured with the first housing, and a transition portion connecting the third fixation portion and the fourth fixation portion. However, in the same field of endeavor, Linghu et al disclose a system comprising a printed circuit board powering for the voice coil (Linghu et al; Page 3; lines 35-65), the printed circuit board comprising a third fixation portion located in the frame and connected with the voice coil (Linghu et al; Page 3; lines 35-65; fixing part 311), a fourth fixation portion located out of the frame and secured with the first housing (Linghu et al; Page 3; lines 35-65; Fig 4; portion of flexible circuit board 312 out of frame 1), and a transition portion connecting the third fixation portion and the fourth fixation portion (Linghu et al; Page 4; lines 15-30; transition portion between fixing part 312 and 311). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the circuit board taught by Linghu as circuit board in the circuit board taught by Xiao. The motivation to do so would have been to provide good acoustic performance (Linghu et al; Page 1; lines 1-10).
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 KUASSI A GANMAVO whose telephone number is (571)270-5761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached at 5712707136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KUASSI A GANMAVO/Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692