DETAILED ACTION
The present application and its arguments have been reviewed and currently claims 1-6 are rejected.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/11/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/11/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicants arguments on page 5 that there is an inadvertent byproduct of CAD, the examiner respectfully disagrees as figs. 20-22 show the same dual plane surface and there does not appear to be any inadvertent byproduct of computer aided design.
In response to applicants arguments on page 5 that Nakata does not disclose a double planed surface facing away from the inclined surface, the examiner respectfully disagrees as annotated fig. 21 explicitly shows the inner double plane surface facing away from the inclined surface of the fitting body.
In response to applicants arguments on pages 5-6 that Nakata does not disclose “a single plane surface that abuts the inclined surface of the fitting body”, the examiner respectfully disagrees as “a single plane surface” is a broad recitation and only requires a surface within a plane to abut an inclined surface which is shown below where a portion of the single plane surface abuts the inclined surface:
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakata et al. (U.S. PGPub No. 2011/0108753).
Claim 1, Nakata discloses:
A pipe-fitting device (see fig. 20 hereinafter) comprising:
a fitting body (1) comprising a cavity (ex., entire inner surface of the fitting body) along the length of the fitting body,
an inner threaded portion (see threaded connection near 25a) extending into the cavity from a first end (ex., near 25a) of the fitting body, and
an inclined surface (19) at a depth inside the cavity from the first end; and
a flare packing (102; see also fig. 21) provided inside the cavity of the fitting body comprising a single plane surface (see annotated fig. 21 below) that abuts the inclined surface of the fitting body and a double plane surface (see annotated fig. 21) having different inclination angles,
the double plane surface facing away (see annotated fig. 21) from the inclined surface such that each surface of the double plane surface forms an acute angle in a direction facing outward from the flare packing with respect to the central axis of the cavity (see annotated fig. 21).
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakata as applied to claim 1 and in view of Kim et al. (KR-20150073571).
In regards to claim 2, Nakata discloses:
The pipe-fitting device of claim 1, wherein the fitting body comprises a second end comprising a pipe inserted into a socket (see fig. 20),
but does not disclose:
wherein the fitting body further comprises an outer threaded portion extending in from a second end of the fitting body,
the pipe-fitting device further comprising a fixing nut comprising a first end portion configured to rotatably couple to the outer threaded portion of the fitting body, and
a second end portion of the fixing nut comprising an inner circumference that is narrower than an inner circumference of the first end portion of the fixing nut.
In regards to the fitting body packing, Kim discloses a similar pipe-fitting device (see fig. 11) comprising a fitting body (400) comprising an outer threaded portion (302) extending in from a second end of the fitting body,
the pipe-fitting device further comprising
a fixing nut (300) comprising a first end portion configured to rotatably couple to the outer threaded portion of the fitting body (see near 302), and
a second end portion of the fixing nut comprising an inner circumference that is narrower than an inner circumference of the first end portion of the fixing nut (see lowest point near 303),
wherein providing an outer threaded portion on the second end threadingly engaged with the nut comprising a collet (500) and a fitting body packing (330) at least provides the benefits of reducing the labor of the operator and improving the working time and efficiency (see lines 366-368 of the translated document provided herein; see also lines 375-376 that providing threads provides work convince).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to replace the second non-threaded end and the pipe of Nakata with the second outer threaded end, pipe, nut, collet, and fixing nut packing of Kim(ex., entire second end assembly) because Nakata discloses a device which differs from the claim device by a replacement of the entire second end of Kim, Kim discloses a similar device comprising the known entire outer threaded second end comprising a nut, collet, and fixing nut packing to provide the benefit of at least reducing the labor of the operator and improving the working time and efficiency (see lines 366-368; see also lines 375-376 that providing threads provides work convince), and one of ordinary skill could have substituted the one known second end comprising a pipe for another similar second end comprising a pipe and outer threads for a nut assembly because simply replacing one connection end for another connection end would have not produced any new or unexpected results.
In regards to claim 3, Nakata in view of Kim further discloses:
The pipe-fitting device of claim 2, further comprising a fixing nut packing (330, fig. 11 of Kim) placed inside the fixing nut (see fig. 11 of Kim),
the fixing nut packing for preventing movement of the fixing nut, when a pipe has been inserted into the fitting body through the second end of the fixing nut, by pressing against the pipe (ex., compare figs. 10 and 11 of Kim).
In regards to claim 4, Nakata in view of Kim further discloses:
The pipe-fitting device of claim 3, further comprising a collet (500, fig. 11 of Kim) provided inside the fixing nut abutting the fixing nut packing,
wherein the fitting body further comprises an inner inclined surface (see near 500 in fig. 11 of Kim) that narrows while extending into the cavity from the second end of the fitting body such that the collet presses inward against the pipe when the fixing nut is rotated and tightened (ex., see fig. 11 of Kim).
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakata in view of Kim as applied to claim 4 above and further in view of Blackwell et al. (U.S. Patent No. 5,908,211).
In regards to claim 5, Nakata in view of Kim discloses:
The pipe-fitting device of claim 4, but does not disclose the use of tape.
In regards to the tape, Blackwell discloses that tape is used to secure two elements together in a pipe connection (see fig. 1; see col. 3, lines 4-6; see col. 3, line 40 – col. 4, line 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to use tape over outer circumferential surfaces of the fitting body and the fixing nut of Nakata in view of Kim to further secure the fitting body and the fixing nut because Blackwell discloses that it is known in the field of coupling pipes that tape is used to secure two elements together in a pipe connection (see fig. 1; see col. 3, lines 4-6; see col. 3, line 40 – col. 4, line 2).
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakata as applied to claim 1 and in view of Takagi et al. (U.S. Patent No. 3,708,186).
In regards to claim 6, Nakata discloses:
The pipe-fitting device of claim 1,
but does not disclose:
a fitting body packing provided at a depth inside the cavity from a second end of the fitting body.
In regards to the fitting body packing, Takagi discloses a similar pipe-fitting device (see fig. 2) comprising a fitting body (9) comprising an outer threaded portion (11) extending in from a second end of the fitting body,
the pipe-fitting device further comprising
a fixing nut (12) comprising a first end portion configured to rotatably couple to the outer threaded portion of the fitting body (see near 11), and
a second end portion of the fixing nut comprising an inner circumference that is narrower than an inner circumference of the first end portion of the fixing nut (see lowest point of 14),
wherein providing an outer threaded portion on the second end with a collet (4) comprising a ring (3) and a fitting body packing (8) at least provides the benefits such that:
“In joining pipes with the pipe joint according to this invention, it is not required to carry the pipes to the working table, but the pipes can be joined together on the site of assembly by using a conventional spanner”,
“Combined with the use of a torque of low order mentioned above, the fact that a very low manual force is required for forming the groove on the pipe by form rolling makes it possible to join pipes of larger diameter than those which have hitherto been joined by conventional intrusion joints”, and
“The pipe joint according to this invention has particular utility in pipes of small thickness in which conventional intrusion joints have no application, thus, this invention permits great reductions in the cost of piping operations” (5:31-45).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to replace the second end and the pipe of Nakata with the second outer threaded end, pipe, nut, collet, ring, and fitting body packing of Takagi (ex., entire second end assembly) because Nakata discloses a device which differs from the claim device by a replacement of the entire second end of Takagi, Takagi discloses a similar device comprising the known entire outer threaded second end comprising a nut, collet, flare packing, and ring to provide the benefit of at least a reduction in piping reductions (5:31-45), and one of ordinary skill could have substituted the one known second end comprising a pipe for another similar second end comprising a pipe and outer threads for a nut assembly because simply replacing one connection end for another connection end would have not produced any new or unexpected results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER TYLER RUFRANO whose telephone number is (571)272-6223. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30AM to 4:30PM.
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/A.T.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3679
/Matthew Troutman/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3679