DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/11/26 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s).
Per claim 15, “the joint portion opposite the main body, the joint portion adapted to be joined to the solder pad via solder, a portion of a contour of the joint portion defined by the notch at least partially facing in a second direction opposite the first direction, the portion of the contour defined by the notch, the solder surrounding the distal end of the joint portion and the notch, the notch defining an opening in the joint portion open in the first direction.”
No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The device including all the limitations of claim 1 and additionally all the limitations of claim 6 was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 2 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 2, the limitation that “the first portion of the contour is formed in an anchor shape” is indefinite. It is unknown what shapes would or would not be considered to be “anchor shaped.” The limitation is given little weight.
Regarding claim 16, the term “anchor shape” is indefinite. It is unknown what shapes would or would not be considered to be “anchor shaped.” The limitation is given little weight.
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 anticipatory rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 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.
(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 1, 2, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(b) as being anticipated by Yamamoto US 11616318. Regarding claim 1, Yamamoto discloses a contact 4 for electrically connecting a first object to a second object, comprising:
a main body (labeled MB in annotated figure 2 below) adapted to be connected to the first object; and
a joint portion (labeled JP below) protruding from the main body and adapted to be joined (i.e., capable of being joined) to the second object via solder,
a first portion (labeled C1) of a contour of the joint portion at least partially facing in a first direction opposite a protruding direction (labeled PRD) of the joint portion, and
a second portion (labeled C2) of the contour of the joint portion at least partially facing in the first direction opposite the protruding direction of the joint portion, wherein:
the first portion of the contour defines a normal vector extending outwardly from
the contour and includes a vector component extending in the first direction;
the second portion of the contour defines a second normal vector extending outwardly from the contour and includes a second vector component extending in the first direction;
the joint portion is asymmetric about a center line (labeled CL) of the joint portion set parallel with a plugging direction (labeled PD) of the contact, wherein
the first portion of the contour and the second portion of the contour are arranged on opposite sides of the center line of the joint portion;
an opening (labeled OP) closed about its perimeter is formed through the joint portion, the first portion of the contour defined within the opening.
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Per claim 2, the first portion of the contour is formed in an anchor shape, in particular an anchor shaped like the first portion of the contour.
Per claim 6, the main body is adapted to be connected to the first object in a plugging direction, a distal end of the joint portion opposite the main body having a width (labeled DEW above) in a direction orthogonal to the plugging direction that is greater than a width of a proximal end of the joint portion (labeled PEW above) defined adjacent the main body.
Claim Rejections - and 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamamoto in view of
Ohkita US 2003/0114028 (“Ohkita”). Yamamoto does not disclose a solder ball. Ohkita discloses solder ball 7 located in hole 54 of the joint portion 52. It would have been obvious to locate a solder ball in the Yamamoto opening of the joint portion as taught in Ohkita. The reason would have been facilitate soldering of the contact to another electrical structure as taught in Yamamoto. One of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements by known methods and each element would have performed the same function as it did separately. One of ordinary skill would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ.2d 1385 (2007).
Claims 15-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huo et al. US 8277230 (“Huo”). Regarding claim 15, Huo discloses a connector assembly, comprising:
a contact housing 1;
implicitly, a substrate including a conductive solder pad (col. 1, line 35); and
a contact 2 arranged in the contact housing, including:
a main body 21 adapted to be connected to a mating contact on a first end (labeled FE in annotated figure 6 below) thereof; and
a joint portion 23 protruding from a second end (labeled SE) of the main body opposite the first end in a first direction (labeled D1), the joint portion including a notch 4 formed into a distal end of the joint portion opposite the main body, the joint portion adapted to be joined to the solder pad via solder,
a portion of a contour (e.g., at 233) of the joint portion defined by the notch at least
partially facing in a second direction (labeled D2) opposite the first direction,
the portion of the contour defined by the notch,
the solder surrounding the distal end of the joint portion (col. 5, lines 55-60)
and the notch,
the notch defining an opening in the joint portion open in the first direction.
To the extent that Huo discloses the substrate as related art and does not explicitly disclose it, it would have been obvious to provide a board with a solder pad as noted in the related art section of Huo and mount the Huo device on such board to use the Huo device as intended.
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Per claim 16, the portion of the contour is formed in an anchor shape and inherently defines a normal vector extending outwardly from the contour and including a vector component extending in the second direction.
Per claim 17, as set out regarding claim 1, it would have been obvious to provide a
printed circuit board as suggested at Huo col. 1, line 35.
Per claim 19, the solder opposes at least a portion of the joint portion in the second direction (col. 5, lines 30-60).
Claims 21 -23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiu US 2007/0054567 in view of Ohkita. Regarding claim 21, Shiu discloses a contact E for electrically connecting a first object to a second object, comprising:
a main body (at E1) adapted to be connected to the first object;
a joint portion (at E2) protruding from the main body and adapted to be joined to the second object via solder, a first portion of a contour of the joint portion at least partially facing in a first direction opposite a protruding direction of the joint portion, an end of the joint portion defines a circular ring having an opening E2 closed about its perimeter is formed through the joint portion, a central axis of the opening extending normal to the protruding direction;
and a welded mass G (figure 6) arranged at the opening of the joint portion.
Shiu does not disclose that the welded mass G was a solder ball arranged at the opening of the joint portion prior to attachment to A2.
Ohkita discloses solder ball 7 located in hole 54 of the joint portion 52. It would have been obvious to provide the welded mass G at the hole E2 in the form of a solder ball located in the hole E2 as taught in Ohkita. The reason would have been to facilitate soldering the contact E to an appropriate electrical conductor as taught Ohkita. One of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements by known methods and each element would have performed the same function as it did separately. One of ordinary skill would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ.2d 1385 (2007).
Per claim 22, inherently, the contour defined by the joint portion includes a first contour and a second contour, the first contour formed on an outwardly facing surface of the joint portion and the second contour formed on an inwardly facing surface of the joint portion, each of the first and second contours at least partially facing in the first direction.
Per claim 23, the first contour is defined on an outwardly facing surface of the ring, and the second contour is defined by the opening.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROSS GUSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2005. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 8:30 - 5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached on 571-272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROSS N GUSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834