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 .
Election
Applicant’s election of Specie 4, Figs. 35-39B, claims 1-20 in paper dated 02/03/26, is acknowledged.
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 “a plurality of contacts on an inner surface of the first recess” in claim 1 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, lines 9-10, “a plurality of contacts (401, Fig. 5) on an inner surface of the first recess” are confusing. How is a plurality of contacts on an inner surface of the first recess?
Claims 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claim 16, line 12, “a shunt supporting the first magnet and the second magnet” is not described in the specification.
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)(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 1, insofar as the claim can be understood, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jordan (9,502,824).
Regarding claim 1, Jordan discloses a connector receptacle (101, Fig. 5) comprising:
a first recess to accept a corresponding connector insert (103, Fig. 5), the first recess defining a first opening (opening of 113, Fig. 10);
a trim ring (FIGURE A below) encircling the first opening;
a ground ring (FIGURE A below) in the first recess, the trim ring and the ground ring defining an outer surface of the first recess;
a canted coil spring (301, Fig. 5) located in a groove (FIGURE A below) in the outer surface of the first recess between the trim ring and the ground ring; and
an annular housing (FIGURE A below) in the first recess and supporting a plurality of contacts (401, Fig. 5) on an inner surface of the first recess.
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Regarding claim 10, a connector receptacle (101, Fig. 5) comprising:
a first recess (FIGURE A above) to accept a corresponding connector insert (103, Fig. 5), the first recess having an outer surface defining a first opening;
a trim ring (FIGURE A above) encircling the first opening;
a canted coil spring (301, Fig. 10) located in a groove (FIGUR A above) in the outer surface of the first recess;
an annular housing (FIUGRE A above) in the first recess, the annular housing forming a second recess (FIGURE A above); and
a connect-detect contact (401, Fig. 10) in the second recess.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jordan in view of Sochor (8,162,684).
Regarding claims 11 and 12, Jordan discloses the claimed invention as described above except for the connect-detect contact comprises a divot or flat divot.
Sochor, Fig. 13 and column 15, lines 36-39 disclose the connect-detect contact comprises a divot or flat divot. It would have been obvious to modify Jordan to have the connect-detect contact comprises a divot or flat divot, in order to provide pointed contact features for a low resistance connection with the mating contact (Sochor, column 15, lines 39-41).
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haraguchi (4,314,219) in view of Chiu et al. (9,806,458).
Regarding claim 16, Haraguchi, Fig. 4 shows a magnetic flux path for a connector system, the magnetic flux path comprising:
a connector receptacle comprising:
a first magnet (12A);
a second magnet (12B), the second magnet separated from the first magnet by a gap (pointed at 10);
a trim ring having two opposing non-ferromagnetic portions (9A and 9B) and two opposing ferromagnetic portions (7A and 7B), wherein the first magnet is aligned with a first one (7A) of the two opposing ferromagnetic portions and the second magnet is aligned with a second one(7B) of the two opposing ferromagnetic portions, and the two opposing non-ferromagnetic portions are aligned with the gap; and
a shunt supporting the first magnet and the second magnet.
Haraguchi discloses the claimed invention as described above except for a connector insert comprising a ferromagnetic ring.
Chiu et al., Fig. 4 shows a connector insert (2) comprising a ferromagnetic ring (23). It would have been obvious to provide Haraguchi to have a connector insert comprising a ferromagnetic ring, as taught by Chiu et al. for better connection.
Regarding claims 17 and 18, it would have been obvious to modify Haraguchi to have the trim ring is formed as a bi-metallic metal-injection molded part or the trim ring is formed using a two-shot metal-injection molding process for better connection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-15 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANH TAM T LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2094. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdul Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THANH TAM T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 03/28/26
thanh-tam.le@uspto.gov
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