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 .
35 USC 103 Rejections
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, 7-9, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasui et al 10,219,393 in view of Hu et al 11,626,693.
Regarding claim 1, Yasui et al (Figures 5 and 9) substantially discloses the claimed invention, including an electronic device comprising: a housing 70; and a connector 44 disposed in the housing, wherein the connector comprises: a case 41; and a printed circuit board 30 disposed in the case, exposed via an opening of the case and comprising: a first layer 30a where a plurality of first pins 50a are disposed; a second layer 30b where a plurality of second pins 50b are disposed; and a ground layer 52a,b disposed between the first layer and the second layer and disposed to maintain a substantially constant distance from the first layer and the second layer, wherein: the plurality of first pins comprise at least one first ground pin, the plurality of second pins comprise at least one second ground pin. Hu et al (Figure 11) discloses at least one first ground pin 411B and at least one second ground pin 411B are configured to be connected through at least one via 4121, and to interconnect the ground pins of Yasui et al with vias thus would have been obvious, for enhanced grounding.
Regarding claim 3, Yasui et al discloses the printed circuit board 30 is disposed in a central portion of an inside of the opening 42 formed in the case 41.
Regarding claim 4, Hu et al discloses the at least one via 4121 connecting the at least one first ground pin 411B and the at least one second ground pin 411B comprises a plurality of vias disposed at regular intervals.
Regarding claim 7, Yasui et al discloses the ground layer comprises: a first ground layer 52a; and a second ground layer 52b disposed under the first ground layer, and wherein the first ground layer and the second ground layer are configured to be connected through a plurality of vias (as taught by Hu et al) disposed at regular intervals.
Regarding claim 8, Yasui et al discloses the first layer comprises: a 1-1th layer 34a; and a 1-2th layer 34c disposed under the 1-1th layer, and wherein the 1-1th layer and the 1-2th layer are configured to be connected through a plurality of vias disposed at regular intervals. Note that “configured to be” indicates intended use, and thus Yasui et al is deemed to disclose the positively recited structure.
Regarding claim 9, Yasui et al discloses the printed circuit board 30 comprises: a plurality of conductive layers comprising the first layer 30a, the second layer 30b, and the ground layer 52a,b; and an insulating layer 34c disposed between conductive layers of the plurality of conductive layers. The specific permittivity of the insulating layer is deemed to be an obvious matter of routine experimentation.
Regarding claim 11, Yasui et al discloses the opening 42 is formed to be coupled with an external connector in a forward or reverse direction, the plurality of first pins 50a correspond to the forward direction, and the plurality of second pins 50b correspond to the reverse direction.
Regarding claim 12, Yasui et al (Background) discloses the connector is a universal serial bus (USB) type-C connector.
Claim(s) 2, 13 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasui et al in view of Hu et al as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KR 2015-0029374.
Yasui et al (as modifed by Hu et al) are applied as above. KR ‘374 (see claims thereof) discloses the ground layer comprises a mesh ground, and to form the ground layer of Yasui et al in a mesh form thus would have been obvious, for good grounding. To form the conductor of Yasui et al of copper would have been an obvious design choice since copper is widely used in electrical connectors for its good electrical conductivity.
Claim(s) 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasui et al in view of Hu et al as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Liang et al 2016/0365673.
Liang et al (Figures 13,14) discloses power pins connected through power via 292, and to provide Yasui et al (as modified by Hu et al) with same thus would have been obvious, for better electrical continuity.
Claim(s) 6, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yasui et al in view of Hu et al and KR 2016-0029374 as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of KR 102406959.
KR ‘959 (see claims thereof) discloses at least one super speed transmission (TX) pin capable of fast data transmission, and to provide Yasui et al (as modified by the secondary references) with same thus would have been obvious, to facilitate high-speed data transmission. The references are further applied as above.
Claims Defining Over Prior Art
Claims 10, 14 and 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art discloses or teaches the printed circuit board comprises: a first area formed of a rigid printed circuit board; a second area extending from the first area and formed of a flexible printed circuit board; and a third area extending from the second area and formed of a rigid printed circuit board; in combination with the rest of the subject matter of the respective independent claim.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY F PAUMEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2013. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th.
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/GARY F PAUMEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834