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 .
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.
Claims 1, 9-10, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Horiuchi et al. (US. 2001/0029128 A1).
In Regards to Claim 1:
Horiuchi teaches a connector module (Fig. 4) comprising:
a first circuit board (34) provided with a first connector (34A); a second circuit board (28) provided with a second connector (24) and a first guiding hole (62); a flexible connecting member (40), a third connector (36), and a fourth connector (34A), wherein the third connector (36) is connected to one end of the flexible connecting member (40), the fourth connector (34A) is connected to another end of the flexible connecting member (40) and is plugged into the first connector (34A); and a floating plug (36) floatingly connected to the first circuit board (34), wherein the third connector (36) is arranged within the floating plug (36), the floating plug (36) is provided with a first guiding column (36), the first guiding column (36) is arranged to pass through the first guiding hole (62) to enable the third connector (36) to be plugged into the second connector (24).
In Regards to Claim 9:
Horiuchi teaches the connector module of claim 1, wherein the flexible connecting member (40) is a flexible circuit board or a flexible wire.
In Regards to Claim 10:
Horiuchi teaches an electronic device comprising a connector module (Fig. 4), wherein the connector module (Fig. 4) comprises:
a first circuit board (34) provided with a first connector (34A); a second circuit board (28) provided with a second connector (24) and a first guiding hole (62); a flexible connecting member (40), a third connector (36), and a fourth connector (34A), wherein the third connector (36) is connected to one end of the flexible connecting member (40), the fourth connector (34A) is connected to another end of the flexible connecting member (40) and is plugged into the first connector (34A); and a floating plug (36) floatingly connected to the first circuit board (34), wherein the third connector (36) is arranged within the floating plug (36), the floating plug (36) is provided with a first guiding column (36), the first guiding column (36) is arranged to pass through the first guiding hole (62) to enable the third connector (36) to be plugged into the second connector (24).
In Regards to Claim 18:
Horiuchi teaches the electronic device of claim 10, wherein the flexible connecting member (40) is a flexible circuit board or a flexible wire.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 and 11-17 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 prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest these limitation as substantially described in claims 2-8 and 11-17, these limitations, in combination with remaining limitations of claims 2-8 and 11-17, are neither taught nor suggested by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NADER J ALHAWAMDEH whose telephone number is (571)270-0571. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9Am - 6Pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah A 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NADER J ALHAWAMDEH/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
Prosecution Insights