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 .
Drawing Objection
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, how the conductors are secured to the power cords 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.
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, 2, 5, 6, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over APA (admitted prior art – instant Background) in view of Blickle 7338316.
Regarding claim 1, APA (paragraph 0003) substantially discloses the claimed invention, including an electrical connector, comprising: a male annular socket and a female annular socket. Blickle (front page) discloses a plug 6 with a first conductor is mountably and dismountably inserted in an inserting slot 11 with a second conductor, and when the plug is inserted in the inserting slot, the first conductor is electrically connected to the second conductor, and to modify APA in this way thus would have been obvious, for a secure electrical connection.
Regarding claim 2, APA discloses the male annular socket comprises a first power cord, and the female annular socket comprises a second power cord.
Regarding claims 5 and 6, APA (as modified by Blickle) would result in the claimed structure.
Regarding claims 19 and 20, the limitations thereof have been addressed above.
Claims Defining Over Prior Art
Claims 3, 4 and 7-18 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 first conductor is located on an outer surface of the plug, the outer surface of the plug is parallel to the direction of insertion of the plug, and the second conductor is located on an inner surface of the inserting slot, the inner surface of the inserting slot is parallel to the direction of insertion of the plug; nor the bottom of the male annular socket has a positioning column, and the top of the female annular socket has a positioning hole corresponding to the positioning column which allows the positioning column to be inserted therein, the positioning column is inserted in the positioning hole for guiding the insertion of the plug into the inserting slot; 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