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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (JP 2009-001278, English from Jplatpat provided by Applicant used).
Regarding claims 1 and 5, Suzuki teaches a resin molded article (Suzuki para 4) comprising a main body with a first face member (Suzuki para 15; fig 3, item 5) and second face member (Suzuki para 15, fig 3, item 8) where the second face is raided from the first face (Suzuki fig 3, ) a protrusion integrally formed with the first face member to be swingable via a thinner element so that it requires less load to bend at that point than an end further away from the bending axis (Suzuki item 19, para 24), where there’s a locking portion which provides a guide on the back side (Suzuki item 24, u-groove) where the protrusion has a ‘pawl’ type locking protrusion with a V shaped catch formed by a first wall and a second wall, and which may be considered bendable as it can snap into place (Suzuki fig 14, item 22; para 19) and further, the second wall has a distal end face in contact with the locking portion (Suzuki fig 14, items 22, 24).
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Suzuki teaches a resin molded article as above for claim 1. Suzuki further teaches that there are ribs (items 25a, b) on the first wall that connect to the second wall of the ‘pawl’ portion and due to the orientation, may be considered to extend in a direction away from the second wall and one may be considered to be ‘formed at the other end’ (Suzuki fig 14, items 25a,b; para 19).
Regarding claim 4, Suzuki teaches a resin molded article as above for claim 1. Suzuki illustrates that the distal end face of the second wall increases from one end to the other (narrows to widens) (Suzuki fig 14, item 22).
Regarding claim 6, Suzuki teaches a resin molded article as above for claim 1. Suzuki further illustrates that the locking claw (item 22) is narrower at one end than the other and thus may be considered to have a distance from the first wall to the distal end face of the second wall at the one end (Suzuki fig 14, item 22; para 19).
Regarding claim 7, Suzuki teaches a resin molded article as above for claim 1. Suzuki further illustrates that the locking claw (item 22) is narrower at one end than the other and thus may be considered to have a distance from an edge of the locked portion to an outer face distal end of the second wall at the other end longer than the distance of an edge of the locked portion to the outer face distal end of the second wall at the one end (Suzuki fig 14, item 22; para 19).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA B FIGG whose telephone number is (571)272-9882. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9a-6p Mountain.
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/LAURA B FIGG/Examiner, Art Unit 1781 3/29/26
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