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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant has amended independent claims 1, 10, and 19 to include the limitation “the screw is rotated to fasten the shoulder screw to the chassis.” Applicant argues that Aukzemas does not teach the threaded stud attaches to the shoulder screw by rotating from the underside of the PCB. In light of the amendment to claim 1, applicant’s arguments, filed 6/10/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-20 under 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of the new limitation added to independent claims 1, 10, and 19.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiba (CN 105284195 A) in view of Ono et. al (JP 2004055892 A) hereafter referred to as Ono and further in view of Hemphill et. al (US 11011084 B1) hereafter referred to as Hemphill.
Regarding claim 1, Shiba teaches a top-mount printed circuit board (PCB) mounting assembly, comprising:
a PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) with a top surface as a reference surface (pg 6 ¶5, surface 34 control board is mounted on);
a chassis (12 PCU casing) disposed underneath the PCB and separate from the PCB (Fig 1, 12 PCU and 34 control board are separated by 18 nut);
a shoulder screw (22 bolt) comprising
a screw head (25 head and 24 flange),
a screw body (26 middle part) and
a screw tail (26 middle part), and
a nut (18 nut),
positioned between the PCB and the chassis (Pg 11 Fig 2A),
made of a rigid feature (pg 4 ¶10, 18 nut is made of metal), and
configured to receive and fasten the shoulder screw (pg 4 ¶10, Fig 2A) and keep a distance between the PCB and the chassis within a controlled dimension (Fig 2A).
Shiba fails to teach the shoulder screw is soldered on a top of the PCB. However, Ono teaches the shoulder screw (3 screw) is soldered on a top of the PCB (1 circuit board, ¶7 solder is applied to the screw connected to the circuit board 1). Shiba and Ono are both in the industry of fasteners to circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to solder the screw to the circuit board in order to minimize the creep phenomenon and stay attached securely (Ono ¶7)
Shiba in view of Ono fails to teach the shoulder screw has a screw tail and is connected to the chassis by tightening a screw from a bottom. It is noted, the instant limitation is functional language or product-by-process in nature and therefore is given limited patentable weight to the extent it impacts a further structural limitation to the final device as claimed. In the instance case, the limitation only appears that the respective nut and screw are, at some point, rotatable with respect to each other. Likewise, that the orientation during which they are coupled may be described as from a bottom even if the orientation subsequently changes.
However, Hemphill teaches the shoulder screw (624 standoff) has a screw tail (624 standoff) and is connected to the chassis (616 module board) by tightening a screw (622 tightening screw) from a bottom (col 8 lines 12-18). Shiba, Ono, and Hemphill are all in the industry of fasteners for circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Shiba and Ono to include the screw member structure of Hemphill in order to reduce resistance to bending or torque (Hemphill col 8 lines 12-18)
Regarding claim 2, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the screw body (26 middle part) comprises a first screw body part (see annotated Fig 2A below) connected with the screw head (25 head and 24 flange) and a second screw body part (see annotated Fig 2A below).
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Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill fail to teach the screw body is connected with the screw tail in the combination of claim 1. However, Hemphill teaches the screw body (624 standoff portion that is soldered to the module board 616) is connected with the screw tail (624 standoff). Shiba, Ono, and Hemphill are all in the industry of fasteners for circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Shiba and Ono to include the screw member structure of Hemphill in order to reduce resistance to bending or torque (Hemphill col 8 lines 12-18)
Regarding claim 3, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 2, wherein the first screw body part (see Fig 2A above) penetrates through the PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) and comprises an external thread extended along a length direction of the screw body (outer thread, pg 5 ¶2) to fix the PCB from rotating relatively to the shoulder screw (Fig 2A).
Regarding claim 4, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 2, wherein the first screw body part see annotated Fig 2A above) penetrates through the PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5, Fig 2A) and is soldered to the PCB (Ono, 1 circuit board, ¶7 solder is applied to the screw connected to the circuit board 1).
Regarding claim 5, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 2, wherein the second screw body part comprises a first spiral thread (outer thread, pg 4 ¶2) around an outer surface of the second screw body (pg 4 ¶2) to fasten the nut (18 nut) between the PCB and the chassis (nut is between unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board and 12 PCU casing Fig 2A).
Regarding claim 6, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 5, wherein an inner surface of a circumferential side wall of the nut (18 nut) comprises a second spiral thread (step surface, pg 5 ¶2) configured to accommodate the shoulder screw (22 bolt) by fastening on the first spiral thread of the second screw body part (pg 5 ¶2).
Regarding claim 7, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein in the top-mount PCB mounting assembly, the screw head (25 head and 24 flange) of the shoulder screw (22 bolt) is attached onto the top surface of the PCB (Fig 2A, Ono ¶7), and the screw tail is fixed in the chassis (12 PCU, Fig 2A).
Regarding claim 8, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 1, wherein the nut (18 nut) comprises a nut head (19 protection part) and a nut tail (see annotated Fig 2A below), a cross-sectional area of the nut head is bigger than a cross-sectional area of the nut tail (Fig 2A, pg 5 ¶2).
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Regarding claim 9, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the top-mount PCB mounting assembly of claim 8, wherein a top surface of the nut head (19 projection part) is in contact with a bottom surface of the PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) in the top-mount PCB mounting assembly (Fig 2A), and the top surface of the nut head is threaded (pg 5 ¶2) to prevent further rotation between the PCB and the nut (Pg 5 ¶2); or wherein a spring washer (30 gasket) is disposed between the top surface of the nut head and the bottom surface of the PCB (Fig 2A) to prevent rotation between the PCB and the nut (pg 5 ¶2).
Regarding claim 10, Shiba teaches an electronic device, comprising: a top-mount printed circuit board (PCB) mounting assembly that comprises: a PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) with a top surface as a reference surface (pg 6 ¶5, surface 34 control board is mounted on); a chassis (12 PCU casing) disposed underneath the PCB and separate from the PCB (Fig 1, 12 PCU and 34 control board are separated by 18 nut); a shoulder screw (22 bolt) comprising a screw head (25 head and 24 flange), a screw body (26 middle part) and a nut (18 nut), positioned between the PCB and the chassis (Fig 2A pg 11), made of a rigid feature (pg 4 ¶10, 18 nut is made of metal), and configured to receive and fasten the shoulder screw (pg 4 ¶10, Fig 2A) and keep a distance between the PCB and the chassis within a controlled dimension (pg 4 ¶10, Fig 2A)..
Shiba fails to teach the shoulder screw is soldered on a top of the PCB. However, Ono teaches the shoulder screw (3 screw) is soldered on a top of the PCB (1 circuit board, ¶7 solder is applied to the screw connected to the circuit board 1). Shiba and Ono are both in the industry of fasteners to circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to solder the screw to the circuit board in order to minimize the creep phenomenon and stay attached securely (Ono ¶7)
Shiba in view of Ono fails to teach the shoulder screw has a screw tail and is connected to the chassis by tightening a screw from a bottom. It is noted, the instant limitation is functional language or product-by-process in nature and therefore is given limited patentable weight to the extent it impacts a further structural limitation to the final device as claimed. In the instance case, the limitation only appears that the respective nut and screw are, at some point, rotatable with respect to each other. Likewise, that the orientation during which they are coupled may be described as from a bottom even if the orientation subsequently changes.
However, Hemphill teaches the shoulder screw (624 standoff) has a screw tail (624 standoff) and is connected to the chassis (616 module board) by tightening a screw (622 tightening screw) from a bottom (col 8 lines 12-18). Shiba, Ono, and Hemphill are all in the industry of fasteners for circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Shiba and Ono to include the screw member structure of Hemphill in order to reduce resistance to bending or torque (Hemphill col 8 lines 12-18)
Regarding claim 11, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 10, wherein the screw body (26 middle part) comprises a first screw body part (see annotated Fig 2A below) connected with the screw head (25 head and 24 flange) and a second screw body part (see annotated Fig 2A below).
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Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill fail to teach the screw body is connected with the screw tail in the combination of claim 1. However, Hemphill teaches the screw body (624 standoff portion that is soldered to the module board 616) is connected with the screw tail (624 standoff). Shiba, Ono, and Hemphill are all in the industry of fasteners for circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Shiba and Ono to include include the screw member structure of Hemphill in order to reduce resistance to bending or torque (Hemphill col 8 lines 12-18)
Regarding claim 12, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first screw body part (see Fig 2A above) penetrates through the PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) and comprises an external thread extended along a length direction of the screw body (outer thread, pg 5 ¶2) to fix the PCB from rotating relatively to the shoulder screw (Fig 2A).
Regarding claim 13, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first screw body part see annotated Fig 2A above) penetrates through the PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5, Fig 2A) and is soldered to the PCB (Ono, 1 circuit board, ¶7 solder is applied to the screw connected to the circuit board 1).
Regarding claim 14, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 11, wherein an inner surface of a circumferential side wall of the nut (18 nut) comprises a second spiral thread (step surface, pg 5 ¶2) configured to accommodate the shoulder screw (22 bolt) by fastening on the first spiral thread of the second screw body part (pg 5 ¶2).
Regarding claim 15, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 14, wherein an inner surface of a circumferential side wall of the nut (18 nut) comprises a second spiral thread (20 internal thread) configured to accommodate the shoulder screw by fastening on the first spiral thread of the second screw body part (28 external thread part, pg 5 ¶2).
Regarding claim 16, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 10, wherein in the top-mount PCB mounting assembly, the screw head (25 head and 24 flange) of the shoulder screw (22 bolt) is attached onto the top surface of the PCB (Fig 2A, Ono ¶7), and the screw tail is fixed in the chassis (12 PCU, Fig 2A).
Regarding claim 17, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 10, wherein the nut (18 nut) comprises a nut head (19 protection part) and a nut tail (see annotated Fig 2A below), a cross-sectional area of the nut head is bigger than a cross-sectional area of the nut tail (Fig 2A, pg 5 ¶2).
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Regarding claim 18, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the electronic device of claim 17, wherein a top surface of the nut head (19 projection part) is in contact with a bottom surface of the PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) in the top-mount PCB mounting assembly (Fig 2A), and the top surface of the nut head is threaded (pg 5 ¶2) to prevent further rotation between the PCB and the nut (Pg 5 ¶2); or wherein a spring washer (30 gasket) is disposed between the top surface of the nut head and the bottom surface of the PCB (Fig 2A) to prevent rotation between the PCB and the nut (pg 5 ¶2).
Regarding claim 19, Shiba teaches an optical communication device, comprising: at least one linecard (10 PCU) that comprises: a PCB (unnumbered circuit board disposed on 34 control board, pg 6 ¶5) with a top surface as a reference surface (pg 6 ¶5, surface 34 control board is mounted on); a chassis (12 PCU casing) disposed underneath the PCB and separate from the PCB (Fig 1, 12 PCU and 34 control board are separated by 18 nut); a shoulder screw (22 bolt) comprising a screw head (25 head and 24 flange), a screw body (26 middle part) and a screw tail (26 middle part), and a nut (18 nut), positioned between the PCB and the chassis (Pg 11 Fig 2A), made of a rigid feature (pg 4 ¶10, 18 nut is made of metal), and configured to receive and fasten the shoulder screw (pg 4 ¶10, Fig 2A) and keep a distance between the PCB and the chassis within a controlled dimension (Fig 2A).
Shiba fails to teach the shoulder screw is soldered on a top of the PCB. However, Ono teaches the shoulder screw (3 screw) is soldered on a top of the PCB (1 circuit board, ¶7 solder is applied to the screw connected to the circuit board 1). Shiba and Ono are both in the industry of fasteners to circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to solder the screw to the circuit board in order to minimize the creep phenomenon and stay attached securely (Ono ¶7)
Shiba in view of Ono fails to teach the shoulder screw has a screw tail and is connected to the chassis by tightening a screw from a bottom. It is noted, the instant limitation is functional language or product-by-process in nature and therefore is given limited patentable weight to the extent it impacts a further structural limitation to the final device as claimed. In the instance case, the limitation only appears that the respective nut and screw are, at some point, rotatable with respect to each other. Likewise, that the orientation during which they are coupled may be described as from a bottom even if the orientation subsequently changes.
However, Hemphill teaches the shoulder screw (624 standoff) has a screw tail (624 standoff) and is connected to the chassis (616 module board) by tightening a screw (622 tightening screw) from a bottom (col 8 lines 12-18). Shiba, Ono, and Hemphill are all in the industry of fasteners for circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Shiba and Ono to include the screw member structure of Hemphill in order to reduce resistance to bending or torque (Hemphill col 8 lines 12-18)
Regarding claim 20, Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill teach the optical communication of claim 19, wherein the screw body (26 middle part) comprises a first screw body part (see annotated Fig 2A below) connected with the screw head (25 head and 24 flange) and a second screw body part (see annotated Fig 2A below).
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Shiba in view of Ono and further in view of Hemphill fail to teach the screw body is connected with the screw tail in the combination of claim 1. However, Hemphill teaches the screw body (624 standoff portion that is soldered to the module board 616) is connected with the screw tail (624 standoff). Shiba, Ono, and Hemphill are all in the industry of fasteners for circuit boards therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of Shiba and Ono to include include the screw member structure of Hemphill in order to reduce resistance to bending or torque (Hemphill col 8 lines 12-18)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/ALLEN L PARKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2841
/E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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