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 102 Rejections
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 10-15, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE 1028299.
Regarding claim 1, BE ‘299 (Figures 1 and 4A) discloses an electrical connector, comprising: an insulator body 120; an inner terminal cartridge 110 with a pair of terminal cavities (unnumbered) that retain a pair of inner terminals 112 of a paired wire cable at elongate sides of the inner terminal cartridge; and wherein the inner terminal cartridge is configured to be seated in the insulator body with the pair of inner terminals retained in the pair of terminal cavities, and inserted into the insulator body to simultaneously stage the pair of inner terminals in a mating position in lateral alignment in the insulator body.
Regarding claim 2, BE ‘299 discloses the inner terminal cartridge 110 is configured to be inserted into the insulator body 120 until the inner terminal cartridge reaches a staged position in the insulator body, which simultaneously stages the pair of inner terminals 112 in the mating position in lateral alignment in the insulator body.
Regarding claim 4, BE ‘299 discloses the pair of terminal cavities are configured to be one or more of side, top, bottom, and axially loaded with the pair of inner terminals 112.
Regarding claim 6, BE ‘299 discloses at least one lock feature 118,128 that engages in response to the inner terminal cartridge 110 being inserted into the insulator body 120 and secures the inner terminal cartridge in the insulator body.
Regarding claim 7, BE ‘299 discloses the at least one lock feature comprises: a ramp structure 118 on the inner terminal cartridge 110 that snaps into a slot 128 defined in the insulator body 120.
Regarding claim 10, BE ‘299 discloses an insulative spacer 115 feature integral to the inner terminal cartridge 110 that insulates the pair of inner terminals 112 from one another.
Regarding claim 11, BE ‘299 discloses the inner terminal cartridge 110 further includes
an indicator peg 118 configured to extend through an indicator slot 128 in the insulator body 120, wherein the indicator peg serves as a visible indication to an operator whether the inner terminal cartridge is staged in the insulator body.
Regarding claim 12, BE ‘299 discloses one or more alignment features 119 on the inner terminal cartridge 110 that engage with corresponding alignment features 129B of the insulator body 120 to define a path of the inner terminal cartridge in the insulator body.
The method limitations of claims 13-15, 18 and 19 are deemed to be inherent in the assembly of the structure set forth above.
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) 3, 5, 16, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BE 1028299 as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of EP 3783756.
Regarding claims 3 and 16, EP ‘756 discloses the pair of terminal cavities (in 28) are C-shaped
terminal cavities, and to form the terminal cavities of BE ‘299 in this way thus would have been obvious, for ease of assembly.
Regarding claims 5 and 17, EP ‘756 discloses the pair of inner terminals 16 each include protrusions 102 that engage with the pair of terminal cavities to retain and define of the pair of inner terminals in a lateral position relative to the inner terminal cartridge, and to provide the terminals of BE ‘299 with retaining protrusions thus would have been obvious, to prevent inadvertent removal of the terminals.
Regarding claim 20, EP ‘756 discloses an outer shield 30,32, and to provide DE ‘299 with an outer shield thus would have been obvious, to provide EMI protection. The references are further applied as above.
Claims Defining Over Prior Art
Claims 8 and 9 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 slot being defined by a cantilevered protrusion; nor the crush rails; 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