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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 20, 2026 has been entered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 1-2 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 55-89130U (hereafter referred to as JP ‘130)
With respect to claim 1, JP ‘130 teaches an electronic device 1 comprising:
a display section including a display surface 12 extending from a first-end side (i.e., left side) of a housing to a second-end side (i.e., right side) of the housing opposite the first-end side; and
a plurality of operation parts 111 arranged from the first-end side to the second-end side of the housing and each including an operation surface (i.e., upper contact surface),
wherein
at least a portion of the operation surface of a first operation part (for example, a key in the column including the “C” key and the “0” key), which is arranged on the first-end side (i.e., left side), has a height from a placement surface (i.e., the surface that the electronic device is resting on) greater than that of at least a portion of the operation surface of a second operation part (for example, a key in the column including the “+” key and the “%” key), which is arranged on the second-end side (i.e., the right side), and
the display surface 12 of the display section has a height from the placement surface which is not greater on the first-end side than on the second-end side (see Fig. 3);
the display section is disposed on a first housing surface of the housing,
the operation parts 111 are disposed on a second housing surface which is a region of the housing differing from the first housing surface and continuous with the first housing surface, and
the first housing surface is inclined with respect to the second housing surface in a direction orthogonal to a direction from the first housing surface to the second housing surface and a direction from the first-end side to the second-end side. See, in particular, the English language translation of JP ‘130 and Figure 3 of JP ‘130. Particular attention is invited to the marked up copy of Figure 3 provided below.
With respect to claim 2, JP ‘130 teaches wherein a first central portion of the operation surface of the first operation part 111 has a height from the placement surface greater than that of a second central portion of the operation surface of the second operation part 111, as shown in Figure 3.
With respect to claim 8, JP ‘130 teaches wherein the operation surfaces of the operation parts 111 are in parallel to the second housing surface, as shown in Figure 3.
With respect to claim 9, JP ‘130 teaches wherein a substrate 11 supporting the operation parts 111 is provided in the housing, the substrate being in parallel to the second housing surface, as shown in Figure 3.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-11 and 13-15 are hereby allowed.
Claims 4-7 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:
With respect to claim 4 in particular, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest an electronic device having all of the structure as recited, in combination with and particularly including, the operation parts are disposed on a second housing surface which is a region of the housing differing from the first housing surface and continuous with the first housing surface, the first housing surface being inclined with respect to the second housing surface in a direction orthogonal to a direction from the first housing surface to the second housing surface and a direction from the first-end side to the second-end side, and wherein the second housing surface is inclined in the direction from the first-end side to the second-end side at a first inclination angle with respect to the placement surface.
With respect to claim 10 in particular, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest an electronic device having all of the structure as recited, in combination with and particularly including, wherein the second housing surface is inclined in a first direction from the first-end side to the second-end side at a first inclination angle with respect to the placement surface, and the first housing surface is inclined in said direction at a second inclination angle different from the first inclination angle with respect to the placement surface, and the first housing surface is inclined in a row direction in which the operation parts are arranged and which is opposite said direction of inclination of the second housing surface.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 20, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive of any error in the above rejection.
With respect to claim 1 in particular, while the rejections under 35 USC 112 have been overcome, the Examiner maintains that JP ‘130 teaches an electronic device as recited in claims 1-2 and 8-9 as set forth in the detailed rejection above.
In view of the above reasoning, the Examiner is not persuaded of any error in the above rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE J THOMPSON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2161. The examiner can normally be reached M-W 8:30-5:00 pm.
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/Leslie J Thompson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
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