DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1 – 13 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 4, 5, and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0260015 (hereinafter Gay).
As per claim 1, Gay teaches a display card module (Gay; Figure 1 Item 100), comprising: a display card body (Gay; Figure 1 Item 100) comprising a gold finger assembly (Gay; Figure 1 Item 110), wherein the gold finger assembly comprises a first portion and a second portion (Gay; Paragraph [0015]); a graphics processor (Gay; Figure 1 Items 120a, 120b, 120c, or 120d, Paragraph [0020]) disposed on the display card body and electrically connected to the first portion (Gay; Figure 1 Items 130a, 130b, 130c, or 130d, Paragraph [0019]); and a first slot disposed on the display card body and electrically connected to the second portion (Gay; Paragraph [0021]).
As per claim 4, Gay also teaches wherein a channel of the gold finger assembly is PCI-E x16 (Gay; Paragraphs [0016] and [0019]), a channel of the first portion is PCI-E x8 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]), and a channel of the second portion is PCI-E x4 or PCI-E x8 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]).
As per claim 5, Gay also teaches a second slot disposed on the display card body (Gay; Paragraph [0021]), wherein the gold finger assembly comprises a third portion (Gay; Paragraph [0015]), and the second slot is electrically connected to the third portion (Gay; Figure 1 Items 130a, 130b, 130c, or 130d, Paragraph [0019]).
As per claim 7, Gay also teaches wherein a channel of the gold finger assembly is PCI-E x16 (Gay; Paragraphs [0016] and [0019]), a channel of the first portion is PCI-E x8 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]), a channel of the second portion is PCI-E x4 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]), and a channel of the third portion is PCI-E x4 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2, 3, and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0260015 (hereinafter Gay) in view of US Patent No. 11,392,530 (hereinafter Chih).
As per claim 2, Gay teaches the invention as described per claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Gay does not teach wherein the first slot is an m.2 slot.
However, Chih teaches a PCI-E graphics card which includes a first m.2 slot (Chih; Figure 2 Item 106, Col 2 Line 66 – Col 3 Line 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong to include the m.2 slot because m.2 is a well-known and widely used interface form factor.
As per claim 3, Gay teaches the invention as described per claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Gay does not teach a first external member detachably plugged into the first slot, wherein the first external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card.
However, Chih teaches a PCI-E graphics card which including an external member detachably plugged into a first slot (Chih; Figure 2 Item 106), wherein the first external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card (Chih; Col 2 Line 66 – Col 3 Line 7, Col 4 Lines 6 – 28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong to include the SSD because doing so allows for expanding SSD storage depending on user preference (Chih; Col 2 Lines 5 – 8, Col 4 Lines 18 – 20).
As per claim 6, Gay teaches the invention as described per claim 5 (see rejection of claim 5 above).
Gay does not teach a second external member detachably plugged into the second slot, wherein the second external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card.
However, Chih teaches a PCI-E graphics card which including an external member detachably plugged into a second slot (Chih; Figure 2 Item 202), wherein the first external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card (Chih; Col 2 Line 66 – Col 3 Line 7, Col 4 Lines 6 – 28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong to include the SSD because doing so allows for expanding SSD storage depending on user preference (Chih; Col 2 Lines 5 – 8, Col 4 Lines 18 – 20).
Claim(s) 8, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0311215 (hereinafter Cong) in view of US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0260015 (hereinafter Gay).
As per claim 8, Cong teaches an electronic device, comprising: a motherboard (Cong; Figure 1 Item 30) comprising a PCI-E slot (Cong; Figure 1 Item 32), wherein setting of a PCI-E interface in a basic input/output system (BIOS) (Cong; Figure 1 Item 20) of the motherboard is selectively adjusted to a first mode or a second mode (Cong; Paragraph 0013]); a display card module (Cong; Figure 1 Item 100) pluggably connected to the PCI-E slot (Cong; Figure 1) and comprising: a display card body (Cong; Figure 1 Item 100) comprising a gold finger assembly (Cong; Figure 1 Item 160); and a first slot (Cong; Figure 1 Item 120) disposed on the display card body.
Cong does not explicitly teach wherein the gold finger assembly comprises a first portion and a second portion; a graphics processor disposed on the display card body and electrically connected to the first portion; and the first slot electrically connected to the second portion.
However, Gay teaches a display card module comprising a gold finger assembly comprising a first portion and a second portion (Gay; Paragraph [0015]); a graphics processor disposed on the display card body (Gay; Figure 1 Items 120a, 120b, 120c, or 120d, Paragraph [0020]) and electrically connected to the first portion (Gay; Figure 1 Items 130a, 130b, 130c, or 130d, Paragraph [0019]); and a first slot disposed on the display card body and electrically connected to the second portion (Gay; Paragraph [0021]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong to include the first and second portions because doing so allows for an unswitched connection to PCIe devices via a plurality of independent links (Gay; Paragraph [0013]).
As per claim 11, Gay also teaches wherein a channel of the gold finger assembly is PCI-E x16 (Gay; Paragraphs [0016] and [0019]), a channel of the first portion is PCI-E x8 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]), and a channel of the second portion is PCI-E x4 or PCI-E x8 (Gay; Paragraph [0019]).
As per claim 12, Cong in combination with Gay also teaches wherein the display card module further comprises a second slot (Cong; Figure 1 Item 130) disposed on the display card body, the gold finger assembly comprises a third portion (Gay; Paragraph [0015]), the second slot is electrically connected to the third portion (Gay; Figure 1 Items 130a, 130b, 130c, or 130d, Paragraph [0019]), and setting of the PCI-E interface in the basic input/output system (BIOS) of the motherboard is selectively adjusted to a third mode (Cong; Paragraph [0013]).
Claim(s) 9, 10, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0311215 (hereinafter Cong) in view of US Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0260015 (hereinafter Gay), and further in view of US Patent No. 11,392,530 (hereinafter Chih).
As per claim 9, Cong in combination with Gay teaches the invention as described per claim 8 (see rejection of claim 8 above).
Cong in combination with Gay does not teach wherein the first slot is an m.2 slot.
However, Chih teaches a PCI-E graphics card which includes a first m.2 slot (Chih; Figure 2 Item 106, Col 2 Line 66 – Col 3 Line 7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong in combination with Gay to include the m.2 slot because m.2 is a well-known and widely used interface form factor.
As per claim 10, Cong in combination with Gay teaches the invention as described per claim 8 (see rejection of claim 8 above).
Cong in combination with Gay does not teach a first external member detachably plugged into the first slot, wherein the first external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card.
However, Chih teaches a PCI-E graphics card which including an external member detachably plugged into a first slot (Chih; Figure 2 Item 106), wherein the first external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card (Chih; Col 2 Line 66 – Col 3 Line 7, Col 4 Lines 6 – 28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong in combination with Gay to include the SSD because doing so allows for expanding SSD storage depending on user preference (Chih; Col 2 Lines 5 – 8, Col 4 Lines 18 – 20).
As per claim 13, Cong in combination with Gay teaches the invention as described per claim 12 (see rejection of claim 12 above).
Cong in combination with Gay does not teach a second external member detachably plugged into the second slot, wherein the second external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card.
However, Chih teaches a PCI-E graphics card which including an external member detachably plugged into a second slot (Chih; Figure 2 Item 202), wherein the first external member comprises a solid-state drive, an m.2-SATA riser card, or an m.2-USB riser card (Chih; Col 2 Line 66 – Col 3 Line 7, Col 4 Lines 6 – 28).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Cong in combination with Gay to include the SSD because doing so allows for expanding SSD storage depending on user preference (Chih; Col 2 Lines 5 – 8, Col 4 Lines 18 – 20).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD B FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-0669. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-5pm.
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/RICHARD B FRANKLIN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2181
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