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 .
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.
Claims 1, 7 and 9-10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gao et al. (8,888,500).
Regarding claim 1, Gao et al. disclose a magnetic grounding system, comprising:
a magnet assembly comprising a permanent magnet (260, Fig. 3), the magnet assembly being galvanically coupled to a ground (a ground of PCB, not labeled, Fig. 2); and
a cable assembly (505, Fig. 5) comprising:
a metal shield layer (540, Fig. 5) enclosing one or more conductors; and
a cable plating (410, Fig. 5) galvanically contacting the metal shield layer, the cable plating comprising an electrically conductive and magnetic material (column 4, lines 40-42), wherein when the cable plating is magnetically fixed to the magnet assembly via magnetic attraction between the cable plating and the permanent magnet, the metal shield layer is galvanically coupled to the ground via electrical contact between the cable plating and the magnet assembly.
Regarding claim 7, Gao et al., Fig. 5 shows the cable assembly further comprises an insulation layer (507) surrounding the metal shield layer, a portion of the insulation layer is removed to expose a portion of the metal shield layer, and the cable plating galvanically contacts the exposed portion of the metal shield layer.
Regarding claim 9, Fig. 5 shows the metal shield layer completely encloses the one or more conductors of the cable assembly.
Regarding claim 10, the one or more conductors of the cable assembly are coupled to a set of respective connection pins (not labeled, Fig. 10), and wherein when the cable plating is magnetically fixed to the magnet assembly, the set of respective connection pins of the cable assembly are aligned with corresponding conductors of a mated connector.
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.
Claims 2-5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. in view of Schultz (9,992,869).
Regarding claim 2, Gao et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the magnet assembly comprises a magnet plating that is plated onto the permanent magnet, the magnet plating comprising an electrically-conductive material.
Schultz, column 13, lines 19-26 state that the magnets may be plated or coated with conductive metals. It would have been obvious to provide Gao et al. to have the magnet plating comprising an electrically-conductive material, as taught by Schultz, in order to increase physical strength, corrosion resistance…
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Gao et al. and Schultz disclose when the cable plating is magnetically fixed to the magnet assembly via magnetic attraction between the cable plating and the permanent magnet, and wherein the metal shield layer is galvanically coupled to the ground via electrical contact between the cable plating and the magnet plating.
Regarding claims 4-5 and 8, it would have been obvious to modify Gao et al. to have the cable plating comprises a nickel gold plating and the cable plating and the magnet plating each comprises a nickel gold plating, and the permanent magnet comprises an AlNiCo material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 for better engaging.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. in view of Lybrand (12,620,733).
Regarding claim 11, Gao et al., Fig. 2 shows the ground is a printed circuit board (PCB) ground, except for the magnet assembly is coupled to the PCB ground via a soldered connection.
Lybrand, Fig. 2 shows solder tails (130). It would have been obvious to modify Gao et al. to have the solder tails, as taught by Lybrand for better connection.
6. The magnetic grounding system of claim 1, wherein the cable assembly comprises a flexible flat cable (FFC) or a flexible printed circuit (FPC) cable.
Claims 12 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (9,755,334) in view of Gao et al. (8,888,500) and Schultz (2015/0000952).
Regarding claim 12, Li et al. disclose an electronic device, comprising:
a printed circuit board (102, Fig. 1B) comprising a PCB ground (105);
a cable assembly (103) comprising (i) a metal shield layer enclosing one or more conductors, and (ii) a cable plating (104) galvanically contacting the metal shield layer.
Li et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for a magnet assembly comprising a permanent magnet, the cable plating comprises magnetic material.
Gao et al. disclose a magnet assembly comprising a permanent magnet (120, Fig. 1), the cable (107, Fig. 5) with the cable plating (410) comprises magnetic material (column 4, lines 40-42). It would have been obvious to modify Li et al. to have a magnet assembly comprising a permanent magnet, the cable plating comprises magnetic material, as taught by Gao et al. for better connection.
Regarding claim 16, Li et al., Fig. 2A shows the cable assembly comprises a flexible printed circuit.
Regarding claim 17, it is noted that Gao et al., Fig. 5 shows the cable assembly further comprises an insulation layer (507) bonded to the metal shield layer (540), a portion of the insulation layer is removed to expose a portion of the metal shield layer, and the cable plating galvanically contacts the exposed portion of the metal shield layer.
Regarding claims 15 and 18, it would have been obvious to modify Li et al. and Gao et al. to have the cable plating comprises a nickel gold plating and the permanent magnet comprises an AlNiCo material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 for better engaging.
Regarding claim 19, it is noted that Gao et al., Fig. 5 shows the metal shield layer completely encloses the one or more conductors of the cable assembly.
Regarding claim 20, it is noted that Gao et al., Fig. 9 shows the one or more conductors of the cable assembly are coupled to a set of respective connection pins (220), and wherein when the cable plating is magnetically fixed to the magnet assembly, the set of respective connection pins of the cable assembly are aligned with corresponding conductors of a mated connector.
Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. and Gao et al. and further in view of Schultz (2015/0000952).
Regarding claim 13, Li et al. and Gao et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the magnet assembly further comprises a magnet plating that is plated onto the permanent magnet, the magnet plating comprising an electrically-conductive material.
Schultz, Fig. 3 shows a magnetic (310) plated with nickel and gold. It would have been obvious to provide Li et al. and Gao et al. to have a magnet plating that is plated onto the permanent magnet, the magnet plating comprising an electrically-conductive material, as taught by Schultz for better connection.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Li et al., Gao et al. and Schultz disclose when the cable plating is magnetically fixed to the magnet assembly via magnetic attraction between the cable plating and the permanent magnet, and wherein the metal shield layer is galvanically coupled to the PCB ground via electrical contact between the cable plating and the magnet plating.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANH TAM T LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2094. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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/THANH TAM T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 10/08/26
thanh-tam.le@uspto.gov
