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 . The instant application with Application Number 18/483,102 filed on 10/09/2023 is presented for examination. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 6 recites the limitation "a…EU (IEC 62196-2)…” on line two or “…. Tesla NACS…” on line three contains the trademark/trade. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe type of electrical connector for electric vehicle charger connector and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite. Claim 12 recites similar limitations.
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 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 present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 DeBoer et al. (US 2013/0020990) (Hereinafter, DeBoer) in view of Mu et al. (US 2023/0137396).
With respect to claims 1, 18 and 20, an electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder (Fig. 1A, 100), comprising: a housing that includes a base and a cover with a first opening on a first side of the housing (Fig. 1A, 102: the electric vehicle charging apparatus 100 includes a housing 102, (first entry Fig. 1C, 122)which may be a multi-piece housing, and which may be configured and adapted to allow multiple electrical connection) and a second opening on a second side of the housing opposite the first side (Fig. 1F, 130), wherein the base includes a base plate adapted for fixing the housing to a wall (Fig. 1A, 101), a first base plug-holding structure (Fig. 1F, 122), and a second base plug- holding structure (Fig. 1F, 130), the cover includes a first cover plug-holding structure and a second cover plug-holding structure (Fig. 1F, body 104), and a first removable socket plug with an outside structure adapted for fixation to the first housing port or the second housing port, and an inside structure adapted for receiving and locking to a first type of electrical connector (See Fig. 1F connection socket plug 133 and 122 with charging cable 103 and 133).
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DeBoer, does not expressly disclose a first base plug-holding structure and a second cover plug-holding structure having electric vehicle charger.
Mu, on the other hand, discloses a first base plug-holding structure and a second cover plug-holding structure having electric vehicle charger (See Fig. 1 below; Para. # 0205: the cord set 100 includes electric-vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) 106. The EVSE 106 includes circuitry for communicating with the donor EV 102 and the acceptor EVs 104A-104B. The EVSE 106 can be configured for power flow in a left-to-right direction).
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DEBOER and Mu are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely flexible EV charging station and EV charging corde/connector system.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added an a bidirectional EVSE or electric vehicle charging connector (gun) with housing to the flexible charging system of DeBoer in view of Mu for the benefit of supplying power/charging (connector placed in the same housing) multiple vehicles at the same time and positioned left/right or on opposite sides.
With respect to claims 2-4 and 19, the combined references of DeBoer and Mu disclose the electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder as described above, further Deboer discloses comprising a first set of fasteners in the base and a second set of corresponding fasteners in the cover for attaching and detaching the cover and the base without tools (Para. # 0049-0050).
With respect to claim 5, the combined references of DeBoer and Mu disclose the electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder as described above, Deboer further
discloses comprising a removable opening cover plug with an outside structure adapted for fixation to the first housing port or the second housing port, and a circular plate at one end of the removable opening cover plug adapted for covering the first opening or the second opening when the base and the cover are attached (Figs. 3A-3D; Para. # 0054/0073).
With respect to claims 6 and 12 the combined references of DeBoer and Mu disclose the electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder as described above, Deboer further discloses wherein the first type of electrical connector comprises one of an EU (IEC 62196-2) Type 2 connector, a GB/T connector, a Tesla NACS (North American charging standard) connector and a US (SAE J1772) Type 1 connector (Para. # 0058: Various alternative lug interfaces or terminal designs or types can be selected and utilized on a common mounting platform within the first front cavity 106).
With respect to claims 7 and 13, the combined references of DeBoer and Mu disclose the electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder as described above, Deboer further discloses wherein the inside structure of the first removable socket plug is adapted with a first self-locking mechanism to apply pressure to a notch of the first type of electrical connector to hold the first type of electrical connector in the first removable socket plug (Para. # 0051: relatively free rotation of the lid 105 relative to the body 104, and may include a suitable mechanism (not shown) for locking the lid 105 in an opened position. A suitable flexible seal may be provided around the periphery).
With respect to claim 8 and 15, the combined references of DeBoer and Mu disclose the electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder as described above, Deboer further discloses wherein the first self-locking mechanism comprises one of a metal spring
plate, a spring and ball, or a plastic latch (Para. # 0050).
With respect to claims 9-11, 14, and 16-17, the combined references of DeBoer and Mu disclose the electrical vehicle (EV) charger connector holder as described above, Deboer further discloses wherein the inside structure of the first removable socket plug is adapted to include a protruding structure that receives a latch of the first type of electrical connector to hold the first type of electrical connector in the first removable socket plug (Figs. 4A-4L; Para. # 0050, 0053-0058).
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Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A DUNN can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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