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
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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a, 1) as being anticipated by Boyd (U. S. Patent 5,139,427).
For claim 1, Boyd figures 5, 6, includes a connector comprising an array of contacts 14 each contact having a base portion near line 30 with first and second arm portions at lines 28, 50 being complaint spring portions that extend in first and second directions perpendicular to the planar surface of the base portion. For claims 2, 3, 4, the contacts 18 are formed of a single-piece metal and may be stamped, see column 4, line 21. For claims 5, 6, the Boyed array of contacts is two-dimensional arrays and the spring arms extend in upward and downward directions.
Claims 1-10, 12-14, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a, 1) as being anticipated by Khandrus (U. S. Patent 6,029,344)
For claim 1, Khandrus discloses a connector figure 4c using an array of contacts 404, each contact including planar base portion and spring arms 404a, 404b extending from opposite sides of the base portions.
For claims 2, 3, 4, the contact is unitary and may be formed of metal by stamping.
For claims 5, 6, the Khandrus connector is a in a two-dimension array form with spring arms.
For claim 7, the connector includes first and second overlay isolation layers at lines 410, 402, the spring arms extending through openings in the layers.
For claims 8, 12, Khandrus column 20, lines 50-60 discloses adhesive use to join contacts to the overlay. For claims 9, 10, the openings in the two layers are shown to be aligned and arms through the openings are of equal length. For claim 13, the elastic arms extend in opposite directions through openings in the overlays.
Claim 15, the openings in the two layers are shown to be aligned figure 4c.
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 (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 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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boyd’427.
For claim 11, Boyd discloses the claimed invention except for first offset being in an opposite direction from the second offset relative to the central line. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Boyd to provide such features because this change is considered a matter of obvious design producing no unexpected result.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khandrus.
For claim 14, Khandrus does not disclose such different length spring arms. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Khandrus to provide such features because this change is considered a matter of obvious design producing no unexpected result.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Neil Abrams whose telephone number is 571-272-2089. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TC Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098 The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NEIL ABRAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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