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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 7/10/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that method steps of Group II directed to the same inventive concept with manufacturing technique use to achieve of that device. This is not found persuasive because method technique such as “overmolding” step would require additional search and/or consideration in other areas, class/subclass.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mitsuyuki et al. [JP 2007-124458 A] in view of JP3846798A.
Regarding claim 1, Mitsuyuki et al. disclose a waterproof electromagnetic device [coil antenna, figures 1-4], comprising:
- a magnetic core [2] surrounded by at least one coil [3];
- an electronic circuit board [6] including at least connection pins [figures 2-3] electrically connected to the at least one coil [figures 2-3]; and
- an enclosure [resin 7] overmolded on a waterproof manner surrounding the magnetic core, the at least one coil and the electronic circuit board [figures 2-3].
Mitsuyuki et al. disclose the instant claimed invention except for the magnetic core including protrusions.
JP3846798A discloses a coil device for in-vehicle antenna [figure 1] comprising:
- a magnetic core [1] including several protrusions [21, 22];
- at least one coil [4] wound about the center portion of the magnetic core; and
- an enclosure structure [7] overmolded on a waterproof manner surrounding the magnetic core and the coil.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the magnetic core with protrusions for the magnetic core of Mitsuyuki et al., as suggested by JP3846798A, for the purpose of facilitating manufacturing and/or assembling.
Regarding claim 2, JP3846798A discloses the protrusions extend from at least two opposed sides of the magnetic core. The specific protrusions arrangement would have been an obvious design consideration based on the intended applications and/or environments uses.
Regarding claim 3, JP3846798A further disclose the magnetic having slot/groove [31, 32] provided to supporting/embedding connections.
It would have been an obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the magnetic core of Mitsuyuki et al. to have slot or groove to supporting/embedding the circuit board, as suggested by JP3846798A, for the purpose of improving assembling/manufacturing and/or providing support for the circuit board.
Regarding claim 4, Mitsuyuki et al. further discloses the connection pins electrically connected to exposed ends of electric cables [4], wherein the connection pins and the ends of electric cables being embedded in the enclosure and the electric cables extended outside the enclosure [figures 1-4].
Regarding claim 5, Mitsuyuki et al. further discloses the electric cable [4] including an sealing portion [or insulated coating] adjacent to one end of the waterproof electromagnetic device, not embedded in the enclosure and comprised between two portions of the cable embedded in the enclosure, each sealing portion being covered by waterproof and electrically insulating seal [resin 9, figures 2 and 4].
Regarding claim 6, Mitsuyuki et al. discloses the sealing portion of the electric cables placed in a cavity of the enclosure, wherein the cavity is filled with the resin [9, figures 2 and 4].
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mitsuyuki et al. in view of JP3846798A, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Dinter [US 2022/0196143 A1].
Mitsuyuki et al. in view of JP3846798A disclose the instant claimed invention except for a longitudinal groove.
Dinter discloses a longitudinal groove [4] formed on an external surface of a housing structure [1] for accommodating cable [figure 1].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include a longitudinal groove on the external surface of the enclosure of Mitsuyuki et al., as modified, as suggested by Dinter, for the purpose of providing accommodating groove/slot for the electric cable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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:
The prior art of record do not teach or disclose, in the claimed combination thereof, protrusion tips of the protrusions reaching the external surface of the enclosure or reaching the external surface of the enclosure and housed in a cavity defined in the external surface of the enclosure, are covered by waterproof and electrically insulating seal, or by a waterproof and electrically insulating seal made of resin.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
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