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 § 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the direction of connection” in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the vertical direction” in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the surface” in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the opposite ends” in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the connector length direction” in line 11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the connector width direction” in line 14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the locking portions” in line 21. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kagotani (US 8,529,275).
Regarding claim 1, Kagotani discloses n electrical connector assembly having two counterpart connect bodies (1, 2) and an intermediate connector (3) that provides intermediate electrical connections between the two counterpart connect bodies, at least one of the two counterpart connect bodies being a board connector mounted to a circuit board (not shown), and the intermediate connector, for which the direction of connection to the counterpart connect bodies is the vertical direction perpendicular to the surface of the circuit board, having one counterpart connect body, which is the board connector, connected thereto from below, while the other counterpart connect body is connected thereto from above, wherein:
the board connector, at the opposite ends in the connector width direction, has fittings (30) that extend in the connector width direction perpendicular to both the connector length direction and the vertical direction;
the fittings have resilient pieces (31) that extend upwardly and are resiliently deformable in the connector length direction; the resilient pieces, in the top end portions thereof, have locking portions (31A);
the intermediate connector has a housing (40) that is capable of receiving the board connector from below; the housing has lateral walls (44) extending in the connector width direction at the opposite ends in the connector length direction; and
the lateral walls have lockable portions (45A) lockingly engageable with the locking portions from below at locations corresponding to the resilient pieces in the connector width direction.
Kagotani substantially disclosed the claimed invention except the locking portion protrude outwardly to receive a recess. Kagotani discloses the locking portion is a recess portion and the lockable portion is a protruded portion.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to reverse the locking portion to as a protruded portion and the lockable portion as a recess portion, since it has been held that a mere reversal of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167.
Kagotani also disclosed the fittings extend in the connector width direction instead of the length direction.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to rearrange the fittings extend in the length direction, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Regarding claim 2, in the modified electrical connector assembly, Kagotani substantially disclosed the claimed invention except the fittings have the resilient pieces at a plurality of locations in the connector length direction.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to duplicate the resilient pieces, since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 3, in the modified electrical connector assembly, Kagotani discloses the fittings are formed of plate-like members whose through-thickness direction is the connector width direction.
Regarding claim 4, in the modified electrical connector assembly, Kagotani discloses the fittings are formed of plate-like members whose through-thickness direction is the connector width direction.
Conclusion
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/TRUC T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834