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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7-9, 11, 13 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu (US 10,132,345). Wu discloses a server cabinet fastener comprising: an upper limit member (3) provided with a limit hole (30), a rotation groove (33), and an anti-rotation limiter (322); a fastening pin (2) provided with a pin head (22); a lower limit member (1) provided with an upper retaining ring (14), a retaining ring section (140), a hollow sleeve (10) and, a bottom installation section (13); the pin head is installed in the limit hole of the upper limit member with an interference fit; the lower limit member is sleeved on the fastening rod and a compression spring (23) is sleeved on the pin rod with an upper end supports the pin head and a lower end supports a bottom face (101) of the lower limit member (see Fig. 4); a height of the rotation groove is greater than a thickness of the upper retaining ring (see Fig. 5) to form a clearance fit allowing for rotation and slide along the anti-rotation limiter (Figs. 4-6). The limit hole includes upper and lower limit holes to accommodate respective upper and lower pin heads (Fig. 2) with an upper one being cyclotomic (at 221); the upper limit member includes anti-slip knurls (31) and an arrow (311); and the upper limit member is made of plastic while the spring, lower limit member and pin rod are made of metal. The server cabinet is only included in the preamble as a recitation of the intended use since there is no structure claimed of the cabinet.
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, 6, 10 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu as applied to claims 1 and 9 above, and further in view of Tseng (US 2013/0294863). Wu does not disclose the upper limit member to have a T-shape nor a claw-type retaining buckle. Tseng disclose a panel fastener similar to Wu including an upper limit member (2) but, Tseng disclose the upper limit member to include a T-shape (213) and a claw-type retaining buckle (212). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the upper limit member of Wu with a T-shape and a claw-type retaining buckle as disclosed in Tseng because the T-shape would provide an improved grip and the claw-type retaining buckle would retain the members in and assembled condition for convenient shipping and assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 12 are 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 does not disclose the upper limit member with a limit boss every 90 degrees. Wu discloses only two opposed limit bosses (321).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang (US 8,087,861) is cited to teach plural claw-type retaining members. Allen (US 6,682,282) is cited teach a server cabinet. The other references cited are of general interest.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FLEMMING SAETHER whose telephone number is (571)272-7071. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 - 7:00 eastern.
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/FLEMMING SAETHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675
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