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 without traverse of Species 1, Figures 1A-1D, and 2A, 2C claims 1-20 in the reply filed on 11/11/2025 is acknowledged.
However, during the examination, the examiner found that claims 4-20 do not read on the species 1, because the limitations of “first actuator (341) coupled to the first moveable member (333), second actuator (343) coupled to the second moveable member (335), first mechanism (355), second mechanism (357)…etc…do not refer to Figures 1A-1D and 2A and 2C of the elected Species 1, but belong to Species 4, Figures 4A, 4B.
Therefore, in the instant application, claims 1-3 have been examined and claims 4-20 have been further withdrawn from consideration.
A few telephone calls were made to Ms. Camille Sauer on 2/2/26 and 12/3/26 to request an oral election to the above restriction requirement. However, the examiner could not reach the applicant to discuss the result in an election being made.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the element number ”151” in Figure 1B is not pointing/preferring to any element.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Czarnecki et al. (US 6,600,122).
Regarding claim 1, Czamecki discloses a device comprising:
a first terminal (68);
a second terminal (80);
a contact member (62, 74, 56, 58) having an engagement portion,
the contact member (62, 74, 56, 58) being configured to be in a first position and a second position and to form a connection between the first terminal (68) and the second terminal (80) when being either in the first position or in the second position; and
a control unit (see col. 6, lines 19-32) configured to facilitate a transition of the contact member (62, 74, 56, 58) and to retain the contact member at the first position or at the second position in the absence of an external force; and
a bypass mechanism (10’, 20) comprising: at least a first moveable member (130, 94, 86, 150, 156) having a first surface (130, 150) configured to contact the engagement portion of the contact member (62, 74, 56, 58) at a first angle that is acute relative to an axis that is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the contact member (62, 74, 56, 58).
Regarding claim 2, Czamecki discloses:
the first moveable member (130, 94, 86, 150, 156) is configured to move towards the engagement portion of the contact member (56, 62) and to apply force thereto to facilitate its transition from the first position to the second position.
Regarding claim 3, Czamecki discloses:
the first moveable member (130, 94, 86, 150, 156) is configured to move away from the engagement portion of the contact member (56, 62) when the force is no longer applied to the first moveable member (130, 94, 86, 150, 156).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Lisa Homza whose telephone number is (571) 272-3592.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Shawki Ismail can be reached on (571) 272-3985. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Lisa Nhung Homza/
Patent Examiner - Art Unit 2837
February 04, 2026
/SHAWKI S ISMAIL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837