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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following problems.
“a conductive element opening” recited the independent claims 1 and 17 cannot be clear identified in the drawings since the specification does not describe “a conductive element opening” with an assigned reference number and the drawings are not pointing out this conductive element opening with a line and the assigned reference number.
Also, “a front end” of the housing of the connector is not identified in the drawings with a line with an assigned reference number.
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 Objections
Claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 17, lines 3-4, “the charging seat” should be -- a charging seat -- because this charging seat is introduced for the first time in claim 17, lines 3-4.
Claim 17, line 11, “a charging seat” should be -- the charging seat -- because this charging seat is already introduced in lines 3-4.
Claim 17, line 13, “a charging terminal” should be -- the charging terminal -- because line 3 already recites, “a charging terminal”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 20 is 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 20 recites the limitation "the cover" in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. While claim 17 recites “a cover arranged on an end of the housing” and “an end cover arranged on an end of the charging seat housing”. Although, claim 20, lines 2-3 recite, “the cover of the charging seat”, it is not clear whether “the cover” of claim 20 is referring to the cover of the housing or the end cover of the charging seat housing.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsushita et al (US 11,664,621 B2).
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Matsushita discloses a connector 1 for connecting to a charging seat 21, comprising: a housing 22 formed with a terminal hole (not labeled, see Fig. 2) adapted to receive one end of a charging terminal 3 of the charging seat 21; a cover 25 arranged on an end 23b of the housing 22 and formed with a conductive element opening 29; a conductive element 5, (claim 16) which is a metal bar 9, one end of which is inserted into the housing 22 through the conductive element opening 29 of the cover 25; and a connecting piece 18 provided in the housing 22 and adapted to connect the one end of the conductive element 5 to the one end of the charging terminal 3.
Regarding claim 2, the housing 22 includes a front end and a rear end opposite in its longitudinal direction, and a bottom wall and a top wall opposite in its height direction (see Fig. 4); the terminal hole (see Fig. 2) is formed in the bottom wall of the housing 22, and the cover 25 is arranged on the rear end of the housing 22; and an installation hole 23a is formed in the top wall of the housing 22, and the connecting piece 18 enters the housing 22 through the installation hole 23a.
Regarding claim 3, a connecting hole 71 is formed in one end of the conductive element 5, and the connecting piece 18 passes through the connecting hole 71 and is adapted to form a threaded connection with a threaded hole 33 in the charging terminal 3 to fasten the one end of the conductive element 5 to the charging terminal 3.
Regarding claim 6, the connector further comprising an elastic seal 13 installed in a rear port (see Fig. 2) of the housing 22, the conductive element 5 passes through the elastic seal 13, and the elastic seal is compressed between an inner wall of the housing 22 and the conductive element 5.
Regarding claim 7, a positioning step (not labeled, see Fig. 2) is formed in the rear port of the housing 22, and the positioning step and the cover 25 respectively abut against each end of the elastic seal 13 to maintain the elastic seal 13 in the rear port of the housing 22.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-19 are allowed, but claims 17-19 are objected.
Claims 4-5 and 8-15 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.
Claim 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Reason for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: In combination with all the limitations recited in the independent claim 17, the prior art of record does not anticipate nor render obvious a charging seat assembly, comprising: a connector including: a housing having a terminal hole receiving one end of a charging terminal of a charging seat and a cover arranged on an end of the housing and formed with conductive element opening; a conductive element, one end of which is inserted into the housing through the conductive element opening; and the charging seat, including: a charging seat housing; the charging terminal arranged in the charging seat housing; and an end cover arranged on an end of the charging seat housing, the housing of the connector is fixed to the end cover of the charging seat, and one end of the charging terminal passes through the end cover and is inserted into the housing of the connector to be electrically connected to the conductive element.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAE MOON HYEON whose telephone number is (571) 272-2093. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:30 am - 6:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah A Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/hmh/
/Hae Moon Hyeon/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831