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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants’ communication filed on 02/05/2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-10 are currently pending in the instant application.
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 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Weng (US 2023/0223976 A1).
Regarding Claim 1 Weng teaches the limitations "A case with a bracket for mobile phone, characterized in that it comprises (see fig. 1 and abstract)
a mobile phone case main body, (fig. 1 (10) and par. 0027);
a bracket, (fig. 1 (300) and par. 0029);
a fixing assembly and (see fig. 1, fig. 5 (310 mounting portion) and par. 0046);
a torsion element; (fig. 9 (400 torsion spring) and par. 0049);
the mobile phone case main body is provided with the fixing assembly, which is connected to the bracket through the torsion element, (see fig. 1 and par. 0049 “he first elastic member 400 is a torsion spring, and the torsion spring is positioned between the mounting portion 310 and the face plate 120”, where stand or bracket is connected or mounted to case body via the torsion spring which allows opening);
wherein the torsion element is composed of multiple hook spring pieces spliced side by side,
wherein one end of each hook spring piece is clamped onto a rotating shaft set at one end of the bracket, and the other end of each hook spring piece is connected to the fixing assembly" (see fig. 9, 10, and 11 and par. 0049 “The torsion spring includes a bar 411, two cylindrical spiral springs 412 and two legs 413. Preferably, the bar 411, the springs 412 and the legs 413 are integrally formed. In this embodiment, the bar 411 is U-shaped, and the two springs 412 and the two legs 413 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the bar 411, that is, one end of each spring 412 is connected to a respective side of the bar 411, and the legs 413 extend out from the other ends of the springs 412.” Also see fig. 5 and par. 0050 “The two rotating shafts 311 are rotatably connected with the housing body 100 through the springs 412 and the mounting portions 310 in a damping fashion. One of the legs 413 and the bar 411 abuts against the bottom of the first groove 121, and the other one of the legs 413 and the bar 411 abuts against the stand 300 or is embedded in the stand 300.”) Here, the spring (i.e. torsion element is composed of hook spring pieces side by side which is equated to the two springs and two legs forming the torsion element) and par. 0050 shows the rotating shaft goes though the springs and the other end or bar 411 is fixed to the mounting portion at the stand (as shown in fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 9 Weng teaches the limitations "The case with a bracket for mobile phone according to claim 1, characterized in that the outer back surface of the mobile phone case main body is provided with a storage slot, and the bracket can be stored in the storage slot" (see fig. 4 and par. 0050, showing the opening 121 for bracket).
Regarding Claim 10 Weng teaches the limitations "The case with a bracket for mobile phone according to claim 9, characterized in that the storage slot is provided with an empty slot on the side, and an opening is provided on the bracket arranged opposite to the empty slot to match the empty slot and provide space for easy opening of the bracket" (see fig. 4, 8, 10 and par. 0040, where the release feature or locking structure 140, forms in a further opening on the opening 121 (i.e. there is a groove for that as also shown in fig. 2) which fits the bracket and provides space for easy opening of the bracket). “The locking member 141 can be engaged in or released from the locking groove 301 to lock or release the stand 300. When the stand 300 is folded in the first groove 121 and the locking member 141 is engaged in the locking groove 301, the stand 300 is in a lock state. When the locking member 141 is released from the locking groove 301, the stand 300 can be rotated and unfolded.”
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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 first fixing piece is arranged in the first installation slot, and the second fixing piece is arranged in the second installation slot; the first fixing piece and the second fixing piece are detachably connected to each other.” The combination of claims 1 and 2 would not be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art considering the prior art on record and therefore involve an inventive step. When incorporating all the limitations in combination, none of the prior art discloses the features as claimed. Claims 3-8 depend from 2 and are objected to for the same reasoning.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID BILODEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-3192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:00am-4:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wesley Kim can be reached at (571) 272-7867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David Bilodeau/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648