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 § 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 Singh et al. (2004/0224555).
Regarding claim 1, Singh discloses a connecting cable (22, Fig. 2) used for connecting a counterpart connector (24, Fig. 2) comprising:
an insulative seat comprising a body (26 and 28, Fig. 2), a slot (48, Fig. 3) and a conducting opening (a slot between 54, Fig. 3) formed thereon, and the conducting opening communicating with the slot and located on a bottom of the body;
a circuit board (15, Fig. 2) comprising a substrate and multiple conductive portions (17) disposed on the substrate, the substrate being inserted into the slot, and the conductive portions being exposed from the conducting opening;
a protective cover (30, Fig. 2) assembled on the body to cover the conducting opening and slidable (Fig. 5); and
a spring (32, Fig. 2) comprising one end abutting against the body (by 70, [0027], lines 8-9) and another end fixed on the protective cover ([0027], lines 3-10);
wherein when the protective cover is pushed by the counterpart connector to compress the spring and open the conducting opening, the protective cover is returned back to an original position by an elastic reverting force from the spring ([0027], lines 11-15).
Regarding claim 2, the body comprises an elastic arm (54, Fig. 3) and a bump (56) disposed on the elastic arm, the counterpart connector is disposed with an engaging trough (84, Fig. 7), and the connecting cable is connected to the counterpart connector by embedding the bump into the engaging trough ([0030], lines 6-8).
Regarding claim 3, the substrate is a flexible substrate and each conductive portion is a gold finger.
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 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Singh et al. in view of Chi (2020/0185849).
Regarding claim 4, Singh et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the cover comprising a covering plate and two frame arms connected to the covering plate, each frame arm extended from a side of the covering plate and bent to formed with an inserting space, and two sides of the body are inserted into the inserting spaces respectively.
Chi discloses a cover (30, Fig. 1) comprising a covering plate (32) and two frame arms (3442, Fig. 2) connected to the covering plate, each frame arm extended from a side of the covering plate and bent to formed with an inserting space, and two sides of the body (10) are inserted into the inserting spaces respectively (Fig. 3). It would have been obvious to modify Singh et al. to have the cover comprising a covering plate and two frame arms connected to the covering plate, each frame arm extended from a side of the covering plate and bent to formed with an inserting space, and two sides of the body are inserted into the inserting spaces respectively, as taught by Chi for better engaging.
Regarding claim 5, it is noted that Chi discloses each frame arm comprises a side plate (344, Fig. 2) connected with the covering plate (32) and a top plate extended and bent from the side plate, one end of the side plate is disposed with a latching piece (3442, Fig. 2), and the latching piece latches the body (Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THANH TAM T LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2094. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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/THANH TAM T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 02/17/26.
thanh-tam.le@uspto.gov
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