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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Page 23, line 19, change “conductive member 14” to --conductive member 41--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tatebe et al. (US 4959030 A).
In regard to claim 1, Tatebe et al. discloses a connector (fig. 1) that is mounted on a mounting object 16 of sheet type having a plurality of flexible conductors exposed on a surface of the mounting object 16 and that is to be fitted with a counter connector 17 in a fitting direction, the connector comprising:
a housing 20 that is made of an insulating material and is bendable (the housing 20 is bendable in some degrees since it is made of insulating material and applicant has not recited the degree of bend); and
a plurality of contacts 23 retained in the housing 20 with arranged in an arrangement direction orthogonal to the fitting direction, each of the plurality of contacts 23 being made of a conductive material,
wherein the housing 20 includes a plurality of first projections (see annotated drawing below) arranged in the arrangement direction to correspond to the plurality of contacts 23 and projecting in the fitting direction,
each of the plurality of contacts 23 includes
a contact portion 29 retained in a corresponding one of the plurality of first
projections and configured to make contact with a corresponding counter contact of the counter connector 17,
a connection portion 31 connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of flexible conductors of the mounting object 16, and
a joint portion 28 that joins the contact portion 29 and the connection portion 31 to each other, and
the plurality of first projections are separate from one another.
[AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (first projections)][AltContent: connector]
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-11 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 prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THO D. TA whose telephone number is (571)272-2014. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4:30PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M Koehler can be reached at (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Tdt
12/19/2025
/THO D TA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834