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 Objection
Claim 82 is objected to because of the following informalities: last line, “a second” should be – the second --. Appropriate correction is required.
35 USC 102 Rejections
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) 50, 75, 82 and 83 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 206180192.
Regarding claim 50, CN ‘192 discloses a connector system 1 for use in a power distribution system, the connector system comprising: a male terminal assembly 20 having: a male terminal body including a first contact arm 60, a second contact arm 70 and a spring receiver; a spring member including (i) a first spring arm 40 with a positioning projection 431 extending from a free end of the first spring arm and (ii) a second spring arm 50; wherein the spring member resides within the spring receiver to define a seated state whereby the positioning projection wraps around an interior corner region of the first contact arm.
Regarding claim 75, CN ‘192 discloses a positioning and retaining means 431. CN ‘192 is further applied as above.
Regarding claim 82, CN ‘192 discloses the second spring arm 50 includes a positioning and retaining means 531, and wherein in the seated state, the positioning and retaining means of the second spring arm wraps around a portion of a second contact arm 70 of the male terminal body and resides adjacent to at least an end surface of the second contact arm.
Regarding claim 83, CN ‘192 discloses, in the seated state, the positioning and retaining means 531 of the second spring arm 50 wraps around an interior corner region of the
second contact arm 70.
Claims Defining Over Prior Art
Claims 51-53, 66-74, 84, 85 and 87-90 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art discloses or teaches the second spring arm having a planar configuration and lacking a positioning projection; nor the touch-proof member as recited; nor the first and second spring arms extending from opposite sides of a rear wall of the spring member; the spring receiver is formed by a wall arrangement of the male terminal body, and wherein at least one of the first and second contact arms have (i) a neck portion with a neck width and (ii) a body portion with a body width that is greater than the neck width; in combination with the rest of the subject matter of the respective independent claim.
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/GARY F PAUMEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834