DETAILED ACTION
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 anticipatory rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102 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.
(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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nikaido et al. US 7887336 (“Nikaido”).
Regarding claim 1, Nikaido discloses a connector 1, comprising:
at least one circuit substrate 2 having a first surface (labeled S1 below),
at least one contact 6 , comprising a fixed part (the portion inside hole 4) and a first contact part (upper terminal 7) that are connected to each other, wherein the fixed part is disposed on the at least one circuit substrate, and
the first contact part protrudes out of the first surface and covers a part of the first surface; and
a first elastic body 3, disposed on the first surface and being electrically insulated, wherein at least a part of the first elastic body is located between the first contact part and the first surface.
first elastic body comprises a base part (labeled BP in annotated figure 2 below) and at least one supporting part (5), the base part is stacked on the entire first surface of the at least one circuit substrate, and the at least one supporting part protrudes from a side of the base part that is located farthest away from the circuit substrate, and is located between the first contact part and the first surface.
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Per claim 3, the first elastic body is in direct contact with the first contact part.
Per claim 4, the at least one circuit substrate further has a second surface (labeled S2 above) facing away from the first surface, the at least one contact further comprises a second contact part (labeled CP2 above), the first contact part and the second contact part are connected to two opposite side of the fixed part, respectively, the second contact part protrudes out of the second surface and covers a part of the second surface, the connector further comprises a second elastic body (labeled EB2 above, considering the first elastic body to be the portion of 3 above the substrate and the second elastic body to be the portion of 3 below the substrate), the second elastic body is disposed on the second surface, and at least a part of the second elastic body is located between the second contact part and the second surface.
Per claim 8, the first contact part and the second contact part bend from the fixed part along one direction.
Per claim 9, the first elastic body is made by rubber or an elastic material that is electrically insulated.
Claim Rejections - and 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Nikaido in view of JP-A 2011 86590 (“JP ‘590”). Regarding claim 5, Nikaido discloses that the at least one circuit substrate further has a third surface (labeled S3 above) connecting the first surface and the second surface, and the fixed part is indirectly fixed to the third surface with a portion of 3 between. To the extent that Nikaido does not explicitly disclose the fixed part being directly fixed to the third surface, JP ‘590 discloses that the fixing part 22b may be directly abutting, i.e., fixed to, the substrate 12, as shown in figure 2 below. It would have been obvious to that the fixed part of Nikaido could likewise be fixed directly to the substrate as taught in JP ‘590. Such a modification would have been a matter of engineering design choice given that the function and manufacturing of the device would not be affected.
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Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 7 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.
Claims 10, 12, and 13 are allowable.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROSS GUSHI whose telephone number is (571)272-2005. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, 8:30 - 5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koehler can be reached on 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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/ROSS N GUSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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