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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Komori et al. (10,855,022).
Regarding claim 1, Komori et al. disclose a connector, comprising:
a terminal module including a communication cable (25, Fig. 2) having a pair of signal wires (13A) embedded in an insulating sheath (32 and 37, Fig. 6), tip regions of the pair of signal wires extending as wire exposed portions from a tip surface of the sheath (X, FIGURE A below or from Fig. 5), and a terminal holding member (12, Fig. 2) for accommodating a pair of terminal fittings (not shown) individually fixed to a pair of the wire exposed portions, the wire exposed portions being drawn out from wire draw-out openings (P, FIGURE B below or from Fig. 6) of the terminal holding member; and
a housing (14 and 15, Fig. 3) for accommodating a tip region of the communication cable and the terminal holding member accommodating the pair of terminal fittings (Fig. 5), the housing being formed with a stopper (Y, FIGURE A below) configured to restrict the tip surface of the sheath from approaching the wire draw-out openings,
wherein the tip surface of the sheath faces the stopper in an axial direction of the sheath and butts against the stopper (FIGURE A below).
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-11 are allowed.
Claims 3-7 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 has 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.
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 THANH TAM T LE whose telephone number is (571)272-2094. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM.
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, Abdul Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THANH TAM T LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831 09/29/26,
thanh-tam.le@uspto.gov
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