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 . Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
Claim Objections
Regarding Claim 8, line 1, the term “hosing” should be changed to “housing.”
Regarding Claim 8, line 2, the term “slides” should be changed to “slide.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION. - The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Specifically, Claim 4 is rejected since there is no antecedent basis for the language “upper surface,” “protruding portions,” and “protruding pieces.”
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, 5, and 7-10, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu (Chinese Pat. No. CN204441139 U).
Specifically, regarding Claim 1, Xu discloses a (FIG. 1), comprising: a housing (31, 36), an operating body (32) that is held by the housing (31, 36) and is pushed into the housing (31, 36) by a push operation (Abstract, FIG. 1), an operating body-side guide portion (37) protruding from a lower surface of the operating body (32; FIG. 1), a housing-side guide portion (38) that protrudes from a bottom surface of [an] interior of the housing (31, 36; FIG. 1) and, together with the operating body-side guide portion (37), guides movement of the operating body (32) based on the push operation (FIG. 1), and an elastic body (33) that is provided between the operating body (32) and the housing (31, 36) on the outer side of the operating body-side guide portion (37; FIG. 2) and the housing-side guide portion (38) and applies an elastic force to the housing (31, 36) and the operating body (32; FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 2, Xu discloses that the housing (31, 36) comprises a lower housing (36) comprising the housing-side guide portion (38), and an upper housing (31) that comprises an insertion opening (34INS; FIG. 1, reproduced and annotated below) for insertion of the operating body (32) and, together with the lower housing (36), holds the operating body (32), the operating body (32) comprises a protruding portion (37P; FIG. 1 below) that protrudes from the lower surface, wherein the protruding portion (37P) comprises a protruding piece (37P itself) that protrudes outward beyond the insertion opening (34INS) in a state of being held by the housing (31, 36; FIG. 2), and wherein the protruding piece is in contact with the upper housing (31) due to the elastic force of the elastic body (33) before the push operation (via 37 and edge portions of 32; FIG. 2), and moves with the operating body (32) without contacting the upper housing (31) and the lower housing (36) when the push operation is performed (FIG. 2, upon depression).
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Regarding Claim 3, Xu discloses that at least one pair of opposite sides of an upper surface of the operating body (S1, S2; FIG. 2 reproduced and annotated below), on which the push operation is performed, has a shape corresponding to the elastic body (33), and wherein a portion of the elastic body (33) is located below the at least one pair of sides (FIG. 2).
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Regarding Claim 5, Xu discloses that the operating body-side guide portion (37) comprises a columnar body (FIG. 2), wherein the housing-side guide portion (38) comprise a cylindrical body comprising an insertion hole (31b) into which the operating body-side guide portion (37) is inserted (FIG. 2), wherein the insertion hole comprises a hole that penetrates the bottom surface of the lower housing (36; FIG. 2), and wherein the switch device comprises an electronic component (21, 22) that is placed in the insertion hole and detects the push operation (FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 7, Xu discloses that the columnar body of the operating body-side guide portion (37) is configured so as to continuously slides with the cylindrical body of the housing-side guide portion (38) during the push operation (FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 8, Xu discloses that the columnar body of the housing-side guide portion (38) is configured so as to continuously [slide] with the cylindrical body of the operating body-side guide portion (37) during the push operation (FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 9, Xu discloses that the columnar body of the operating body-side guide portion (37) is configured so as to have different vertical and horizontal dimensions in top view (e.g., 37P is narrower than 37; FIG. 2).
Regarding Claim 10, Xu discloses that the columnar body of the housing-side guide portion (38) is configured so as to have different vertical and horizontal dimensions in top view (an end portion of 38 is narrower than a portion of 38 adjacent 11; FIG. 2).
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu.
Xu discloses substantially all of the limitations of the present invention, and further discloses that the housing-side guide portion (38) comprises a columnar body (FIG. 2), wherein the operating body-side guide portion (37) comprises a cylindrical body, but does not disclose a cylindrical body comprising an insertion hole into which the housing-side guide portion is inserted. Xu instead discloses a housing-side guide portion (38) having a cylindrical body comprising an insertion hole into which the operating body-side guide portion (37) is inserted (FIG. 2).
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize an operating body-side guide portion cylindrical body comprising an insertion hole into which the housing-side guide portion is inserted to ensure depression stability since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Rochon (U.S. Pat. No. 7,196,280 B2) discloses a switch comprising a housing, operation body, and elastic body, but does not disclose the claimed guide portions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY R. JIMENEZ whose telephone number is 313-446-6518. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 1030am - 9pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Renee Luebke, can be reached at (571) 272-2009. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY R JIMENEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2833