DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This is a final office action in response to a communication filed on August 4, 2026. Claims 4-5 and 8-9 are pending in the application.
Drawings
The drawings were received on August 4, 2026. These drawings are Fig. 3-4 and entered.
Specification
The substitute specification filed on August 4, 2026 has been entered.
Status of Objections and Rejections
All objections and rejections from the previous office action are withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
New grounds of rejection are necessitated by the amendments.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 4 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites “a thickness of the contact part is smaller than a thickness of another part of each of the support portions” in last two lines. It is unclear to which portion of the contact part Applicant refers or which portion is the recited another part.
Subsequent dependent claims 8-9 are rejected due to their dependencies on rejected base claim 4.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered. Examiner notes the following indefiniteness of the claim compared to the disclosure of the specification.
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The specification discloses a contact part (substituted Fig. 3-4: 74; substituted specification ¶33: the support portion 74) including a tapered portion (substituted Fig. 4: 74s; substituted specification ¶33: the end portion 74s) and an end edge (substituted Fig. 4: 74e; substituted specification ¶33: the end edge 74e). Further, the specification discloses t1 is smaller than t2 (substituted specification ¶34). The thickness t1 is the thickness of the end edge 74e (substituted Fig. 4), and the thickness t2 is the thickness of the reference part (substituted Fig. 3).
Thus, Examiner suggests incorporating claim 9 into claim 4 to specify two different portions 74s and 74e, and amending claim 4 by incorporating “wherein the metal holder has a reference part” and rewrite the last limitation into “a thickness of the end edge is smaller than a thickness of the reference part.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 CAITLYN M SUN whose telephone number is (571)272-6788. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30am - 5:30pm.
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/C. SUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
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