DETAILED ACTION
The response filed on April 15, 2026 is being acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A and Species 1 encomssing claims 6-7 and 9-10 in the reply filed on April 15, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 7-9 are further withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected subject matter (note that subject matter discloses in claims 7-9 are non-elected subject matter of species 2 (figure 7) and species 3 (figure 8)).
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AlA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.103 as being unpatentable over Kotaro et al. (US20180019041, herein referred to as Kotaro) or Hagi et al. (US20180248345, herein referred to as Hagi), and further in view of Noriyuki et al. (JP2019208325, herein referred to as Noriyuki).
Rejection of claim 6, Kotaro (figure 3) or Hagi (figure 1) discloses a wire harness comprising:
a cable including a plurality of insulated electrical wires and an outer sheath (a cable including insulated wires 12 and 13 and sheath 5 in figure 1 of Kotaro; or a cable including insulated electric wires 10 and sheath 11 in figure 1 of Hagi);
a cover member of an integrated type made of resin molded member (40 in Kotaro; or 16 in Hagi ); and
a fixing member that fixes the cover member to the cable (a fixing member 8 fixes the cover member to the cable in Kotaro; or a fixing member 22 fixes the cover member to the cable in Hagi),
wherein the cable includes a covered portion in which the plurality of insulated electrical wires are covered with the outer sheath (see the figure 3 wherein the cable includes a covered portion in which the plurality of insulated electrical wires 12-13 are covered with the outer sheath 5 in Kotaro; or see the figure 1 wherein the cable includes a covered portion from in which the plurality of insulated electrical wires 10 are covered with the outer sheath 11 in Kotaro ) , and
an exposed portion in which the plurality of insulated electrical wires are not covered with the outer sheath (see the figure 3 wherein an exposed portion in which the plurality of insulated electrical wires 12-13 are not covered with the outer sheath 5 In Kotaro; or see the figure 1 wherein an exposed portion in which the plurality of insulated electrical wires 10 are not covered with the outer sheath 11 in Hagi ), the cover member includes a first tubular portion into which a part of the covered portion on a side of the exposed portion is inserted (see first tubular portion at area A in figure 3 of Kotaro; see a first tubular portion 17 in figure 1 of Hagi), and
two or more second tubular portions branching and extending from an end part of the first tubular portion on the side of the exposed portion (see the plurality of guiding out portions 42 and 43 of Kotaro; or the plurality of guiding out portions 18 of Hagi) ,
two or more of the plurality of insulated electrical wires present in the exposed portion are inserted into the two or more second tubular portions, respectively (see figure 3 of Kotaro; or see figure 1 of Hagi ),
an inner peripheral surface of the first tubular portion is in contact with an outer peripheral surface of the covered portion inserted into the first tubular portion (see figure 3 of Kotaro; see at 17 in figure 1 of Hagi) , and
Kotaro or Hagi fails to disclose the fixing member is a shrink tube covering a specific part straddling the first tubular portion and the covered portion not inserted into the first tubular portion.
Noriyuki discloses the fixing member is a shrink tube covering a specific part straddling the first tubular portion and the covered portion not inserted into the first tubular portion (see figure 5 wherein The fixing heat-shrinkable tube 7 covers a part of the branch portion outer 5 (the end on the extending side of the sheath 33) and the periphery of the sheath 33 extending from the tube 6.).
It would have been obvious to ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the wire harness of Kotaro or Hagi have arrangement of fixing portion as heat shrinkable tube as taught by Noriyuki doing so it increase covering area between so that keeps them together with a firm hold of or grasp tightly as well as It ensure waterproofness at the end of tubular portion.
Rejection of claim 10, Kotaro or Hagi in view of Noriyuki disclose the wire harness according to claim 6, wherein gaps are provided between inner peripheral surfaces of the two or more second tubular portions and the two or more of the plurality of insulated electrical wires inserted into the two or more second tubular portions, respectively (see figure 3 of Kotaro; or See figure 1 of Hagi).
Pertinent Prior Arts
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the enclosed PTO-892 form for the citation of pertinent art in the present case, all of which disclose various protection members.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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.
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.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PARESH PAGHADAL whose telephone number is (571)272-5251. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00AM-4:00PM, Monday - Thursday.
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, Timothy Thompson can be reached on (571)272-2342. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PARESH PAGHADAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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