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 § 103
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-AIA ) 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2020/0309177 to Hayashi et al. (Ref. 1 hereafter), in view of Japanese Pat. Publ. No. 04-127688 (description translation JPH04127688U provided by the applicant on March 2, 2026, i.e., Ref. 2 hereafter).
Referring to claim 1, Ref. 1 discloses a housing structure (Figs. 1-5) comprising:
a reference member (40);
a pin member (1) that is fixed to the reference member (40) and that extends in a predetermined direction (“Z”); and
a first positioning hole (71) that is provided for insertion of the pin member (1) in each of multiple first members (70, 80). Ref. 1 does not expressly disclose a second positioning hole that is provided for insertion of the pin member in a second member.
Ref. 2 however discloses a second positioning hole (7, Figs. 1 and 2) that is provided for insertion of a pin member (2, Fig. 1) in a second member (lower case 4, Fig. 1).
All of the component parts are known in the combined references. The only difference is the combination of the "old elements" into a single device. Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device of Ref. 1 to include a second positioning hole provided for insertion of the pin member in a second member (e.g., the lower-case housing 4), as taught by Ref. 2, in order to position multiple components at different levels of the housing structure. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. _, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Referring to claim 2, Ref. 1 in view of Ref. 2 disclose the housing structure of claim 1, wherein the pin member (1) is implicitly provided in each of multiple portions in the reference member (4), e.g., on the opposite side of the lower-case housing (4), and the first positioning hole (71) is provided in each of multiple portions in each of the multiple first members (70, 80).
Referring to claim 3, Ref. 1 in view of Ref. 2 disclose the housing structure of claim 1, wherein the pin member (1) includes stepped portions (20) that lock peripheries of the first positioning holes (71) and the second positioning hole (7). See Figs. 3B-5 of Ref. 1.
Referring to claim 4, Ref. 1 in view of Ref. 2 disclose the housing structure of claim 1, wherein the reference member (4) is arranged between the multiple first members (70, 80). See Fig. 5 of Ref. 1.
Referring to claim 5, Ref. 1 in view of Ref. 2 disclose the housing structure of claim 1, wherein the second positioning hole (7) is provided in a positioning piece (6) that is formed by bending a part of the second member (7). See Figs. 1 and 2 of Ref. 2.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY Q EDWARDS whose telephone number is (571)272-2042. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm.
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, Imani Hayman can be reached at 571-270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Anthony Q Edwards/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
July 10, 2026
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