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.
Claims 1-2 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Tsai (US 2004/0092159).
Regarding claim 1, Tsai discloses a connector, comprising:
a base (40) having an inner wall defining a passage;
at least one terminal (60) disposed in the passage; and
[AltContent: textbox (passage)]at least one insulating piece (42) disposed in the passage and at least partially located between the terminal and the inner wall, and a front end of the insulating piece exceeding a front end of the terminal.
[AltContent: textbox (Insulating Front end)][AltContent: textbox (inner wall)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
[AltContent: ][AltContent: textbox (Front end surface)][AltContent: textbox (terminal front end)][AltContent: arrow]
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Tsai substantially disclosed the claimed invention except the connector is for high current connector.
The recitation that “high current” has not been given patentable weight because it has been held that a preamble is denied the effect of a limitation where the claim is drawn to a structure and the portion of the claim following the preamble is a self-contained description of the structure not depending for completeness upon the introductory clause. Kropa v. Robie, 88 USPQ 478 (CCPA 1951).
It has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitation. Ex Parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987).
Regarding claim 2, Tsai discloses the insulating piece covers at least a portion of the inner wall located between the terminal and a front opening of the passage.
Regarding claim 12, Tsai discloses a front end surface of the insulating piece faces to and is entirely exposed from a front opening of the passage, and the front end surface of the insulating piece is free from blockage by the base.
Regarding claim 13, Tsai discloses a front end surface of the insulating piece aligns with a front end surface of the base defining a front opening of the passage.
Regarding claim 14, Tsai discloses the claimed invention except the size of the width of the terminal is larger than a thickness of the terminal (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 15, this claim is rejected for the same rationale as the rejected claims 1 and 12.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRUC T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2011. The examiner can normally be reached monday-friday (7-4).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M. Koehler can be reached at 5712723560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRUC T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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