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
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 11316310 B2).
In regard to claim 1, Wu et al. discloses an improved structure of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector 100, comprising:
a middle partition 2, comprising a base part 202 and a tongue part 204 extending from the base part 202;
an upper row of terminals 411 disposed above the base part 202, wherein the upper row of terminals 411 have a first contact part (the opposite ends of 415) having a first width W1 (see annotated drawing below) and extending to the tongue part 204; and
a lower row of terminals 421 disposed under the base part 202, wherein the lower row of terminals 421 have a second contact part (the opposite ends of 425) having a second width W2 (see annotated drawing below) and extending to the tongue part 204,
wherein the tongue part 204 has a third width W3 (see annotated drawing below), and the first width W1, second width W2 and third width W3 have the same distance (see fig. 5, 6).
In regard to claim 3, Wu et al. discloses the first contact part of the upper row of terminals 411 comprises a first contact end (see annotated drawing below) and a second contact end (see annotated drawing below), a position of the first contact end and a position of the second contact end are opposite in a left direction and a right direction of the first contact part, and the first width W1 of the first contact part is a distance between the first contact end and the second contact end.
In regard to claim 4, Wu et al. discloses the second contact part of the lower row of terminals 421 comprises a third contact end (see annotated drawing below) and a fourth contact end (see annotated drawing below), a position of the third contact end and a position of the fourth contact end are opposite in a left direction and a right direction of the second contact part, and the second width W2 of the second contact part is a distance between the third contact end and the fourth contact end.
In regard to claim 5, Wu et al. discloses the third width W3 of the tongue part 204 is a distance between two sides of the tongue part 204.
[AltContent: textbox (contact end)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (contact end)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (W2)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (W1)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (W3)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector][AltContent: connector]
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 6-10 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form.
Conclusion
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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 (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Tdt
8/4/2026
/THO D TA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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