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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 9/10/26 have been fully considered and are persuasive only with regard to the drawing objections and the 112(b) rejection set forth in the prior action
Applicant's arguments filed 9/10/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive except as explicitly noted above. Applicant’s arguments are narrower than the claim requires and fail to account for the reference being a three dimensional apparatus. Applicant’s argument is essentially that the reference fails to meet the amended language, but that position is incorrect. The reference meets the language at issue. See the rejection below for details. It is noted that the body part comprises an opening communicating with the entering part in a lateral direction at least because it does so in both the lateral and longitudinal directions. It is further noted that lateral and longitudinal are merely matters of orientation and perspective as applicant has provided no reference points, planes, elements, axes, or structure which require the orientation or perspective to be set in any particular way. Instead, applicant only broadly recites “a lateral direction” and “a longitudinal direction.” The same applies to the remainder of the amended language / the remainder of the language at issue in applicant’s argument on numbered page 11 of 13 of the remarks. The arguments are therefore not persuasive.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US PG Pub No. 20210010499 A1 and hereinafter “499”).
Re Claim 1
499 discloses:
A fastening structure (see all figures), comprising:
a body part (2), provided with an entering part (e.g. opening area near 23 in figure 2), wherein the body part comprises an opening communicating with the entering part in a lateral direction (see all figs, but see in particular figs. 4-5, note that the apparatus is a three dimensional structure and therefore the opening communicates with the entering part in both longitudinal and lateral directions); and
a fastening part (12), arranged at the body part (see figs. 1-3) in a longitudinal direction (again, note that the apparatus is a three dimensional structure and therefore it is arranged in both longitudinal and lateral directions; see figs. 1-3), wherein the fastening part is used to fasten a fastened object that enters the entering part in the lateral direction through the opening (see all figs and in particular see figs. 4-5, see abstract; further note that this is just a matter of perspective and/or orientation and is therefore met).
Re Claim 2
499 discloses:
wherein the body part is provided with an assembling part (immediately below 23, see fig. 2, and/or 21), the assembling part is used to connect to an object by riveting, fastening (see all figs, see abstract), locking, welding or expanding, or the assembling part is provided with a pressure applying part and a material entering part, so as to apply pressure on the pressure applying part by external force, so that the material of the object enters the material entering part.
Re Claim 3
499 discloses:
wherein the body part is provided with an anti-rotation part (22), or the anti-rotation part carries out anti-rotation, orientation, limiting direction, limiting position or limiting an entering position of the fastened object with the object.
Re Claim 4
499 discloses:
wherein the entering part is provided with at least one setting part (23 and/or the side wall on the right side and above reference numeral 21 in the figure 2 depiction), and the setting part is placed on the fastened object (see all figs; see abstract).
Re Claim 5
499 discloses:
wherein the horizontal direction or the vertical direction of the entering part is provided with at least one setting part (back wall near reference numeral 2 in fig. 2), and the setting part is a step part (fig. 2), a plane (fig. 2), an engaging part (fig. 2; note that the claim does not require any actual engagement with any element), a platform part (fig. 2) or a threaded part.
Re Claim 6
499 discloses:
wherein an elastic component is further included (3), and two ends of the elastic component respectively abut against the body part and the fastening part (figs. 4-5).
Re Claim 7
499 discloses:
wherein the fastening part is provided with a head (121), the head is movably combined with the fastening part (figs. 2, 4-5), and a fastening height and an unfastening height are provided between the head and the body part, so that the head drives the fastening part for fastening or unfastening (figs. 4-5).
Re Claim 8
499 discloses:
wherein the fastening part is a cylinder body (figs. 2 and 4-5), rod body (figs. 2 and 4-5), threaded body (fig. 9), outer fastening body (figs. 4-5), inner fastening body (figs. 4-5) or elastic fastening body.
Re Claim 9
499 discloses:
wherein the fastening part is provided with a head and a lateral motion component, the lateral motion component is provided with a sliding part, the lateral motion component moves laterally and drives the head with the sliding part, so that the head links the fastening part for fastening or unfastening (regarding all of the above see figures 6-8 or figures 9-10, each of which contain the features as described above; see rejections above for corresponding element mapping as to each of the embodiments).
Re Claim 11
499 discloses:
characterized in that the fastened object is provided with a fastened part (figs. 4-5), the fastening part is fastened into the fastened part (figs. 4-5).
Re Claim 12
499 discloses:
wherein the fastened object is provided with a fastened part (figs. 4-5), the fastened part is a horizontally closed structure (figs. 4-5; it is noted that the horizontal closure is in several directions and no particular direction is required by the claim).
Re Claim 14
499 discloses:
A fastening method of a fastening structure,
using the fastening structure according to claim 1 for fastening (see claim 1 rejection above), wherein the fastened object laterally enters the entering part of the body part in the lateral direction through the opening (see all figs, in particular figs. 2 and 4-5), so as to fasten the fastening part into a fastened part of the fastened object, so that the fastened object is limited to the body part, or the fastened object is horizontally and vertically limited with the entering part and the fastening part (see figs. 2 and 4-5).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID E SOSNOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-7944. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM and 9 PM through 11:59 PM Monday through Friday, generally.
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, Justin Mikowski can be reached at (571)272-8525. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID E. SOSNOWSKI/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 3673
/David E Sosnowski/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3673
