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 and 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blickenstorfer (US 2010/0071203 A1).
Re Claim 1, Blickenstorfer discloses a terminal reel unit 7 comprising: a reel holding portion 7A configured to detachably hold a terminal reel 44 around which a strip-shaped terminal chain body 12 in which a plurality of terminals 5 is connected to each other is wound (Par. 0100, Figs. 1 and 2); a crimping portion 2 which is disposed at a position in a front side with respect to the terminal reel 44 in a pull-out direction of the terminal chain body 12 from the terminal reel 44 when the terminal reel 44 is held by the reel holding portion 7A (See figures 1-3), the crimping portion 2 forming at least a part of a crimping machine 1 configured to crimp the terminal 5 of the terminal chain body 12 having been pulled out from the terminal reel 44, to an electric wire and to separate the terminal 5 from the terminal chain body 12; and a unit frame 8, 11, 34 being a frame set detachably with respect to a device 13 configured to supply the terminal 5 to the crimping machine 1, and to which the reel holding portion 7A and the crimping portion 2 are attached (Pars. 0078-0107, Figs. 1-7).
Re Claim 3, Blickenstorfer discloses the unit frame 8, 11, 34 is provided with a guide path 8, 11 configured to guide the terminal chain body 12 having been pulled out from the terminal reel 44, from the terminal reel 44 held by the reel holding portion 7A to the crimping portion 2 (Pars. 0078-0080, and Figs. 1-3).
Re Claim 4, Blickenstorfer discloses an electric wire processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of the terminal reel units 10 according to claim 1; a supply mechanism 27 in which the plurality of terminal reel units 10 is detachably set, the plurality of terminal reel units 10 having respective one of the terminal reels 44 of different types, each of the terminal reels 44 having a terminal type different from others, the supply mechanism 27 being configured to move, when a target terminal reel 44 is selected out of the plurality of types of terminal reels 44, one terminal reel unit 10 holding the target terminal reel 44 among the plurality of terminal reel units to a crimping machine setting position where the crimping portion 2 is set in the crimping machine 1; and an apparatus body configured to cut out a segment electric wire or to manufacture a terminal- equipped electric wire by crimping the terminal 5 in the terminal chain body 12 pulled out from the target terminal reel 44 held by the one terminal reel unit 10, to at least one end of the segment electric wire using the crimping machine 1 (Pars. 0003-0040, 0077-0080 and 0155-0162, Figs. 1-4 and 18).
Re Claim 5, Blickenstorfer discloses in a state where the plurality of terminal reel units 10 is arranged adjacently along an arrangement direction intersecting the pull-out direction of the terminal chain body 12, the crimping portion 2 is set at a position away from the crimping machine setting position in the pull-out direction, and when the target terminal reel 44 is selected, the supply mechanism 27 first slides the plurality of terminal reel units 10 in the arrangement direction until the crimping portion 2 for the one terminal reel unit 10 is aligned with the crimping machine setting position in the pull-out direction, and then pushes the one terminal reel unit 10 in the pull-out direction until the crimping portion 2 reaches the crimping machine setting position (Pars. 0003-0040, 0077-0080 and 0155-0162, Figs. 1-4 and 18).
Claim Objections
Claims 2 and 6-9 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 27, 2026 with regards to claims 1 and 3-5 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues Blickenstorfer does not anticipate the claimed invention.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As may be noted from the 35 USC § 102 rejection of the instant office action, Blickenstorfer discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 of the instant application.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/BAYAN SALONE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
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