DETAILED ACTION
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Status of Claims
The status of the claims as amended/presented in the response received 11/17/2025, is as follows:
- Claims 1-6 are pending.
- Claim 5 has been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 11/17/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the US Patent US 7,315,176 by Nelson et al., (Nelson hereafter) and the US Patent US 7,682,206 by Kainz (Kainz hereafter).
Accordingly, this Office Action is made Non-Final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 7 recites the limitation "at least one coil part". Line 8 recites “through the coil part”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purpose of examination, the examiner considers line 8 as reciting: “through the at least one coil part”.
Claims 2-6 are also rejected as they inherit the deficiencies in claim 1 noted above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the US Patent US 7,315,176 by Nelson et al., (Nelson hereafter) in view of the US Patent US 7,682,206 by Kainz (Kainz hereafter).
Regarding claim 1, Nelson teaches in Figures 8A-8D, a probe for grounding to be inserted through a through-hole, the through-hole being formed in a housing (812) and defined by a metal inner circumferential wall (wall of metal housing 812, which is electrically conductive as mentioned in col. 6, lines 4-8), the probe comprising:
a probe body (820+830) including a cylindrical barrel (826+822) extending in a direction of a first axis (the barrel extends outwards in the horizontal direction from its center towards its outer circumferential perimeter) and a plunger (824) integrally coupled to the barrel; and
a spring member (830b, also identified as portion 836+832+834+836 in figure 8A) through which the barrel is inserted, wherein the spring member includes at least one coil part (portion 836 of spring 830) wound about a second axis (axis 838c), the barrel being inserted through the at least one coil part in a direction of the second axis (barrel 826+822 is inserted in a direction of the second axis 838c), and includes at least one protruding part (portion 834) formed continuously to the coil part and protruding outward from an outer circumferential face of the coil part (834 protrudes from the circumference of portion 836 between distance d12 and d10) to be in elastic contact with the inner circumferential wall (as illustrated in Figure 8D, the protruding part is in contact with the inner wall of 812), and wherein the coil part is configured to press the probe body against the inner circumferential wall by elasticity of the protruding part (the probe body is pressed against the inner surface of the wall at least around region 812b by the elastic action of the coil part).
Nelson substantially teaches all of the elements disclosed above, except for explicitly mentioning that the plunger (824) is accommodated in the barrel (Nelson shows the plunger 824 is integrally connected to the barrel 826+822).
Kainz teaches in Figure 2 a pressure contact comprising a probe body (20+16+18) comprising a barrel (18+16), a spring member (42) through which the barrel is inserted, and a plunger (20) accommodated in the barrel.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the invention was effectively filed, to apply the teaching of plungers accommodated inside spring loaded barrels as taught by Kainz, and assemble the plunger (824) so that it may be accommodated inside a cavity to be formed in the barrel (826+822) in the device of Nelson, in order to allow the use of a material in the plunger that has greater durability and/or desired characteristics without incurring the cost of using said material for the entire arrangement of barrel and plunger.
As to claim 2, Nelson shows in Figure 8c, the spring member (830) includes two coil parts (parts “A” and “C” shown in annotated Figure 8B below) adjacent to each other in the direction of the second axis (838c), and wherein the protruding part (portion of “B” protruding from the circumference of 836 by distance d12 to d10) is provided between one of the coil parts and another one of the coil parts adjacent to the one of the coil parts.
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As to claim 3, Nelson shows in Figure 8B (also annotated Figure 8B above), wherein protruding parts (portions 832 and 834) are provided at both ends (first end defined by upper 834+836 and second end defined by lower 832+836) in the direction of the second axis.
As to claim 5, Nelson in view of Kainz shows in Figures 8A-8D, a socket for inspection comprising:
a housing (812) in which a through-hole defined by a metal inner circumferential wall (inner circumferential wall of housing 812) is formed along a direction of a third axis (832c); and the probe according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above) inserted through the through-hole along the direction of the third axis (in the manner illustrated in assembled unit shown in Figure 8D), wherein the coil part (portion 836) is configured to press the probe body against the inner circumferential wall by elasticity of the protruding part (at least portion 820 is pressed against the inner circumferential wall around region 812b by virtue of the elasticity of the spring member, which includes the protruding part).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 6 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 4, the prior art of record doesn’t teach alone or in combination the probe according to claim 3, wherein tips of the protruding parts intersect each other when viewed in the direction of the second axis, in combination with all other elements recited in the claim and claims it depends from.
Regarding claim 6, the prior art of record doesn’t teach alone or in combination a socket for inspection wherein the barrel includes a flange protruding from an outer circumferential face, wherein the through-hole includes a small diameter part having a diameter larger than a portion of the barrel except for the flange and smaller than the flange and a large diameter part having a diameter larger than the flange and being continuous to the small diameter part along the direction of the third axis, wherein the flange is accommodated in the large diameter part of the through-hole, and wherein the spring member is accommodated in the large diameter part between the flange and the small diameter part, in combination with all other elements recited in the claim and claims it depends from.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
- The US Patent US 10,161,963 by Zhang et al., directed to elastic probes. See figure below:
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- The US Patent US 6,696,850 by Sanders et al., directed to spring loaded contact probes. See figure below:
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- The US Patent US 5,225,773 by Richards et al., directed to spring loaded contact probes. See figure below:
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Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office aAny inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Richard Isla whose telephone number is (571)272-5056. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9a -5:30p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at 571 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD ISLA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858 January 21, 2026