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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/10/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-Final Rejection on 1/15/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 and 8-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cong (CN210223851).
All citations from a human-assisted machine language translation are provided herewith.
Regarding claim 1, Cong teaches a endoscope button mounting structure, comprising: a circuit board support (Claim 1 recites an operating unit switch button mounting structure, paragraph [0004] mentions control circuit push-button switches on operating parts as common in the art) having a mounting surface (mounting surface is switch baffle 4 as shown in Figs. 5-6) and a mounting side surface (top and lateral side surfaces in which fastening hole 401 penetrates as seen in Figs. 5-6), the mounting surface being provided with a circuit board mounting part (switch contact 5 is mounted on a surface, see Figs. 5-6), and the mounting side surface being provided with a first engaging structure (positioning protrusion 403, see Figs. 4-6); a button support comprising an elastic portion (compression/press cap 301, paragraph [0038]) and a mounting portion (sealing ring 304 adheres to the inner wall of button hole 201, paragraph [0039], see Figs. 2-4) that are connected to each other, the elastic portion being arranged corresponding to the circuit board mounting part (press cap 301, sealing ring 304, and button hole 201 makes switch button 3 which operates switch contact 5, see Fig. 2-4), the mounting portion being provided with a second engaging structure (positioning groove 203, paragraph [0042], see Fig. 2) and the first engaging structure being engaged with the second engaging structure to maintain a distance between the elastic portion and the circuit board mounting part (positioning protrusion 403 cooperates with positioning groove 203 for installation, paragraph [0046], see Fig. 4); and a button body (press cap 301, paragraph [0038], see Figs. 1, 3, and 4) arranged on the elastic portion, and the button body being configured to drive the elastic portion to generate elastic deformation relative to the mounting portion in a direction approaching the circuit board mounting part under the action of an external force (elastic press cap 301 pushes trigger pin 303 to engage with switch contact 5 and the circuit board, see Fig. 3-4). The Examiner notes that although the claimed invention specifies that the button is located on an elastic portion rather than the button being made of elastic itself as disclosed in Cong, both inventions make use of elastic deformation using force to drive a signal to the electrical components of each respective invention.
Regarding claim 8, Cong teaches an endoscope button mounting structure wherein a contact is provided on a surface of the elastic portion facing the circuit board mounting part; or a contact is provided on a surface of the button body facing the circuit board mounting part (elastic press cap 301 pushes trigger pin 303 to engage with switch contact 5 and the circuit board, see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 9, Cong teaches an endoscope button mounting structure, wherein the mounting portion and the elastic portion are integrally formed (sealing ring on the surface of pressing cap 301 is tightly adhered to the inner wall of button hole 201 to form a sealing structure, paragraph [0039], see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 10, Cong teaches an endoscope button mounting structure, wherein the elastic portion and the button body are integrally formed (compression cap/pressing cap 301, see Fig 3). The Examiner notes that the compression cap 301 recited by Cong is noted to have a certain degree of elasticity and is therefore an intrinsic property of the button cap.
Regarding claim 11, Cong teaches the endoscope button mounting structure, wherein the button body is provided with a lightening cavity (cavity shown between trigger pin and outer surface, see Fig 3).
Regarding claim 12, Cong teaches the endoscope button mounting structure, wherein the mounting side surface is provided with a mounting hole; a connecting member extends through the mounting hole to cause the circuit board support to be connected to an endoscope housing (mounting holes 202 and fastening holes 401 to fix fasteners together such by bolts or rivets, paragraph [0042], see Figs. 4-6).
Regarding claim 13, Cong teaches an endoscope button mounting structure, wherein a plurality of first engaging structures are provided (multiple protrusions 403, see Fig. 5-6); the plurality of first engaging structures being spaced apart in an extending direction of the circuit board mounting part (multiple protrusions 403, see Fig. 5-6); a plurality of button supports are provided (attachment of three buttons with similar structures to 203, see Fig. 7); the first engaging structures and the second engaging structures of the button supports are in snap fit with each other in one-to-one correspondence (each positioning protrusion 403 is used to cooperate with each positioning groove 203 for installation, paragraph [0046], see Fig. 2-6); and a plurality of button bodies are provided (see Fig. 1); the button bodies are arranged on the elastic portions of the button supports in one-to-one correspondence (multiple mounting surfaces for switch contact 5, see Figs. 5-6).
Regarding claim 14, Cong teaches an endoscope, comprising: a circuit board (Claim 1 recites an operating unit switch button mounting structure, paragraph [0004] mentions control circuit push-button switches on operating parts as common in the art); and the endoscope button mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the circuit board are arranged at the circuit board mounting part (switch contact 5, paragraphs [0031]-[0033], see Figs. 4-6).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cong (CN210223851) in view of Geva et al. (US 20110040170).
Regarding claim 2, Cong discloses the claimed invention substantially as stated above wherein the first engaging structure is a protrusion and the second engaging structure is a groove, and thus fails to disclose the opposite engaging arrangement, wherein the first engaging structure is a groove and the second engaging structure is a protrusion. However, the reversal of components in a prior art reference, where there is no disclosed significance to such reversal, is a design consideration within the skill in the art. In re Gazda, 219 F.2d 449, 104 USPQ 400 (CCPA 1955); In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950). Geva is just one of numerous references that teach the alternative equivalence of a protrusion/groove and groove/protusion arrangement (see Figs.2D,2E, [0060] wherein the groove 44 and protrusion 45 can be on either of the connected elements 42/43). It would therefore be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the mechanical arts before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the first engaging structure in Cong as a groove and the second engaging structure as a protrusion since there would be no significance to such reversal of engaging features and they would still provide the predictable result of connecting the mounting side surface and the mounting portion together. One having ordinary skill in the art would do this knowing there would be a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 3, Cong as modified by Geva as set forth above with respect to claim 2, provides the first engaging structure as a groove, such as groove 203 of Fig.2 of Cong. The opposite side walls of such groove 203 constitute “first and second bosses spaced apart to form the groove”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 4-7 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 PETER NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-0127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30am - 5:00pm.
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, Anhtuan Nguyen can be reached at (571) 272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PN/
Peter Nguyen, Art Unit 3795
/JOHN P LEUBECKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3795