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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species I in the reply filed on 2/4/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim 38 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claim 38 requires the first connecting part comprise two engagement protrusions which is not shown in elected species.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6, 10-11, 17-19, 21, 27-28, 33, 35-37, and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tucholke et al. US 9677581.
Regarding Claim 1, Tucholke et al. discloses a connecting device (1), comprising a first connecting part (2) which comprises has a first base body (20) and at least one engagement protrusion (21) arranged rigidly on the first base body (20), and
a second connecting part (3) which can be placed against the first connecting part (2) in a closing direction (X) and comprises a second base body (30) with an engagement section (307) arranged rigidly on the second base body (30), wherein the engagement section (307) is engageable along an engagement direction (E) different from the closing direction (X) with the at least one engagement protrusion (21) of the first connecting part (2), so that in a connected position of the first connecting part (2) and the second connecting part (3) the engagement section (307) is engaged with the at least one engagement protrusion (21) of the first connecting part (2),
wherein the first connecting part (2) comprises a first magnetic device (23) and the second connecting part (3) comprises a second magnetic device (33), wherein the first magnetic device (23) and the second magnetic device (33) cooperate in a magnetically attracting manner to support the attachment of the first connecting part (2) and the second connecting part (3) to one another along the closing direction (X),
wherein the first base body (20) comprise a positive-locking section (261) against which the second base body (30) abuts in the connected position of the first connecting part (2) and the second connecting part (3) in order to counteract tilting of the second connecting part (3) relative to the first connecting part (2),
wherein the second base body (30) in the connected position abuts against the first base body (20) in a first region (annotated Fig 6B) and does not abut against the first base body (20) in a second region (annotated Fig 6B) adjoining the first region (annotated Fig 6B) in the engagement direction (E), so that, viewed along the closing direction (X), a free space (annotated Fig 6B) is formed between the first base body (20) and the second base body (30), and a third region (annotated Fig 6B), which is adjacent to or spaced from the second region (annotated Fig 6B) in the engagement direction (E), is supported on the positive-locking section (261) (Fig 2A-7B).
PNG
media_image1.png
310
678
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding Claim 2, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein, in a loaded state, when loaded as intended, a load force acts on the second connecting part (3) relative to the first connecting part (2) at least with a directional vector component in the engagement direction (E) (Fig 2A-7B).
Regarding Claim 3, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the second base body (30) is configured to approach the first base body (20) with the second region (annotated Fig 6B) and/or the third region (annotated Fig 6B) in the closing direction (X) while reducing the free space when the first connecting part (2) and the second connecting part (3) are tilted relative to one another (Fig 4A-5B), and
the first base body comprises a plunge opening into which the third region of the second base body plunges when the second connecting part is tilted relative to the first connecting part in the closing direction.
Regarding Claim 6, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the positive-locking section is formed by a step on which the second base body rests in the connected position,
the positive-locking section is formed by a surface section directed perpendicularly or obliquely to the closing direction,
the positive-locking section, viewed along the closing direction, is spaced apart from the at least one engagement protrusion, and
the positive-locking section (261), viewed along the engagement direction, is spaced apart from the at least one engagement protrusion (21) (Fig 2A-7B).
Regarding Claim 10, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein the first base body (20) comprises a support section (24) rigidly formed on the first base body (20), wherein, in the connected position, the second base body (30) is supported on the support section (24) for receiving a load in the engagement direction (E).
Regarding Claim 11, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the support section is curved in an arcuate manner around the closing direction the support section, viewed along the closing direction, is spaced apart from the at least one engagement protrusion,
the support section, viewed along the engagement direction, is spaced apart from the at least one engagement protrusion (Fig 6A-7B), and
the support section is formed by a surface section which is directed parallel or obliquely to the closing direction.
Regarding Claim 17, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein the first connecting part (2) comprises a blocking section (210) which is arranged rigidly on the first base body (20) and is configured to interact with the second connecting part (3) in the connected position in order to block the engagement of the engagement section (307) with the at least one engagement protrusion (21) against the engagement direction (E), wherein the second connecting part (3) is tiltable relative to the first connecting part (2) in order to release the blocking against the engagement direction (E) in order to separate the first connecting part (2) and the second connecting part (3) from one another and to enable the engagement section (307) and the at least one engagement protrusion (21) to be disengaged (Fig 8A-8B).
Regarding Claim 18, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein the second connecting part (3) comprises a blocking element ( 304) arranged rigidly on the second base body (30) for cooperating with the blocking section (210) of the first connecting part (2) (Fig 6A-7B).
Regarding Claim 19, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the blocking element (303), in the connected position, is twistable about the closing direction (X) relative to the blocking section (236, 238) of the first connecting part (2), wherein, in the event of a twisting, the blocking of the engagement of the engagement section (341) with the at least one engagement protrusion (240, 241) is maintained,
the first base body comprises a recess which is delimited at least in sections by the blocking section (210), wherein the blocking element (304) is arranged in the recess in the connected position so that the engagement of the engagement section with the at least one engagement protrusion is blocked (Fig 6A-7B), and
the blocking section comprises a run-up slope, wherein the run-up slope is configured to provide a sliding guide for the blocking element against the engagement direction when the second connecting part is tilted relative to the first connecting part.
Regarding Claim 21, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the second connecting part (3) can be lifted off the first connecting part (2) for tilting relative to the first connecting part (2) on a side facing away from the at least one engagement protrusion (240, 241) in the opposite direction to the closing direction (X) (Fig 8A-8B), and
the second connecting part comprises an actuating section (302) which can be actuated by a user for tilting the second connecting part relative to the first connecting part (Fig 8A-8B).
Regarding Claim 27, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein the second base body (30) of the second connecting part (3) comprises a base section which forms the engagement section (307) or to which the engagement section (307) is spaced along the closing direction (X).
Regarding Claim 28, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the second base body comprises a pin element protruding from the base section along the closing direction, on which the engagement section is arranged and to which the engagement section protrudes along the engagement direction,
the base section protrudes radially beyond the engagement section with respect to the closing direction,
the base section is disc-shaped, and
the base section comprises an edge section (303A), wherein, in the connected position, the edge section of the base section is supported on the positive-locking section (261).
Regarding Claim 33, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein at least one of:
the base section (300) forms a base surface (302) and the first base body (20) forms a bottom surface (230), wherein the base surface (302) in the connected position faces the bottom surface (230) along the closing direction (X),and
for tilting the second connecting part relative to the first connecting part, the base section can be tilted about a tilting axis perpendicular to the closing direction and to the engagement direction relative to the first connecting part.
Regarding Claim 35, Tucholke et al. discloses wherein the at least one engagement protrusion (21) comprises a sliding slope (211) which extends obliquely with respect to the closing direction (X) and is configured to guide the second connecting part (3) along the closing direction (X) on the at least one engagement protrusion (21) when it is placed against the first connecting part (2) in such a way that the second connecting part (3) is displaced opposite to the engagement direction (E) with respect to the first connecting part (2) and thereby moved past the at least one engagement protrusion (21) and, after moving past in the engagement direction (E), the engagement section (307) can be brought into engagement with the at least one engagement protrusion (21) (Fig 3A-3B).
Regarding Claim 36, Tucholke et al. discloses a strap fastener (32), comprising a connecting device (1).
Regarding Claim 37, Tucholke et al. discloses the strap fastener comprising a strap (4) which is connected to the second connecting part (3).
Regarding Claim 40, Tucholke et et. discloses an object fastening device for fastening an object to an assembly, comprising a connecting device (1), wherein the object is arranged on one of the connecting parts (2, 3) and the other of the connecting parts (2, 3) is arranged on the assembly ( Col 1 lines 14-15, “a closure device for connecting two parts with each other”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 15 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tucholke et al. US 9677581 in view of Fujimoto US 4231137.
Regarding Claim 15, Tucholke et al. discloses the invention except wherein the second connecting part (3) is twistable about the closing direction (X) with respect to the first connecting part (2) in the connected position and the engagement of the engagement section (341) with the at least one engagement protrusion (240, 241) is maintained in the event of a twisting.
Fujimoto discloses wherein the second connecting part (Fujimoto, 11) is twistable about the closing direction (X) with respect to the first connecting part (Fujimoto, 21) in the connected position and the engagement of the engagement section (Fujimoto, 16) with the at least one engagement protrusion (Fujimoto, 26) is maintained in the event of a twisting (Fujimoto, Fig 2).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the connecting device of Tucholke et al. to be twistable about the closing direction as taught by Fujimoto to allow for the connection to allow the connection to be at different angles and fit the curvature of a wearer’s body (Col 3 line 60 – Col 4 line 2).
Regarding Claim 25, Tucholke et al. discloses the invention except wherein the engagement section extends circumferentially around the closing direction.
Fujimoto discloses wherein the engagement section (Fujimoto, 16) extends circumferentially around the closing direction (X).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the engagement section of Tucholke et al. to extend circumferentially about the closing direction as taught by Fujimoto to allow for the connection to allow the connection to be at different angles and fit the curvature of a wearer’s body (Col 3 line 60 – Col 4 line 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Greenberg US 9101185 discloses a magnetic connecting device. Fiedler et al US 10143270 discloses a magnetic closure device that is able to twist while remaining engaged.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA SALEM RASHID whose telephone number is (703)756-1113. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00 - 6:00.
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, Jason San can be reached at (571) 272-6531. 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.
/ANNA S RASHID/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/SPE, Art Unit 3677