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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ju (US 20180014429 A1) in view of Kelaher et al. (US 7484991 B1).
In regard to claims 1-5, Ju discloses socket 4 of a plug-and-socket-connection 100 into which socket a connector plug 5 can be inserted in a direction of insertion, the socket 4 being connected to at least one cooling element 62 and having a cavity 41 delimited by an opening (adjacent 51 in fig. 6) and lateral walls (around 41) and in which the connector plug 5 rests when the plug-and-socket-connection 100 is mounted, wherein the cooling element 62 receives a clamp 63 that produces contact with the connector plug 5 when the plug-and-socket-connection is mounted, wherein the clamp 63 rests within a recess (see fig. 6) of the cooling element 62.
However, Ju does not disclose the claim 63 is a wedge clamp, wherein the wedge clamp has a sliding wedge and a pressing wedge, which abut against each other on correspondingly formed wedge surfaces, wherein the sliding wedge has a sliding surface opposite the wedge surface, which is formed at least in sections as a contact surface to the cooling element, wherein the pressing wedge has a contact surface opposite the wedge surface, which is formed at least in sections as a contact surface for the connector plug, wherein the wedge clamp rests within a recess of the cooling element, wherein the sliding wedge is mounted parallel to the direction of insertion and the pressing wedge is mounted orthogonally to the direction of insertion so as to be slidable within the recess of the cooling element, so that the wedge clamp-can be brought from a position clamping the connector plug into a position releasing the connector plug by a sliding movement of the sliding wedge.
Kelaher et al. discloses a wedge clamp (figures 1-5), wherein the wedge clamp has a sliding wedge 3 and a pressing wedge 7, which abut against each other on correspondingly formed wedge surfaces 3b, 8, wherein the sliding wedge 3 has a sliding surface 3a opposite the wedge surface 3b, which is formed at least in sections as a contact surface to the element 6, wherein the pressing wedge 7 has a contact surface opposite the wedge surface 8, which is formed at least in sections as a contact surface 9 for the connector plug 2, wherein the sliding wedge 3 is mounted parallel to the direction of insertion and the pressing wedge 7 is mounted orthogonally to the direction of insertion so as to be slidable within the recess of the element 6, so that the wedge clamp-can be brought from a position clamping the connector plug 2 into a position releasing the connector plug 2 by a sliding movement of the sliding wedge 3.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the invention of Ju by constructing the wedge clamp as disclosed by Kelaher et al. in order to help with fast, secure fastening and keeping the cooling element 62 and the connector plug 5 steady.
In regard to claim 9, Ju discloses the socket 4 is mounted on a circuit board 2 which carries an interface for data transmission.
In regard to claim 10, Ju discloses the cooling element 62 and the clamp 63 are made of a thermally conductive material.
However, Ju does not disclose that the cooling element 62 and the clamp 63 are made of aluminum.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the invention of Ju by constructing the cooling element 62 and the clamp 63 of an aluminum material which is highly resistant to degradation since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious engineering choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form.
Conclusion
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Tdt
7/11/2026
/THO D TA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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