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 § 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.
Claims 1 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sawatani et al. (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-026480A).
Regarding claim 1, in Figure 5(b), Sawatani discloses an assembly comprising: a first member (13); and a second member (16) attached to the first member, wherein a contact region (comprising 24, 17a, 21, 26) where the first member and the second member are in contact with each other includes a first contact region (21, 24), and the first contact region is inclined with respect to a reference surface perpendicular to a direction in which the first member and the second member face each other (Figure 5(b)).
Regarding claim 2, Sawatani discloses wherein the contact region includes the first contact region and a second contact region, the second contact region is adjacent to the first contact region, and is located closer to a tip end than the first contact region, and the second contact region is parallel to the reference surface, or is inclined at an angle different from that of the first contact region with respect to the reference surface (Figure 5(b)).
Regarding claim 3, Sawatani discloses wherein a width of the second contact region is smaller than a width of the first contact region (Figure 5(b)).
Regarding claim 4, Sawatani discloses wherein an inclination angle of the first contact region with respect to the reference surface is larger than an inclination angle of the second contact region with respect to the reference surface (Figure 5(b)).
Regarding claim 5, Sawatani discloses wherein one of the first member and the second member is a cover, the other of the first member and the second member is a holding portion, the cover includes one of a hooking portion and a hooked portion hooked to the hooking portion, and the holding portion includes the other of the hooking portion and the hooked portion (Figure 5(b)).
Conclusion
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TREMESHA W. BURNS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
/TREMESHA W BURNS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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