DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1-3, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ota et al. (JP 2005289165 A).
Re claim 1, Ota et al. teaches a fluid pressure control device comprising: a pump (4); a motor (20) configured to drive the pump; a housing (100) having an outer surface, a first hole (132) that opens in a first surface of the outer surface which faces the motor, the first hole accommodating the pump (41, 28) and two second holes (113, 113) that open in the outer surface and are separated from the first hole, the two second holes being arranged at an interval in a first direction; and a current supply unit (10) allowing a current for driving the motor to flow and passing through the housing and a through hole (131) opened in the first surface and a second surface which is opposite to the first surface of the outer surface, wherein the through hole has a first part (23b) located between the two second holes. (Fig. 3-5)
Ota et al. do not teach wherein a width of the first part in the first direction is smaller than a width of the first part in a second direction along the second surface and orthogonal to the first direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide a first part wherein a width of the first part in the first direction is smaller than a width of the first part in a second direction along the second surface and orthogonal to the first direction as a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found to be an obvious change in shape. (MPEP 2144.04 IV. B.)
Re claim 2, Ota et al. as modified teaches wherein a distance between the two second holes (113, 113) is smaller than the width of the first part (23b) in the second direction.
Re claims 3 and 9, Ota et al. as modified does not teach wherein the current supply unit includes a plurality of conductors arranged in the second direction. Ota et al. is silent as to the number of conductors within part 23. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the number of connectors as necessary to provide sufficient communication between the motor and current supply unit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8, and 10-20 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Aoki et al. teaches a fluid pressure control device comprising: a pump; a motor configured to drive the pump; a housing having an outer surface, a first hole that opens in a first surface of the outer surface which faces the motor, the first hole accommodating the pump, and two second holes that open in the outer surface and are separated from the first hole, the two second holes being arranged at an interval in a first direction; and a current supply unit allowing a current for driving the motor to flow and passing through the housing and a through hole opened in the first surface and a second surface which is opposite to the first surface of the outer surface, wherein the through hole has a first part located between the two second holes.
Koyama et al. teaches a fluid pressure control device comprising: a pump; a motor configured to drive the pump; a housing having an outer surface, a first hole that opens in a first surface of the outer surface which faces the motor, the first hole accommodating the pump, and two second holes that open in the outer surface and are separated from the first hole, the two second holes being arranged at an interval in a first direction; and a through hole opened in the first surface and a second surface which is opposite to the first surface of the outer surface.
Tamai teaches a fluid pressure control device comprising: a pump; a motor configured to drive the pump; a housing having an outer surface, a first hole that opens in a first surface of the outer surface which faces the motor, the first hole accommodating the pump, a current supply unit allowing a current for driving the motor to flow and passing through the housing and a through hole opened in the first surface and a second surface which is opposite to the first surface of the outer surface.
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/MELANIE TORRES WILLIAMS/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
MTWAugust 6, 2026
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