/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847 DETAILED ACTION/TIMOTHY J THOMPSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2847
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Trojanowski (Pub. No. US 2017/0310096).
As to claim 1, Trojanowski discloses a decorative panel 20 for assembly on an outlet 12, the outlet comprising multiple body slots (fig. 1), the decorative panel comprising:
multiple reserved holes 26 (fig. 3), each reserved hole respectively corresponding to one of the body slots; and
a reinforcement structure 40a abutting the upper surface of the outlet;
wherein the surface of the decorative panel is seamless and flat (fig. 3).
As to claim 2, Trojanowski discloses that the four peripheries of the decorative panel each include a frame (fig. 2, see walls surrounding cover plate 20), said frames surrounding the outlet, and wherein the surface of the decorative panel is devoid of any division lines or locking points (fig. 3).
As to claim 3, Trojanowski discloses that the material of the decorative panel is selected from the group consisting of plastic, metal, glass, and ceramic (¶0089).
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) 4-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trojanowski (Pub. No. US 2017/0310096) in view of Combs (Pub. No. US 2010/0097781).
As to claim 4, Trojanowski discloses a decorative panel 20 for assembly on a switch unit (¶0007-0009), the decorative panel comprising: a hole, the hole corresponding to said switches (¶0012); wherein the surface of the decorative panel is seamless and flat (fig. 3).
Trojanowski does not explicitly disclose that the switch unit comprising multiple buttons, the decorative panel comprising: a button reserved hole, the button reserved hole corresponding to said buttons.
Combs discloses a switch unit (fig. 1) comprising multiple buttons (¶0011), a decorative panel 10 comprising: a button reserved hole 13, 15, the button reserved hole corresponding to said buttons (¶0011).
Trojanowski discloses a decorative cover for a receptacle box that can house on/off switches (¶0003). It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the switch unit of Trojanowski comprise multiple buttons and button reserved holes as similarly taught by Combs in order to provide a push button as on/off switches.
As to claim 5, Trojanowski discloses that the four peripheries of the decorative panel each include a frame (fig. 2, see walls surrounding cover plate 20), said frames surrounding the switch unit, and wherein the surface of the decorative panel is devoid of any division lines or locking points (fig. 3).
As to claim 6, Trojanowski discloses a reinforcement structure 40a abutting the upper surface of the switch unit.
As to claim 7, Trojanowski discloses that the material of the decorative panel is selected from the group consisting of plastic, metal, glass, and ceramic (¶0089).
Conclusion
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/AMOL H PATEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2847