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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 27 May 2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3 and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lenogue et al. (FR 2945221) in view of Monahan (US 2020/0406072).
Regarding claim 1, Lenogue et al. discloses an apparatus comprising:
a first buckle part (13) having a first body and a ring body (7A), wherein the ring body is pivotally connected to the first body and is rotatable around a rod body (Fig. 4 shows wherein the ring rotates about its base);
a second buckle part (10) for releasably connecting to the first buckle part and having a second body;
a connecting section (11) extending along an insertion direction; and
a receiving section (between latches 14) for accommodating the connecting section;
wherein the receiving section is disposed on either the first body or the second body, and the connecting section is disposed on the other of the second body and the first body (Fig. 5 as shown); an angle between the rod body of the first buckle part and the insertion direction is less than or equal to 30 degrees (Figs. 4-7 as shown),
wherein the first body has a first periphery (21) and a connecting periphery (body of 13) that are adjacent to each other; the rod body passes through an axial hole of the first body located near the first periphery and two free ends of the ring body; the connecting section is disposed on the connecting periphery of the first body, and the receiving section is disposed on the receiving periphery of the second body (Figs. 5 and 7 as shown); and
wherein two virtual extension lines are provided; the two virtual extension lines respectively extend from two ends of a junction between the connecting section and the connecting periphery and extend toward the first body along the insertion direction; a corresponding region is formed on the first body and is located between the two virtual extension lines; and when viewed along a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, a projection of the rod body does not overlap the corresponding region (the extension lines would lie in the plane and view shown in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 7, the rod body lies outside of the plane of the connection section and therefore the extension lines. The lines A shown in Fig. 6 represent a vertical viewing direction perpendicular to the insertion direction. Lines A do not overlap the corresponding region.).
Lenogue et al. fails to disclose wherein the rod body has a body section and two head sections connected to two ends of the body section; an outer diameter of each of the two head sections is greater than an outer diameter of the body section; the body section passes through the axial hole of the first body and two through holes at two free ends of the ring body; a surface of each of the two head sections close to the body section abuts against an outer surface of each of the two free ends of the ring body.
Monohan teaches a rod body with a body section (225) and two head sections (229) of greater outer diameter for attaching a ring body (231)
From this teaching of Monohan, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the invention to include a two-piece ring body (headed rod and ring body) in place of the single piece ring body of Lenogue et al. This two-piece arrangement would provide a more modular design allowing for easier installation and replacement of damaged ring bodies.
Regarding claim 3, Lenogue et al. further disclose wherein the angle between the rod body of the first buckle part and the insertion direction is equal to 0 degree (Figs. 4-7 as shown).
Regarding claim 8, Lenogue et al. further disclose wherein the receiving section comprises a positioning module (two latches 14); the positioning module is movable between a first position and a second position; when the positioning module is located at the second position, the connecting section is fixed in the receiving section (Fig. 5 as shown); when the positioning module is located at the first position, the connecting section is detachable from the receiving section (rotation of latches 14 with depression of springs 16 would release male member).
Regarding claim 9, Lenogue et al. further disclose wherein each of two fasteners (14) of the positioning module has a limiting end; when the connecting section is accommodated in the receiving section and the positioning module is located at the second position, the two limiting ends of the two fasteners respectively clamp two sides of the connecting section (Fig. 5 as shown).
Regarding claim 10, Lenogue et al. further disclose wherein the first buckle part has a first fastening section (24) disposed on a periphery opposite to the connecting periphery.
Regarding claim 11, Lenogue et al. further disclose wherein the second buckle part has a second fastening section (24) disposed on a periphery opposite to the receiving periphery.
Claim(s) 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Lenogue et al. and Monahan as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sepe et al. (US 11,974,639).
Regarding claims 5-7, Lenogue et al. discloses the invention except for wherein the connecting section has a first tongue and a second tongue that partially overlap each other; the first tongue has a first tongue length along the insertion direction, and the second tongue has a second tongue length along the insertion direction; the first tongue length is greater than the second tongue length; an end of the first tongue has an abutting member protruding from the second tongue; wherein the receiving section has a first accommodating groove and a second accommodating groove that are connected to each other; the first accommodating groove is for accommodating the first tongue of the connecting section, and the second accommodating groove is for accommodating the second tongue of the connecting section; wherein the first tongue sequentially has a connecting member and the abutting member along the insertion direction; the connecting member overlaps with the second tongue; a width of the abutting member in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction is greater than a width of the connecting member in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction; when the connecting section is accommodated in the receiving section, the abutting member is inserted into the first accommodating groove.
Sepe et al. teach wherein a connecting section has a first tongue (252) and a second tongue (256) that partially overlap each other; the first tongue has a first tongue length along the insertion direction, and the second tongue has a second tongue length along the insertion direction; the first tongue length is greater than the second tongue length (Fig. 3B as shown); an end of the first tongue has an abutting member (242) protruding from the second tongue; wherein the receiving section has a first accommodating groove (between latches 270) and a second accommodating groove (266) that are connected to each other; the first accommodating groove is for accommodating the first tongue of the connecting section, and the second accommodating groove is for accommodating the second tongue of the connecting section (Fig. 2B as shown); wherein the first tongue sequentially has a connecting member (250) and the abutting member along the insertion direction (Figs. 3A and 3B as shown); the connecting member overlaps with the second tongue; a width of the abutting member in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction is greater than a width of the connecting member in the direction perpendicular to the insertion direction; when the connecting section is accommodated in the receiving section, the abutting member is inserted into the first accommodating groove (Figs. 2D-3B as shown).
From this teaching of Sepe et al., it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the invention to recognize the need for providing structures that would prevent incorrect insertion of the male member within the female member. Providing a second tab to the body of the male connecting section of Lenogu et al. would prevent inverted insertion of the male member.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 27 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As explained above, the perpendicular direction described in claim 1 includes a view from the top to bottom edge of the buckle wherein the rod body does not overlap the corresponding region. This is clearly represented in Figs. 4 and 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-5735. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/M.S.L/Examiner, Art Unit 3677
/JASON W SAN/ SPE, Art Unit 3677
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