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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hitchcock et al. (US 11590852 B2), ( Appl. No. 17/237,675, Filed Apr. 22, 2021).
In regard to claim 1, Hitchcock et al. discloses a connector 100 comprising:
a housing 102 having an opening portion 120 having a tubular shape;
a rotating cover 200 having a tubular portion 224 fitted into the opening portion 120 and rotatably attached to the housing 102; and
an annular packing 228 disposed at a fitting portion of the opening portion and the tubular portion and configured to seal the fitting portion by being compressed in a direction intersecting a connector fitting direction, wherein:
the annular packing 228 includes a first sealing portion (see annotated drawing below) and a second sealing portion (see annotated drawing below);
the first sealing portion is provided at a position closer to a rotating shaft (adjacent 205) of the rotating cover 200 than the second sealing portion; and
the second sealing portion is provided at a position farther away from the rotating shaft than the first sealing portion, and is compressed between the opening portion and the tubular portion 224 at the same timing (col. 4, lines 52-67, col. 5, lines 14-19, claims 10 and 18) as the first sealing portion when the rotating cover 200 is closed.
In regard to claim 2, Hitchcock et al. discloses the annular packing 228 is provided so that the first sealing portion, the second sealing portion and a third sealing portion (between the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion) are positioned on a first plane inclined and intersecting with respect to the connector fitting direction of the tubular portion 224 and parallel to the rotating shaft when the rotating cover 200 is closed, and the second sealing portion is positioned on a second plane perpendicular to the connector fitting direction and including the rotating shaft when the rotating cover 200 is closed (see fig. 5).
In regard to claim 3, Hitchcock et al. discloses the tubular portion 224 is fitted inside the opening portion 120, and the annular packing 228 is provided so that the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion are positioned on a first plane inclined and intersecting with respect to the connector fitting direction and parallel to the rotating shaft so that the second sealing portion is positioned on a front side of the connector fitting direction with respect to the first sealing portion when the rotating cover 200 is closed, and the second sealing portion is positioned on the second plane perpendicular to the connector fitting direction and including the rotating shaft when the rotating cover is closed (see fig. 5).
[AltContent: textbox (1st sealing portion)][AltContent: connector][AltContent: textbox (2nd sealing portion)][AltContent: connector]
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art fails to provide, teach or suggest the tubular portion is fitted outside the opening portion, and the second sealing portion is positioned on a rear side of the connector fitting direction with respect to the first sealing portion when the rotating cover is closed, and the first sealing portion is positioned on the second plane perpendicular to the connector fitting direction and including the rotating shaft when the rotating cover is closed.
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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher M Koehler can be reached at (571) 272-3560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Tdt
6/28/2026
/THO D TA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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