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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/08/2025 was filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “2” has been used to designate both the and the housing (Par. 0012 Ln. 5). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
The following title is suggested: ELECTRIC POWER CONNECTOR FOR AUTOMOBILE WITH IM.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Lines 7-8, the phrase "the clamping plate of another busbar holding portion", should be amended to recite --the clamping plate of another busbar holding portion of the plurality of busbar holding portions-- to clarify the structure of the heat dissipation plate relative to the plurality of pairs of clamping plates and busbar holding portions.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 3, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kanematsu et al. [US 2023/0115788].
Regarding claim 1, Kanematsu discloses a connector 11 (Fig. 1-2), comprising of a busbar 14 (Fig. 1), a housing 13 (Fig. 1) that accommodates the busbar 14, wherein the housing includes a busbar holding portion 13a (Fig. 2) at one side thereof (left side of Fig. 1), a pair of clamping plates 19 and 22 (Fig. 2) that clamp the busbar 14 from both sides (Par. 0060, 0074-0075 describes pressing member to hold the busbar and further in the form of a flat plate) in a thickness direction thereof (Fig. 1, Par. 0028 Ln. 6-8, spring force is directed vertically, i.e., in the thickness direction of the busbar), a terminal accommodation room at the other side thereof (right side space of connector 11 in Fig. 1) to accommodate a terminal 18 to be electrically connected to the busbar 14 (Par. 0025 Ln. 1-3, connection terminal connected to base end side of busbar), and a heat dissipation plate 20 (Fig. 1, Par. 0012 Ln. 7-9, ceramic member having a high thermal conductivity to improve heat dissipation of busbar; Par. 0027 Ln. 4, further in the form of a flat plate) standing from one of the pair of clamping plates 19 (Fig. 2, Par. 0027 Ln. 4-5, interposed between busbar and contact portion).
Regarding claim 3, Kanematsu discloses the connector 11 according to claim 1, as shown above, wherein the heat dissipation plate 20 is vertically standing (extending in the up-down direction as shown in Fig. 1) from one of the pair of clamping plates 19.
Regarding claim 4, Kanematsu discloses the connector 11 according to claim 1, as shown above, wherein a longitudinal direction of the heat dissipation plate 20 (corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the busbar in Par. 51 Ln. 1-4) is coincided with an insertion direction of the busbar 14 into the busbar holding portion 13a (where the insertion direction of the busbars 14 into the busbar holding portion 13a is the left-right direction in Fig. 1) and an insertion direction of the terminal 18 into the terminal accommodation room (where the terminal accommodation room is the location of the terminal 18 on the right-side space of the connector 11 and the insertion direction is the left-right direction in Fig. 1).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanematsu et al. [US 2023/0115788] in view of Takagi [US 2020/0303869].
Regarding claim 2, Kanematsu discloses the connector 11 according to claim 1, as shown above, wherein a plurality of the busbars 14 are provided (Par. 0081, one or more busbars), and the heat dissipation plate 20 standing from the clamping plate 19 of one of the plurality of busbar holding portions 13a (Fig. 2, left side tube portion) is spaced apart from the clamping plate 19 of another busbar holding portion 13a (Fig. 2, right side tube portion) of the plurality of busbar holding portions.
Kanematsu does not disclose the plurality of busbar holding portions arranged in the thickness direction of the busbars.
However, the teaching of arranging busbar holding portions in the thickness direction is well known in the art as evident by Takagi.
Takagi teaches a plurality of busbar holding portions arranged in the thickness direction of the busbars (Fig. 4, where the thickness direction of the busbar is the up and down direction of stacked busbars; Par. 0020 Ln. 4-7, where press fit holes penetrate through the holding portion along the thickness direction for holding multiple busbar terminals).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to arrange the plurality of busbar holding portions in other directions besides the width direction as disclosed by Kanematsu (Fig. 2, as shown side by side) such as the thickness direction of the busbars for additional connections or so that the female terminals may be connected selectively by the busbar terminals as taught by Takagi in Par. 0030 Ln. 8-13.
The arrangement of busbar holding portions in the thickness direction only deals with rearrangement of parts since the stacking of busbar holding portions does not change the function of the connector. It has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yoshinobu [JPH0817531A] discloses an assembly for a connector comprising a busbar and housing to improve the reliability of the connection of the busbar within the housing as well as to reduce difficulty of manufacturing the assembly. Jun [CN213520414U] discloses an assembly for a connector comprising an insulated housing and copper busbar, where the busbar is held in place by method of clamping.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JULIAN RIN DINH ARRIVILLAGA whose telephone number is (571)272-0970. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at (571)270-3119. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JULIAN RIN DINH ARRIVILLAGA/Examiner, Art Unit 2831
/JUSTIN M KRATT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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