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 .
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.
Claims 1-3, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kitahara, et al (US 20140078872, hereinafter Kitahara).
Regarding claim 1, Kitahara discloses a “switch device (5) comprising: a case (1) provided with a through hole (12); a cylindrical member (7) whose at least one portion is inserted into the through hole of the case (para. [0037], "cylinder section 7a that is fitted into the small-diameter hole section 12a of the through hole 12"); an operation member (para. [0033], "operation member"; fig. 2, element 8) arranged extending from inside of the cylindrical member to outside of the cylindrical member (the operation member extends from inside of the cylindrical member to the outside of the cylindrical member and covers the cylindrical member); and a locking mechanism which locks the operation member to the cylindrical member (para. [0033], "lock section", fig. 2, element 9), wherein the locking mechanism includes a locking member (para. [0046], “operation head section 18” comprising a “female screw section 19”; fig. 2, elements 18 and 19) which is locked to the cylindrical member by a rotation operation of the operation member (para. [0049], "the female screw section 19 is screwed into the male screw section 14 by the rotation of the operation head section 18 to cause the operation member 8 to be locked"), and a rotation transmission member (para. [0033], "external member"; fig. 2, element 11) which is a separate member from the locking member (the external member (11) is separate from the locking member (18,19)) and rotates the locking member in accordance with the rotation operation of the operation member (when the external member (11) is rotated, it transfers the rotary motion to the locking member).”
Regarding claim 2, Kitahara discloses “the cylindrical member (para. [0033], "cylindrical member"; fig. 2, element 7) includes a small-diameter cylindrical portion which is inserted into the through hole of the case (para. [0037], "small-diameter cylinder section"; fig. 2, element 7a), and a large-diameter cylindrical portion which protrudes outside the case (para. [0037], "a large-diameter cylinder section"; fig. 2, element 7b), and wherein the locking member (para. [0046], “operation head section 18” comprising a “female screw section 19”; fig. 2, elements 18 and 19) is arranged on an inner circumferential surface side of the rotation transmission member (para. [0033], "external member"; fig. 2, element 11; the locking member (18,19) is arranged on the inner circumferential surface of the external element) and locked to the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the cylindrical member (the female screw section (19) locks to the cylindrical member (7)).”
Regarding claim 3, Kitahara discloses “the operation member includes an operation shaft portion (6 and 6a-c) which is arranged in the cylindrical member (the shaft is inside the cylindrical member (7)), and an operation head portion which is attached to an outer part of the operation shaft portion in a manner to be slidable in an axial direction and covers the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the cylindrical member (the operation head portion slides axially with respect to the shaft and covers the large diameter portion).”
Regarding claim 17, Kitahara discloses “a male screw portion (para. [0041], "a male screw section", fig.2, element 14) is formed on an outer circumferential surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion (para. [0041], "the outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylinder section"; fig. 2, element 7b) of the cylindrical member.”
Regarding claim 18, Kitahara discloses “a male screw portion (para. [0041], "a male screw section", fig.2, element 14) is formed on an outer circumferential surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion (para. [0041], "the outer peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylinder section"; fig. 2, element 7b) of the cylindrical member.”
Regarding claim 19, Kitahara discloses “a female screw portion (para. [0046], “female screw section”, fig. 2, element 19) which is screwed onto the male screw portion of the cylindrical member (para. [0041], "a male screw section", fig. 2, element 14) is formed in the locking member (the female screw section (19) is formed in the operation head section (18)).”
Regarding claim 20, Kitahara discloses “A timepiece comprising the switch device according to claim 1 (para. [0029], "a switch device of a wristwatch").”
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Kitahara.
Regarding claim 4, Kitahara discloses the invention according to claim 3. However Kitahara fails to specifically disclose “the rotation transmission member is fixed in the operation head portion of the operation member by press fitting”.
Kitahara instead discloses that the parts are ‘swaged’ together (para. [0082]) to create a single piece from the individual parts. Press fitting of parts is routine and ordinary in the art of horology to combine parts into a single piece from the individual parts. Both press fitting and swaging are processes by which metal is deformed under pressure.
The following is an excerpt from MPEP § 2113(I): "[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to use press fitting to join the components of Kitahara by pressure with the expected result of forming an assembled part. Thus, Kitahara anticipates, or alternatively makes obvious the switch device according to claim 4.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-16 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
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/MICHAEL JAMES WALKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2831
/renee s luebke/Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2831
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