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
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)(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) 1-6, 11, 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yao et al. (US 2017/0054246).
Re claim 1: Yao teaches a receptacle connector (100) comprising a housing (5); a shell (4) surrounding a cavity and at least partially embedded in the housing, the shell comprising a mating end extending beyond the housing in a mating direction; and a terminal assembly (1) disposed in the shell, the terminal assembly comprising a plurality of conductive elements (23), the plurality of conductive elements comprising mating ends disposed in the cavity, and tail ends extending out of the shell (see figs. 1-5; paragraphs 0016-0022).
Re claim 2: Wherein: the terminal assembly (1) comprises an assembly housing (11) holding the plurality of conductive elements (23); the assembly housing (11) comprises one or more grooves (fig. 4); and a rear of the shell (4) comprises one or more portions each protruding into a respective groove of the one or more grooves of the assembly housing (figs. 2 and 3).
Re claim 3: The receptacle connector comprising a board lock (54) partially embedded in the housing (5) and comprising one or more mounting portions extending beyond the housing in a mounting direction different from the mating direction (fig. 3).
Re claim 4: Wherein: the mounting direction is perpendicular to the mating direction (fig. 3).
Re claim 5: Wherein: the shell (4) comprises a sidewall and a connecting portion; and the connecting portion comprises a first end connected to a rear of the sidewall and a second end connected to the board lock such that the board lock extends next to the sidewall (fig. 1).
Re claim 6: Wherein: the board lock comprises a beam (54) elongated in the mating direction and embedded in the housing; and the one or more mounting portions extend from the beam in the mounting direction (fig. 3).
Re claim 11: Yao teaches a receptacle connector (100) comprising a terminal assembly (1) comprising an assembly housing (11) and a plurality of conductive elements (23) held by the assembly housing, each of the plurality of conductive elements comprising a mating end, a tail end extending out of the assembly housing, and an intermediate portion between the mating end and the tail end; a shell (4) surrounding at least the mating ends and intermediate portions of the plurality of conductive elements and engaging at least a portion of the assembly housing; and a housing (5) disposed outside the shell and molded over a rear of the shell (see figs. 1-5; paragraphs 0016-0022).
Re claim 17: Yao teaches a method of manufacturing a receptacle connector, the method comprising providing a shell (4) surrounding a cavity and comprising one or more portions protruding into the cavity (fig. 3); providing a terminal assembly (1) comprising an assembly housing (11) and a plurality of conductive elements (23) held by the assembly housing; inserting the terminal assembly into the cavity of the shell; and molding a housing over portions of the shell (claim 5) (see figs. 1-5; paragraphs 0016-0022).
Re claim 18: Wherein: molding the housing over portions of the shell (4) comprises molding the housing over portions of a board lock (54) (fig. 3).
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) 7, 12, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao in view of Zhao (US 2017/0352990, cited by the applicant).
The teachings of Yao have been discussed above.
Although, Yao teaches the receptacle connector comprising the housing, the shell, and the terminal assembly, he fails to particularly teach that the receptacle connector comprising a sealing member.
Zhao teaches the connector assembly (200) comprising a sealing member (204) (see fig. 5; paragraphs 0026, 0029).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Zhao to the teachings of Yao in order to seal the gap between the components of the receptacle connector.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10, 13-16, and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
None of prior art teaches that the mating end of the shell comprises a rough portion that has a surface roughness higher than a rest of the mating end of the shell; and the sealing member is disposed on the rough portion of the mating end of the shell, the bottom wall of the rear of the shell comprises one or more portions protruding toward the terminal assembly; and the sealing member comprises a side conforming to a surface of the bottom wall of the rear of the shell and other sides conforming to inner surfaces of the housing, and subsequent to molding the housing, severing a lead frame from the shell and the board lock as set forth in the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hou et al. (US 2023/0104592) teaches electrical connector.
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/SEUNG H LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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