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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 5/11/2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the Chinese application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copy of Chinese application 202311287150.0 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 11-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: in claim 11 lines 13-14, the phrase “which are not in contact with the first conductive housing whether the mating module is inserted or not” should read --which are not in contact with the first conductive housing whether the mating module is inserted or not--. Claims 12-20 include all the limitations of claim 11 and are objected to for the same reasons. 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)(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 1-2 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin et al. (2015/0126065).
With regard to claim 1, Lin teaches, as shown in figures 1-5 and taught in paragraphs 19-20: “An electrical connector 60, 20, and 40, comprising: a conductive housing 20 and 60, the conductive housing defining a receiving slot 22 and 224 configured to at least partially receive a mating module 80 along a first direction (lower-left to upper-right in figure 4); the conductive housing 20 comprising a first conductive housing 20, the first conductive housing 20 defining a plurality of first terminal module installation slots 224; the plurality of first terminal module installation slots 224 being disposed at intervals along a second direction (upper-left to lower-right in figure 4); the plurality of first terminal module installation slots 224 communicating with the receiving slot 22; the first conductive housing 20 further comprising a plurality of first partition walls (located between slots 22), each two adjacent first terminal module installation slots 224 being separated by one first partition wall located therebetween; and a plurality of first terminal modules 40, each first terminal module 40 being at least partially installed in a corresponding first terminal module installation slot 224, each first terminal module 40 comprising a first conductive terminal 44 which is not in contact with the first conductive housing 20”.
With regard to claim 2, Lin teaches: “The electrical connector according to claim 1”, as shown above.
Lin teaches, as shown in figures 1-5 and taught in paragraphs 19-20: “wherein the first conductive housing 20 comprises a first base portion 222 and a first protruding portion (where 222 protrudes from the rest of 20 in figure 4) extending from the first base portion 222; each first terminal module installation slot 224 comprises a first surrounding groove provided on the first base portion 222 and a first open slot 22 provided on the first protruding portion; the first surrounding groove is surrounded by wall portions of the first base portion 222 in a circumferential direction; the first open slot 22 communicates with the receiving slot 224 along a third direction (roughly up-down direction in figure 3)”.
With regard to claim 11, Lin teaches, as shown in figures 1-5 and taught in paragraphs 19-20: “An electrical connector 60, 20, and 40, comprising: a conductive housing 20 and 60, the conductive housing defining a receiving slot 22 and 224 configured to at least partially receive a mating module 80 along a first direction (lower-left to upper-right in figure 4); the conductive housing comprising a first conductive housing 20, the first conductive housing 20 defining a plurality of first terminal module installation slots 224 which are disposed at intervals along a second direction (upper-left to lower-right in figure 4) perpendicular to the first direction; the plurality of first terminal module installation slots 224 communicating with the receiving slot; the first conductive housing 20 further comprising a plurality of first partition walls (located between slots 22) disposed at intervals along the second direction; the plurality of first terminal module installation slots 224 and the plurality of first partition walls being disposed alternately along the second direction; and a plurality of first terminal modules 40, each first terminal module 40 being at least partially installed in a corresponding first terminal module installation slot 224, each first terminal module 40 comprising a plurality of first conductive terminals 44 which are not in contact with the first conductive housing 20 no matter whether the mating module 80 is inserted or not”.
With regard to claim 12, Lin teaches: “The electrical connector according to claim 11”, as shown above.
Lin teaches, as shown in figures 1-5 and taught in paragraphs 19-20: “wherein the first conductive housing 20 comprises a first base portion 222 and a first protruding portion (where 222 protrudes from the rest of 20 in figure 4) extending from the first base portion 222; each first terminal module installation slot 224 comprises a first surrounding groove provided on the first base portion 222 and a first open slot 22 provided on the first protruding portion; the first surrounding groove is surrounded by wall portions of the first base portion 222 in a circumferential direction; the first open slot 22 communicates with the receiving slot along a third direction (roughly up-down direction in figure 3) which is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-10 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.
Claims 13-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the objection(s) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN M KRATT whose telephone number is (571)270-0277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah A 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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/JUSTIN M KRATT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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