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 .
Drawings
Figures 10-11 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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.
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.
Claim 1 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Wantanabe (US 2015/0140841).
Regarding claim 1, Wantanabe discloses a connector assembly comprising:
a plug connector (15) including a plurality of plug contacts (25, 27), a plug housing (16) that holds the plurality of plug contacts, and a plug hold-down (28) mounted on outside of the plurality of plug contacts in the plug housing; and
a receptacle connector (35) including a plurality of receptacle contacts (60, 61) and a receptacle housing (50) that holds the plurality of receptacle contacts, wherein each of the plug contacts and each of the receptacle contacts come into electrical contact by mating the plug connector and the receptacle connector with each other in a mating direction, the plurality of plug contacts are arranged in a pitch direction (along the longitudinal direction of the housing),
the plug housing includes two side walls (18, 18) extending in parallel with the pitch direction and an end wall (un-numbered, at 22) connecting ends of the two side walls, the end wall includes a peripheral surface bordering outside of the plug housing, an opposed surface (a top surface at 22) opposed to the receptacle housing when the plug connector and the receptacle connector mate with each other, and a corner part at an intersection between the peripheral surface and the opposed surface,
the plug hold-down includes a corner drawn part and a carrier cutting plane, the carrier cutting plane is formed on a side of the plug hold-down facing the plurality of plug contacts, and the corner drawn part covers the corner part.
[AltContent: textbox (Cutting plane)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (Opposed surface)][AltContent: textbox (Corner part)][AltContent: textbox (End wall)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
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Wantanabe substantially disclosed the claimed invention except to mention the cutting plane as “carrier cutting plane”.
This feature is seen to be an inherent teaching since the plug hold-down has to be cut at the edge to function as intended.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRUC T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2011. The examiner can normally be reached monday-friday (7-4).
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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 5712723560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRUC T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
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