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, 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okawa et al. (JP 2001062607, herein referenced by the EPO English machine translation).
Re Claim 1, Okawa discloses a fixing member 25 that presses and fixes a cutting insert 15 disposed on an insert mounting part 13 of a tool body 11, the fixing member 25 comprising: a fixing member body that has a pressing part 31 for pressing the cutting insert 15; a fitting protrusion 25a that is provided so as to protrude from a bottom part of the fixing member body, the fitting protrusion 25a being fitted in a fitting hole 23 formed in the tool body 11; and an engagement recess 32a formed in a peripheral surface of the fitting protrusion 25a (See figure 1), the engagement recess 32a being engaged with a leading end 26a of a pressing member 26 which is inserted into a hole part 24 that communicates with the fitting hole 23 of the tool body 11, the fitting protrusion 25a is drawn into the fitting hole 23 by the pressing member 26 that engages with the engagement recess 32a, whereby the pressing part 31 presses and fixes the cutting insert 15 (Pars. 0012-0020, Figs. 1-3, 5 and 6).
Re Claim 4, Okawa discloses the hole part is an internal thread, and a fastening screw is screwed as the pressing member 26 into the internal thread (Par. 0015).
Re Claim 5, Okawa discloses cutting tool 10, comprising the fixing member 25 according to claim 1; a tool body 11 having an insert mounting part 13 on which a cutting insert 15 is disposed and a fixing member mounting part (not labeled, the member near numeral 13c, see figures 2, 4 and 6) with which the fixing member 25 is assembled; and the cutting insert 15 that is disposed on the insert mounting part 13 and is pressed and fixed by the fixing member 25, the fixing member mounting part includes: a fitting hole 23 in which a fitting protrusion 25a of the fixing member 25 is fitted; a hole part 24 that communicates with an inner peripheral surface of the fitting hole 23; and a pressing member 26 that is inserted into the hole part 24, so that a leading end 26a thereof is engaged with the engagement recess 32a of the fixing member 25 (Pars. 0012-0020, Figs. 1-3, 5 and 6).
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okawa et al. (JP 2001062607, herein referenced by the EPO English machine translation).
Re Claim 3, Okawa does not explicitly disclose the engagement recess is formed at multiple locations in a circumferential direction of the fitting protrusion. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Okawa by providing an engagement recess at multiple locations in a circumferential direction of the fitting protrusion, as mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced. See In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960).
Claim Objections
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
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/BAYAN SALONE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3726
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