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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by PG Publication No. 2017/0267282 to Ogata.
Regarding Claim 1, Ogata disclose a cushioning stopper 160 comprising an elastic body 62 with a ring shape formed to have a size that can be mounted in a mounting space (see Figure 6), and an elastic body restraining member 164a disposed so as to cover a part of an outer periphery of the elastic body 62 (see Figure 6) and preventing expansion of the elastic body 62 (see paragraphs 0055-0056), wherein the elastic body 62 has a first elastic body (see Figure 6 and the central portion of element 62) provided between two members 61a and 164b that are relatively displaced in an axial direction, and compressed in the axial direction by the two members to expand radially outward when the distance between the two members is reduced (see Figure 6 and paragraph 0056), and a second elastic body (see Figure 6 and the squared right end portion of element 62 recessed within portion 164a) formed to project outward from an outer peripheral surface of the first elastic body (i.e., the central portion of element 62) on one end side (i.e., the right side of central portion 62) in the axial direction of the first elastic body (see Figure 6), the elastic body restraining member 164a is formed to have an L-shaped cross section covering an end face on the one end side of the elastic body 62 and an outer peripheral surface of the second elastic body (see Figure 6), and the second elastic body (i.e., the squared right end portion of element 62 located within portion 164a) has a recess (see Figure 6 and the angled portion of element 62 extending from the central portion of element 62 up towards the portion of element 62 located within element 164a) on an end face (see Figure 6 and the face of element 62 forming the right angled recess portion) opposite to the one end side in the axial direction (i.e., opposite to the one end side of the portion of element 62 located within element 164a), which is recessed inward from the end face (see Figure 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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PG Publication No. 2017/0267282 to Ogata in view of British Patent No. GB 2524626 to Kimijima et al.
Regarding Claim 2, Ogata disclose most all the features of the instant invention as applied above, except for the elastic body restraining member being made of a metal material or a hard resin material.
Kimijima et al are relied upon merely for their teachings of a cushioning stopper 20 comprising an elastic body 22 and an elastic body restraining member 21 disposed to cover a part of an outer periphery of the elastic body 22 (see Figure 2), wherein the elastic body restraining member 21 is made of a metal material or a resin material (see the abstract and page 5, sixth full paragraph of the document, and Figure 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have designed the elastic body restraining member of Ogata to be made of a metal material or a hard resin material as taught by Kimijima et al as a matter of design preference dependent upon the desired strength and rigidity of the restraining member.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent No. 10,611,404 to Ohashi et al., PG Publication No. 2020/0269646 to Otsu et al., German Patent No. DE 102007012655 to Gruenberg-Reichert et al., and Japanese Patent No. JP 6051804 all disclose cushioning stoppers similar to applicant’s.
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PAMELA RODRIGUEZ
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3616
/PAMELA RODRIGUEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3616 06/17/26
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